Happy Tuesday everyone. I'm going to be running around, doing lots of school work today since it is my busy day, but I wanted to update so I wouldn't forget to do it later! Please enjoy.

Chapter Five: Escalating Conflicts

"You didn't think to tell us about this earlier?" Kai growled through his teeth. The ninja were quickly traversing the streets, looking for any sign of Serpentine activity. Unfortunately, their search was turning up empty handed. "Not only were Skales and Fangtom trying to kidnap you, but they were planning on coming after Lloyd too. That's kind of important, Laurie!" Silence fell amongst the teammates.

Laurie felt her cheeks blush red from embarrassment. "It slipped my mind, okay?" the orange ninja challenged, the grip on her bō staff tightening. "I was more preoccupied with the girl trying to kill me than a failed kidnapping attempt!" Kai was being absolutely ridiculous. Even if Rhea had not have shown up back in the alley, Laurie would have found a way out of the situation. "I can take care of myself, Kai…"

The red ninja felt his blood begin to boil. Laurie could take care of herself? Of course, that was why she had been hypnotized by Skales when they had initially found her. That was why she had let herself be kidnapped by Belinda. How could anyone forget how well she "took care of herself" when she lost her memories?

Kai abruptly stopped his train of thought, feeling a heaviness overwhelm him. He was being selfish. Though no one knew what had caused Laurie's tattered memory, it was not fair to hold it against her. His light brown eyes drifted over towards the orange ninja, her jaw set and gaze focused on the path ahead. There was still a sense of hesitation inside of him, holding him back. Kai still cared about Laurie, still loved her, but it hurt. She was not the same person, not to him. "We're a team though" Kai sighed, directing the comment towards Laurie. "We're always here to help each other."

"I can do things on my own though, Kai!" Laurie yelled, obviously angry. Did he think she was not capable of holding her own in fight? Maybe he did not remember, but she was the one who defeated Belinda. Granted she did not remember exactly how she did it, but she did. Oh that was right, Kai could not remember exactly when she had sent Belinda back to the Underworld because he had apparently been in a coma! "You act like I'm helpless when I'm really not!" Laurie noticed Kai narrow his eyes and she ignored him.

This was becoming ridiculous, the frustration building up inside of Kai. "You were out shopping with Nya!" he shouted back, beginning to lose his temper. "Did you have any weapons on you? No, you didn't. What makes you so sure that it still would have been a failed kidnapping if Rhea hadn't shown up?" The red ninja could feel the tension rising between himself and Laurie. He was reaching the breaking point, just continuing to spew whatever came to his mind. "You can't even do Spinjitzu, Laurie! Lloyd even knows how to do it now! You're obviously not ready to do anything by yourself."

Tears were beginning to form in the orange ninja's eyes. Kai's words stung terribly and she tried to shrug them off. So she still had not fully mastered Spinjitzu, so what? Laurie sniffed slightly, feeling the salty tears from her eyes soaking into the material of her mask. "I'm still trying" she cried, her voice breaking slightly. "You can't blame me for wanting to try!"

"Guys, just stop fighting. There's no reason for any of this!" Cole made his voice heard clearly. Everyone stopped walking, their eyes trained on the team leader. At least he had managed to get their attention. "We don't put each other down, Kai. You had no right to say the things you did." The black ninja watched as his brother sighed and nodded his head slowly, then he turned his attention towards Laurie. "On the other hand, we are a team and we work together. I'm sure you can hold your own in a fight, Laurie, but we're going to look out for you no matter what." Cole saw her avert her gaze awkwardly, focusing on her bō staff instead. "Now, if we can put our differences aside, let's go find some Serpentine."

There was a hand on Cole's shoulder and he looked back to see Zane, his face expressionless. "My sensors indicate that there are three unusual heat signatures within the vicinity. I would assume that these could be the Generals." Everyone immediately scanned the area as the tension in the air rose. "They are moving away" the Ninja of Ice relayed, picking up his pace. The group was running now, making their way through the city block after block. Suddenly Zane halted his gait, causing both Jay and Kai to run into him. Unfazed by his brothers, the nindroid trained his dark blue eyes on a building to his left, and then switched to a building on his right. "The heat signatures are spreading out. I believe we are surrounded."

