AN: Now, for the plot turn I'm sure you've all been waiting for...

Legit forgot is was Tuesday there for a second, I got distracted watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, oops-

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2240713356: "Four hundred." "FOUR-FIFTY!"
Yeah, Ronin having the teapot is a long-standing theory of mine that just makes too much sense to me. Clouse finds the teapot in Stiix; who do we know briefly lived in Stiix and often deals with ancient, possibly-magical-or-cursed artifacts? Coincidence? I think NOT!

Tomura-chan: I love Wellerman too! My sibs and I listen to it a lot, lol.
That set looks very cool! I like getting big Ninjago sets, like the Destiny's Bounty and the Monastery (although my Monastery likes to keep to canon and consistently get destroyed...)

phetiamwantip: Lol, Abby knows how to speak Ronin's language. ;)

"Was that actually magic tea?" Jay blurted out the second we exited Ronin's shop.

"Yep," I replied as I carefully slipped the teapot into my bag, "And before you ask, yes, Sensei is fully aware I had it. I found it while I was helping him brew the strengthening tea and asked if I could use it to bargain with Ronin."

"I can't believe that actually worked," Kai said. He paused before he abruptly gave me a suspicious look, "You didn't drink any Felici-tea before we left, did you?"

I giggled, "No. Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are. Honestly," I added, glancing quickly over my shoulder, "I'm almost expecting him to come after us and try to take the stuff back. Hopefully, he'll honor the deal though."

Cole nodded in agreement, "The sooner we get out of Stiix, the better."

"May I ask why you wanted that teapot?" Zane asked curiously, pointing to my bag.

"Abby said it's got an evil genie inside," Jay jumped in before I could answer, "He's supposed to be one of our future enemies!"

"Wait, a genie?" Kai looked interested, "Like the guys who grant wishes?"

"Ooohhh no," I said sternly, pointing a finger in Kai's face as though that would halt his train of thought, "We're not even going there; it's not worth it. The guy will twist your wishes until you wish you'd never met him. Like if a ghost wished to be mortal again, they'd slowly get a body, but experience extreme pain while doing so. Or if in the middle of a battle, you wished to be as wise as Sensei Wu, he'd make you age up. Or, Jay," I gestured to the Lightning Ninja, "Imagine if you wished for something like not being born in a junkyard and being super rich. Then Nadakhan would make it so you found out you were adopted and actually the biological son of, like, Cliff Gordon."

"That is… oddly specific," Zane said, a note of suspicion in his voice, but Jay's face lit up.

"That doesn't sound so bad," he remarked. I pinched my lips together, trying to suppress a grin, but it snuck out anyway as I stared at the redhead. His happy expression faded somewhat, and he chuckled nervously, "What? What did I say?"

"Jay," I said, barely holding back my amusement, "You're adopted. Your biological dad is Cliff Gordon."

"Wait, WHAT?!"

The other boys' jaws dropped as Jay stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes bugging as he stared at me. A snicker slipped past my lips at their dumbfounded expressions.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," I stammered past the giggles, desperately trying to regain composure, "It's not funny for you, I know. I really shouldn't be dropping bombs like this."

"I… pff, yeah!" Jay spluttered. Despite the collective shock, Cole managed to pull himself together.

"Okay, Zaptrap," he said, gently grabbing Jay's shoulder and steering him toward the docks, "We'll deal with this bombshell when we get back, all right? Let's just focus on getting the Scroll home."

"I'm adopted," I heard Jay mutter under his breath, "I'm freaking adopted; my dad is freaking Cliff Gordon…"

I winced as some of my giddiness faded, and I felt a twinge of guilt. I really did need to stop breaking such news to them so flippantly. I kept forgetting that while things like this were old news to me, they were identity-shattering to the Ninja. I resolved to be more careful with handling information in the future.

By the time we reached the docks, Jay seemed to have calmed down enough that he was at least able to stem his ramblings.

"All right, are you done?" Cole asked once Jay's voice trailed off. The Lightning Ninja took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Then he let it out in a single, solid whoosh.

"Yes," he responded quietly. Cole nodded.

"Good. Now let's get out of here."

The Earth Ninja stepped to the end of the dock, preparing to summon his dragon… but for some reason, he didn't. He stood over the water for a moment without making any move to take off. He glanced at his hands once and shook them, letting out a frustrated noise. Eventually, he turned and walked back to us.

"You good, pal?" Kai asked.

