Get the fiancée out of the way and the whole thing will be fixed!

That has nothing to do with the story... or maybe it does... Mwhahahahaha! Enjoy! =^_^=

Cole opened his eyes and saw Alex standing over him. "Hey Alex," he said.

"Don't you 'Hey Alex' me," she snapped.

"Oh... Your mad," Cole mumbled.

Alex huffed. "Cole, I was mad when my mom forced me to learn math. I was mad when Jay pushed me into a portal and I was stuck in another dimension for a few months. I was mad when I found out I missed the final battle. Right now, mad doesn't begin to describe how I feel!"

Cole winced slightly. He knew how Alex felt, because she made him feel the same way once. Though this was different. This time they had gotten to know each other better and they had grown close. "I'm sorry," Cole said.

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Alex said. "Neither would you explaining it... but it's a good place to start."

Cole glanced to the window. It was late. They must've been taking shifts, guarding him. "I can't," he finally said.

"Cole, no one is around but us," Alex said. She sat down in a meditative position. "Please tell me why."

Cole frowned. He could feel his brain working, trying to make the explanation come out his mouth. He just couldn't though. No one could know why he did it. "I can't," he repeated.

"Oh," Alex muttered, glaring at Cole. "So, in other words, you can't trust me? Well guess what Cole, I can't trust you either until you give me a reason. Why would you help scum like Pythor? What could you possiblely gain from it?"

Cole stared at her for a moment. "I guess nothing."

Alex felt anger flare inside of her again. "So why? Why are you helping him? Why did you blow up the Bounty? Why won't you tell me?" she questioned. "I thought we were closer than this!" She stood up and turned away from Cole. "I thought maybe we had a connection, but now I'm not sure. Was getting closer to me all apart of this plot?"

Cole didn't answer at first. "I can't tell you why," he said. "But please... don't think I got closer to you for Pythor's sake." He sat up on the couch. "Please don't..."

Alex was breathing heavily now. She didn't know what to believe out of Cole's mouth. "You can't tell me why," she mumbled. "But you expect me to trust something you say?" She turned to Cole. "I'll ask again, Cole. Why are you helping Pythor?"

"Alex! I can't tell you why!" Cole yelled, suddenly his head hurt. "You don't understand what would happen."

"Cole, we're completely alone! Everyone is fast asleep!" Alex argued. "Though someone probably woke up to you screeming! So just tell me why!"

"I can't," Cole insisted.

Alex's eyes began to glow crimson in the dark. "Fine! Don't tell me! Go on being the villain and see how far you get! You're doing a heck of a lot better than I did!" She turned and stormed upstairs.

Cole looked into the darkness of the room. Her eyes had changed. He didn't think that was possible anymore. He thought she had it under control but he was wrong. Pythor... Pythor was right.

Lucas walked out as Alex stormed up the stairs. He grabbed her arm as she passed him. "Alex," he said softly. "You should be guarding Cole."

Alex turned to Lucas, her eyes still crimson. "You guard him!" she said. "I'm done. D-O-N-E!"

"Surprised you could spell that," Lucas mumbled. "Being dyslexic and all."

Alex blinked and her eyes turned back to their normal emerald color. "Dys- Lucas my dyslexic never bothered my spelling... And don't talk about it."

Lucas chuckled. "Fine. Just go to bed and cool off. I'll take the next shift."

Alex smiled. Then she frowned and stared at her brother. "Don't hurt him," she said. "The real Cole... he's still there somewhere. We just need to find him." She turned and headed into the girls' room.

Lucas smiled a little. He could tell how his sister felt about Cole. He turned and walked down the stairs, stopping at the bottom and staring at Cole. "Does my sister's eyes always turn red when she's mad?" he asked, walking over to him. "Or is that new?"

Cole jumped, startled by Lucas suddenly appearing in the dark. "What? No, she's... Why should I explain that to you?" he asked.

"Uh... because... I'm asking the questions here!"

"Yeah, well maybe if you had been apart of Alex's life, you would know," Cole muttered. "I shouldn't have to..." He felt another surge if pain in his head.

"Cole," Lucas said as calmly as he could. "I don't want to get angry again. I don't want to hurt you, but next time you say anything about me not being in my sister's life..."

"Okay, I got the message!"

"Good... Now why was she so upset?"

Cole hesitated. "It doesn't concern you."

"Right," Lucas mumbled. "Nothing concerns the dangerous telepath that was locked away in the Underworld for fourteen years." He sat down in a chair near the couch. "I'm just glad you know what it's like to have Alex not trust you. All because of one mistake."

Cole blinked. "Since when does Alex not trust you? She risked hers and our lives to rescue you."

"I entered her mind earlier. You were blacking out, but she's the reason you're not staring into empty space right now," Lucas said. "I almost killed her and now she's scared of me. She doesn't trust my abilities. No one does."