"You said there were only three, right? Well that's three against five then!" Jay was laughing, happy that the odds were in their favor. A creeping feeling washed over the blue ninja's body as realization struck. "Nya said it was all of the Generals, excluding Pythor. There are four other Generals and if there are three here then one is missing…"

Laurie turned around to face the direction they had traveled from. She could not clearly see any Serpentine slithering around, but Zane said they were around here. What if this was just a trick? Suddenly, the orange ninja noticed Skales emerge from a side street about a block away. "Hey guys" Laurie whispered, her eyes trained on the slowly approaching Hypnobrai General, "I found one of them."

There was no reply.

With a rapidly beating heart, Laurie whirled around to see her teammates making their way down the street, presumably attempting to surprise the other hidden Generals. How had they not realized they had left her behind? She began running towards them, when something caught the end of her bō staff. The sudden pulling force in the opposite direction caused Laurie to fall flat on her back, knocking her weapon from her grip. She sputtered, attempting to catch her breath as a shadow crept its way over her face, blocking out the deep light of the setting sun.

"Somebody, help!"

The cry did not belong to Laurie, but she immediately recognized the voice as Lloyd's. He sounded far away, back in the direction they had all originally been searching in. Skales ignored this, his mouth pulled up into a smile and eyes locked with Laurie's. "Got you now, girl" he hissed, beginning to rattle his tail. The orange ninja closed her eyes, her breathing still erratic and painful. She attempted to call out for help, but no sound escaped her lips. Laurie's back ached terribly, the muscles pulling and grabbing when she attempted to sit up. She was trapped, immobilized by her injured back and the fear of being hypnotized yet again.

Footsteps were quickly approaching and Laurie felt her body tense up involuntarily. She heard Skales grunt followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the warm asphalt. The rattling ceased and Laurie opened her eyes to see Kai holding a hand out to her. "Are you okay?" he asked tentatively. He held her bō staff in his left hand and Laurie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can't…move…" the orange ninja managed to say between gasps for air. Everything was just happening so quickly. She attempted to get into a sitting position once more, but clenched her teeth as pain engulfed her body. Kai could see this and he handed Laurie her weapon. With both hands, she grasped the staff and gave a soft yelp as Kai knelt down, scooping her into his arms. "Lloyd's in trouble" Laurie continued, the air in her lungs beginning to return. "We need to go help him."

The red ninja looked down at Lord Garmadon's daughter. Even though she had just been attacked and was obviously in extreme pain her thoughts were on the safety of her brother. "You're in trouble too though" Kai said with a stern tone. He noticed Skales getting up off of the ground a few feet away and turned in the opposite direction. "The Generals wanted both of you, remember? Well they almost had what they wanted. We'll help Lloyd, I promise, but we have to get you out of here too."

Every building in Ninjago City looked exactly the same. Rhea wandered down yet another unfamiliar street, her brown eyes taking in the neon signs that were slowly beginning to flicker to life. It would be dark soon and she would have an even harder time finding her way around at night. Rhea gave a long sigh, passing a small child and whom she assumed to be the child's mother. Her heart ached every time she saw a family. It just was not fair that she was unhappy with her life when other kids her age smiled and actually had other individuals that cared about them. Her "father" did not care about her, not really. He just used her, but what could she do about it?

There used to be a time when she had a family that loved her, friends that cared about her, and a place she enjoyed calling home. Then her village had been plundered and ransacked by rogue Serpentine when she was four. Her dad had been a seasoned sailor and decided that it would be safer to just live on the ocean. Perhaps the whole ordeal just shook him up terribly. Rhea remembered sailing the oceans that surrounded Ninjago, nothing but water as far as the eye could see. Her mom had always told her that everything would turn out alright in the end. Well, she had been terribly wrong.

"Somebody, help!"

It was a cry that reverberated off of the buildings and met Rhea's ears. She was pulled out of the past, seemingly frozen in place. Was that Lloyd? With a sigh, the young girl shook her head. Why would it matter to her if Lloyd was hurt? Rhea was free and anything that happened to her "friend" was just collateral damage. Unfortunately for Lloyd, she did not really care.

"I'm positive that you'll return with Lloyd safely."