"I don't know!" the black-haired boy burst out, his expression tight, "My dragon won't come."

"Odd…" Zane murmured. He shut his eyes and stood frozen for a moment before opening them again, "I also cannot seem to summon my dragon, though I am not feeling any negative or distracting emotions."

"Okay, see, I can't summon mine either," Jay gave a slightly hysterical laugh as Kai squeezed his eyes shut in concentration, "But I just thought it was because I'm still freaked by what Abby said."

A cold sense of dread bloomed in my stomach as all of the boys tried and failed to call up their elemental dragons. This didn't make any sense! The only things that could keep them from conjuring the dragons were fear, Vengestone, or…

"Kai," I said stiffly, trying to ignore the screaming alarms in my brain, "Use fire."

He gave me an odd look, "What?"

"Summon a fireball. Or… just something!"

The boy looked bemused, but he didn't argue as he extended his hand. His expression was focused for a second before morphing into bewilderment. He shook his hand, even snapping his fingers a couple of times, but nothing worked.

"Ergh! Come on!" he flexed his hand furiously, but not so much as a spark appeared. The dread in my stomach solidified, and my throat closed up.

"Oh no…" I whispered. My eyes snapped to each boy in turn, and they returned my gaze with varying degrees of nervousness.

"Abby," Zane said carefully, "Do you know what this means?"

"I…" I stopped and swallowed, reaching up to run my fingers through my hair, "I mean, I've seen this before; in the original timeline. Your powers are inherently connected to Lloyd. If you can't access them—"

"It means something happened to Lloyd," Kai finished, and his face drained of color, "We've got to get back to the shop."

He hadn't even finished speaking before Zane pushed his sleeve back and popped open a panel on his arm. He fiddled with something for a moment before he began speaking, "Bounty; come in, Bounty. Does anyone read?"

The five of us waited with bated breath for some response, but all we received was static. Zane tried again, his voice taking on a more desperate tone, "Come in, Bounty. Do you read? Lloyd? Sensei? Garmadon? Is anyone there?"

His only answer was more static. Slowly, I sank to the floor, curling up on the wooden dock as the boys exploded.

"What are we going to do?!"

"It's Morro; it has to be!"

"Without our dragons, we're practically stranded here; it'll take us ages to get back!"

"How the heck did he escape?!"

The last question caused the whole group to fall silent as they exchanged uncomfortable glances. I was asking myself the same thing, but I didn't dare voice my thoughts aloud as I struggled to keep from crying. Everything I had done, everything I had put the Ninja through, had been for nothing. Morro had escaped, he had Lloyd…

"Oh my gosh," I blurted aloud as another sickening thought struck me. The boys glanced down, and I stared up at them, fear churning in my gut as I muttered, "Morro's possessing Lloyd; that's the only reason your powers aren't working. If he's possessing Lloyd, then he has access to Lloyd's memories, and he'll know where we are. He'll know about the Scroll; he'll know everything."

There was a stunned silence as the group processed this. For the first time since I came to Ninjago, Kai cursed.

"Without our dragons or our powers, we're sitting ducks," he said grimly. He looked up at the sky as though he expected Morro to come swooping down on us. Meanwhile, Cole took command.

"We have to get in touch with someone. Zane?" he turned to the Ice Ninja, "Can you send the Falcon to the Library of Domu? Nya has her mech, so she'll be our best bet for getting off this floating shipwreck."

"Affirmative," the Nindroid said, raising his arm again, "Pixal, please release the Falcon."

He popped open the panel on his arm, and in a moment, the mechanical bird folded out. The second it was fully transformed, it took off, soaring up into the air and out over the water. We watched it go for a moment, Jay letting out a jealous whimper, before we returned to business.

"Now, until Nya gets back to us," Cole said, "We need to find a place to lie low."

"Think Ronin will let us hang out for a bit?" Jay suggested with a weak chuckle.

"No!" I half-shrieked, my voice pitching with my panic, "Morro will know we went there! It'll be the first place he looks!"

"Abby's right," Kai said, "I say we go back into town; get something to cover up our gis; try to blend in. We'll stake out Ronin's shop in case Morro gets here before Nya does, but in the meantime…"

He took the Scroll of Airjitzu from Cole, ignoring the Earth Ninja's disapproving frown as he brandished the parchment, "I think now's as good a time as any to learn this flying stuff."

AN: Hm. Well, that escalated quickly.

As always, please review!