Challenge: One of the Ninjago characters gets fed up with an elevator.

Kai looked around the bustling department store with a sigh. He knew they were supposed to be a team now, but he still hadn't gotten used to hanging around with three other guys. Besides, after having an epic adventure rescuing the Golden Weapons from Lord Garmadon, trotting around stores like a kindergarten field trip didn't appeal to him.

At least Nya was coming to live at the monastery with them. It was nice to see a familiar face; he still wasn't sure how much he liked these guys he now called teammates.

Speaking of Nya.

"All right, let's not get sidetracked here." Kai's sister, and the self-proclaimed head of this shopping expedition, checked her list authoritatively. "We should only buy what we need. New clothes for all of you boys, and for me. Extra pillow and bedsheets for me. Cleaning supplies to tidy up that dusty old monastery. Maybe a week's worth of groceries . . . "

Out of the corner of his eye, Kai saw Cole tilting his head, indicating they should sneak away while Nya was distracted. Kai willingly complied. Jay hesitated, then slipped away to join them too, leaving only Zane following along with Nya. The Nindroid actually seemed fascinated by the shopping agenda.

"Your sister's gonna be mad," said Jay, as they swung into an aisle out of sight. Kai only shrugged, his hands sunk into his pockets.

"She'll get over it."

There was an awkward pause. They all knew they didn't want to be around to compare cleaning supplies, but they didn't know where they did want to go instead. Kai snuck a glance at his teammates. He still didn't know any of these guys super-well, and he wasn't sure if he was going to like being on a team with them full-time. He wondered if he would ever feel relaxed and at home with them like he did with Nya.

"Well hey," said Cole at last. "How about we check out the video game department? I hear they've started putting out promos for Fist to Face II!"

"Awesome!" whooped Jay. "Let's go!"

"Fist to Face?" Kai scrunched his nose. "What's that?"

"Only the best video game ever!" called Jay, already hurrying ahead of the others. Kai tilted his head, curious.

"Video game?"

"Uhh, yeah. You do know what those are, right?" Cole gave him a dubious smile.

"S—sure, of course," said Kai hastily. He had some idea of what a video game was, but they didn't really have such things in the little village where he'd grown up. He didn't want to let his teammates know that, though. How lame would that look?

Jay led the way eagerly for a while, leaving his teammates hard-pressed to keep up with him. Then the lightning ninja plowed to a halt so suddenly that they almost ran into him.

"Hey, what gives?" said Cole. "Uhh . . . Jay?"

The blue ninja was gazing with shining eyes at a nearby pair of doors. He looked like he was about to go up in confetti from sheer joy.

"They have elevators," he squeaked.

"Uhhh . . . yes, they do," said Cole. He exchanged a weirded-out look with Kai. "Is this a big deal?"

"I love elevators!" said Jay. "We've gotta take it right now!"

He darted for the nearest lift, eagerly pressing the "up" button. Kai and Cole followed.

"You love elevators," said Cole, sounding like he didn't believe it.

"Yeah!"

Cole and Kai exchanged another glance as the metal doors slid open.

"Why."

"Because they're so cool!" said Jay. "I got to ride one with my Ma when I was little, and it was the greatest thing ever!"

"You've only ridden an elevator once?" said Kai.

"Yeah," said Jay, hustling them onboard. "Why?"

Once inside the elevator, Jay excitedly punched the button for the highest floor and waited with bated breath for the elevator to start moving. The floor soon lurched beneath them.

"We're rising! We're rising!" crowed Jay. Kai shook his head disbelievingly and looked to Cole, who was cracking up silently. The red ninja stifled a smile of his own. He'd never known anyone could get excited over an elevator, but Jay's enthusiasm was contagious.

By the time the doors opened for the top floor, however, Jay's excitement had disappeared.

"That . . . that wasn't nearly as cool as I remembered," he said. "We must have been going down when I rode it! We have to go down now!"

"Okay, going down," chuckled Cole.

They rode the elevator every which way, lurching from floor to floor and freaking out a lot of law-abiding passengers. Jay couldn't seem to grasp how elevators worked; he never understood why they sometimes stopped at floors he didn't want, and he would mash all the buttons indiscriminately and expect the elevator to read his mind. Kai just barely managed to stop him from hitting the emergency button.

"Why are we going up?" growled Jay despairingly, mashing more buttons. "I wanted the first floor! FIRST!"

A lady with several shopping bags eyed him uneasily and edged to the far corner of the lift. Kai and Cole tried not to laugh.

"You hit the third-floor button first, genius," said Cole. "So the elevator will go there first."

"Yeah. And then then the second floor, and then the fifth, and then maybe the third again . . . " Kai muffled a laugh. "And then maybe the first. Hard to tell, with the number of buttons you've punched."

"But I hit the first-floor button LOTS," protested Jay, still mashing the button repeatedly. "Why won't it—ah!" He looked up eagerly as the elevator doors slid open. Their fellow-passenger took the opportunity to scurry out, even though it probably wasn't her floor. Then the doors closed again, and Jay beamed, thinking they would now go to the first floor.

They started to rise again.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS THING?!"

The next time the doors opened, Kai and Cole hustled the blue ninja outside.

"No, stop!" protested Jay, struggling. "I wasn't done riding!"

"Oh no, you're done riding," said Cole firmly. "The security guards are gonna come for us if this goes on."

Jay looked confused. Then he looked around and noticed all the shoppers giving him odd looks. He grew sober immediately; Kai could have sworn he grew a little smaller.

"Wh . . . why are they all staring?" he asked quietly.

"Well, it's not every day you see someone freaking out at an elevator," said Cole.

"Because people don't ride them?" said Jay.

"Ah, no. More like, because people ride them all the time," said Cole.

"Really?"

"Sure. When I was a kid, I rode the elevator every day at school."

"I went to the department store a lot with my mom, and we always took the elevator," agreed Kai.

"Oh," said Jay, even more quietly. He stood with his head down for a moment, fiddling with the sleeve of his gi. Kai was starting to feel bad for him; he could tell from Cole's expression that he was feeling guilty too.

"I grew up in a junkyard," said Jay at last. "We didn't go out to the city very much . . . A-and I guess it seemed more exciting when I was a kid."

"Well . . . hey." Cole hesitated, then put a hand on Jay's shoulder. "No harm done."

"Sure," agreed Kai. "And you know, you're not the only one. I grew up in a tiny village, so I've never played a video game before."

"Really?" Jay looked up. "Never?"

Kai spread his hands, smiling. Somehow he was okay with the others knowing this now.

"Well gosh," said Jay at last, brightening. "We've got to get you caught up on what you're missing! Let's go!"

"Sure thing," laughed Kai. "I think we still have some time before my sister is done looking for floor wax and rust remover."

"Cool." Jay beamed, already back to his cheerful self. "Only, uh, maybe this time let's take the stairs instead?"

Cole and Kai looked at him puzzledly for a moment before they realized he was trying to make a joke. Cole chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"I've got a better idea. Allow us to introduce you to this wonderful thing they call an escalator . . . "