Anxiety was beginning to rise in Rhea's throat as she suddenly remembered the last words uttered to her by Sensei Wu. There was that odd sensation again, clawing at both her mind and heart: guilt. That foolish old man was messing with her head. Guilt, there was no room for it. A small part of Rhea was frightened though. What if everyone was angry with her for leaving Lloyd? Rhea frowned, conflicted with herself.

Lloyd had sounded close though, not too far from where Rhea currently was. She began heading towards the direction the cry had come from and then stopped herself. Why was she doing this? The ninja were her enemy and she owed them absolutely nothing. They had taken her, tied her up, and agreed to keep her with them, like a prisoner. Lloyd though, he had been kind to her. It had been such a long time since anyone had actually seemed to care about her. The green ninja had informed Rhea that he had never had friends and she needed one. How could someone as naive and seemingly nice as Lloyd never have any friends?

Once more, the young girl caught herself running towards the sound of her "friend's" cry. She had made up her mind to aid Lloyd even though it would harm her in the long run. By scrapping the bottom of her heart for the tiniest speck of compassion and empathy Rhea had sealed her fate. After this she was going to end up back at the apartment, of this she was certain. Another chance to escape would arise, she was sure of it, but for now she felt as if she owed Lloyd for the kindness he had shown her. This was her fault now that she thought about it, agreeing to help Lloyd sneak out.

She could hear him call out for help again. Yes, Rhea was definitely getting closer. A small street lay off to her right, the entrance virtually hidden by stacks of empty cardboard boxes. The neon sign of the now closed café adjacent to the street flickered and buzzed. The golden rays of sunset were beginning to slowly fade. Rhea tossed aside some of the boxes and sprinted down the small street, her sneakers splashing in a puddle of what she hoped was water.

"I didn't think I'd see you just wandering around by yourself. Do the ninja not care about you anymore?" Rhea heard someone give a throaty chuckle. She cautiously stopped where she was and moved closer to a wall on her left. The intricate carvings along the wall formed a small alcove that she crouched down in. Not too far away stood a snake, his black scales beginning to blend in with the steadily encroaching darkness. He was short, but had a long and winding tail that was currently wrapped around Lloyd's arms, pinning them to his side. "No one is coming to help you."

Lloyd was lifted off of the ground slightly, his back hitting the wall behind him. He struggled in Skalidor's grip, but could not manage to free his arms. "Help!" he called out again, feeling himself growing weaker as the Constrictai General tightened his coils. Something moved in the growing shadows and Lloyd assumed it was another Serpentine, coming to aid Skalidor. Familiar blue hair made his emerald eyes widen and he gasped. "Rhea, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be back at the apartment!"

Skalidor turned his gaze to the side, noticing a small girl walking closer. She was thin and looked a little nervous. "Not much of a rescue party" the Constrictai laughed, "too bad for you, boy." He noticed Lloyd narrow his gaze slightly and turned back towards the girl. "Scram, or your next" Skalidor threatened, attempting to sound intimidating. Lloyd chuckled lightly, gaining the full attention of his captor yet again. "What's so funny?" the General inquired, becoming both impatient and irritated.

"Didn't your friends tell you about their failure earlier?" the green ninja asked. He had remembered Laurie talking about how Skales and Fangtom had fled after Rhea began fighting them. "They lost to this girl. Careful, she's crazy and she'll slice you up bad." Rhea hung her head down low. She appreciated Lloyd attempting to help, but this was not the right way to do it. He was making her sound like some feral animal that preyed upon every individual she encountered. This could not have been farther from the truth. Feeling embarrassed and angry, Rhea pulled her karambits out of her hair and got into a fighting stance.

This was amusing. The ninja was trying to convince him that this insignificant girl was the one who had defeated his comrades just this morning. Highly unlikely. He tightened his grip on Lloyd and felt satisfied when he heard the boy suck in a breath and groan. The girl did seem slightly angry, her dark eyes narrowed deeply. "Do you want your friend back?" Skalidor hissed, frowning. "Then you'll have to come and get him."

Time to go to Trigonometry. Thank you for reading, reviewing, following, faving, whatever. I enjoy it all and it's appreciated. Have a great day. :3