"At least you're not being blackmailed," Cole murmured.

"Oh, so it is blackmail."

"Don't tell, I wasn't suppose to say that." Cole stared at Lucas, praying inside that the teal ninja would understand.

"What will happen if you tell?" Lucas asked. "It has something to do with the others right? Their weaknesses? How did he..."

"I don't know," Cole cut him off. "I just know that Pythor has them. He has mine too and that's how he knew to blackmail me. I'll do anything to protect my team." Cole set his elbows on his lap and buried his face in his hands. "I'm so dead."

"Pythor won't find out," Lucas said. "I'll make sure of it. Look, I know I've never been able to help before. I know I've been..." His voice faltered for a moment. "The point is, I'm going to help now. That's why I'm here after all."

There was the sound of something breaking followed by a screem. Lucas and Cole scrambled to their feet, running upstairs and into the girls' room. Nya and Alex were gone, Tove was in a fighting position—looking around the room in case someone attacked—and Zoey was knocked out on the floor. Lucas rushed Zoey's side. "Zoe, wake up," he said, lightly touching her cheek with his hand. Images of Pythor taking Alex and Nya flashed in his head. "Oh no..."

"That snake," Tove said. "I know him."

"Pythor was here?" Cole asked. "And he took Alex and Nya? Gah! See this is why I couldn't tell you!"

The others ran into the room. "What happened?" Dr. Julien asked.

"Alex and Nya are gone," Lucas said, fear taking over.

"What?" Jay gasped.

"I told Lucas," Cole moaned. "That's why he came!"

"Pythor took them?" Kai guessed.

Cole nodded. "He's not with the other serpentine so I don't know where to look to find him."

Zoey sat bolt up. "'Two vanish within the mist and are found near the schist. Four must go and find, the fifth to stay behind. Grey, ice, and teal must go to protect and heal. One ninja to defeat the snake, even with everything at stake.'" She gasped like she couldn't breath.

Lucas knelt down. "I'm here, Zoe," he whispered. "I'm here."

Zoey looked up to Dr. Julien and Wu. "The prophecy has been given. Please tell me you know what it means."

"I thought it was clear," Zane said. "Alex and Nya are gone, so they're at the place near the schist."

"Watch the language," Jay said.

"No, schist is a coarse-grained metamorphic that consists of layers of minerals. It would be found under ground," Zane told him.

"Okay, four must go and find, the fifth to stay behind must mean we go and Cole stays back since it's his fault," Kai said.

"We cannot blame Cole," Wu said. "He tried telling us something had would happen if he explained."

"Okay, so the next lines," Misako continued. "Grey, ice, and teal must go to protect and heal. Teal and ice are Zoey and Lucas. So grey must be Tove."

"I'm going on a mission?" Tove asked. "Cool!"

"One ninja to defeat the snake, even with everything at stake," Lloyd mumbled. "What do you suppose that means?"

"We will find out when it's time," Garmadon said. "Right now our main concern would be finding Nya and Alex."

Alex opened her eyes and sat up. "Did Donny blow up the lair again?" she asked in a daze.

"What?" Nya asked, rubbing her eyes. "What does that even mean?"

Alex blinked a few times. "Oh, gosh!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Pythor! Where is that snake?"

Nya looked around as she pushed herself up. "Better question: where are we?" she asked.

Alex looked around. They were in a small chamber with an iron bar door and the rest was stone. She finally said, "Well the stone is venge stone, no doubt about it. The bars are iron, no questions asked. The stone in the ceiling... I don't know what it is."

"It's schist," Pythor hissed, coming next to the door.

"Uh... Excuse me?" Nya said.

"Schist, a type of stone," Pythor informed her. "I'm so glad you two are awake."

Alex darted for the door, wrapping her hands around the bars. "Open the door and say it again," she challenged.

"In time," Pythor said, turning away. "For now we wait."

"Why did you make Cole betray us?" Alex yelled impulsively. "Why bring any of the ninja into it? Why bring Nya into this? You wanted me and revenge on them. So why..."

"Why?" Pythor repeated. "Because it's fun."

Alex could feel her anger boil up. "Fun?" she said through gritted teeth. "You think this is fun?"

"Very," Pythor said, slithering away.

Alex tightened her grip on the bars and her eyes flashed crimson. Nya saw what Pythor was doing. She took a small step back, giving Alex a chance to cool off. If she didn't, they all were in trouble.

Alex: I knew that would come back to bite me.

Jay: Oh, that thing you did in the first story?

Kai: I remember that! I wondered why nothing happened with it.

Lucas: What happened? Tell me!

Lloyd: She sent the serpentine our weaknesses.

Lucas: Stinks to be you.

Zoey: Aren't we forgetting something.

Cole: Review! ... =^_^=

Zane: A cat face? Why?

Cole: Just trying to get on Morgan's good side.

You're still the villain.

Cole: And obviously I need to try harder.