AN: Lynkoln hasn't reviewed since chapter 11, and I miss them. :(

ANYWAY-

Review Replies
Tomura-chan: Rummy is my favorite card game, and it sounded like something Morro would know how to play, lol.
I'm actually trying to avoid giving concrete details about Abby's appearance since this IS a self-insert, so she's... you know, me. I think I mentioned glasses a few chapters back... but that's it.

phetiamwantip: I'm glad you liked it! It was one of my favorites.

Megasalmencex: I am not taking multi-chapter story suggestions at the moment just because I have so many of my own, but I wouldn't mind doing a oneshot here or there. I don't have a lot of ships planned for this fic; Jaya, Kailor, Pixane, and Garmasako are definite givens, but they don't get any focus. You'll have to wait and find out what I do with Harumi. For Abby, I'm trying to keep all her relationships platonic (although one character in particular is making it difficult).

2240713356: *starts sweating* HaHa, yes... really lucky...
No need to apologize! I love reviews, but I totally understand if you have other priorities. If you're putting life stuff like school or work before fanfiction, then in my opinion, that's a good thing!


For about an hour, the three of us engaged in a tentatively polite game of Rummy. The motivation of extra points was actually enough for Morro to stop poking at Lloyd, which shocked me to say the least. But hey, I wasn't complaining. With each round we played, I could feel a bit of the tension slipping away. At times, Morro and I got into disagreements about minor rules. Apparently, the Ninjagian version of Rummy wasn't entirely like the one I played with my siblings. That, or the ghost was just trying to pick a fight. I usually either let him have it, or we worked out a compromise.

We had just finished a round, with Lloyd getting his first win. Morro was pouty about it, but I just told him to grow up and get over it. I was about to deal out the cards when the door suddenly burst open, and all three of us looked up to see Cole framed in the doorway. His expression was grim as he said, "Kai and Nya called in. It's not good."

All of the contentment I had felt while playing cards drained out of me, leaving a sick sensation in the pit of my stomach. Lloyd and I exchanged looks, and I noticed his face was pale and pinched. Morro glanced between us, his expression searching.

"So am I allowed to know what's going on, or..?" his voice trailed off as he arched an eyebrow at us. I bit my lip as I looked first at Lloyd, then at Cole. The Earth Ninja shook his head subtly, but Lloyd hesitated, cocking his head with an uncertain expression. I sighed.

"Kai and Nya are looking for their missing parents," I confessed as Lloyd and I stood up, "Not sure how much you'd care about that."

The ghost frowned, but shrugged, "Can't say I really do."

"Didn't think so," I said before I turned to Cole, "Where is everyone?"

"The bridge," he replied, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder, "Lloyd, you can go too. I'll take over in here."

"Thanks," the Green Ninja said, and the two of us rushed out. As we were hurrying to the deck, I felt a stab of guilt at leaving Morro so suddenly, but the feeling evaporated immediately. This was too important.

When we reached the bridge, we found everyone gathered talking to Kai, Nya, and Sensei Wu over the computer screen. As we entered, I took notice of the trio's faces. Kai's expression was drawn tight, and Nya kept giving him half-nervous, half-sympathetic looks. Even Sensei Wu, usually unreadable, seemed troubled.

The second Kai caught sight of me, his face darkened. He didn't storm off, but he averted his gaze and refused to look at me. That alone sent my sick feeling spiraling into nausea as Lloyd rushed to the screen.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern as he gripped the computer console, "Did you find your parents?"

"We found… evidence of them being here," Nya admitted, casting another hesitant look at Kai, "We did what Abby said; we turned Doctor Saun—um, Krux over to the police, after Sensei identified him. Then we searched his secret lab and found the map Abby mentioned. We followed it to the Toxic Bogs, but…"

"They're not here, Abby!" Kai burst out, and I flinched as his angry, burning eyes locked on mine, "We did everything you told us to, and they're not here. You said they'd be here!"

"But… They were supposed to be!" I stammered, my mind reeling, "I swear! I… Did you find the smithy house? It's kinda set apart from the main camp; I probably should have mentioned that…"

"Abby," Sensei Wu cut me off gently, "We searched the entire camp; it is all abandoned."

The information was like a punch to the gut. My mouth moved, but no noise was coming out as I stared unseeing at the screen. The room was silent, and I knew everyone was looking at me, but I couldn't bring myself to address them. All I was aware of was the tight feeling of panic slowly building in my chest.

"I… I'm so sorry," I finally managed to choke out, though my voice was barely above a whisper, "I don't understand. He couldn't have known; there was no way… Did Krux seem to expect you guys at all?"

Nya shook her head ruefully, "He seemed pretty surprised when we confronted him. Tried to run, demanded to know how we knew; that kind of thing."

"Okay, well…" I sucked in a shaky breath, "Then… I don't know. If he didn't know or suspect anything, which he shouldn't have, then he wouldn't have any reason to relocate the camp… so it couldn't have been Krux."

"Then who could it have been?" Garmadon asked.

"I don't know!" I replied frustratedly, throwing my hands in the air, "No one else in Ninjago knew about the camp!"

"We discovered several tracks centered around a large clearing near the pool," Sensei Wu said, his voice crackling slightly over the speakers, "Yet there are none leading away from the camp. From what I can devise, the occupants of the camp gathered by the pool and then simply… vanished."

I groaned, reaching under my glasses to rub my eyes, "That doesn't make sense…"

"Of course not," Jay remarked, "It's Ninjago. What does make sense?"

"Not helping, Jay," Nya said wearily, and the blue ninja ducked his head with a muttered apology.

"Zane," the robotic boy stiffened as Wu called his name, "I would like you to rendezvous at our location. Help Kai and Nya investigate the campgrounds further. I will go and question Krux. Even if he did not have anything to do with Ray and Maya's disappearance, he might know something to help us find them."

"Of course," Zane said, already starting for the door, "I will be there momentarily." In a lower voice, I heard him add, "Pixal, can you please triangulate the coordinates from the Falcon..?"

Then he was gone. Everything passed in a sort of blur after that. The others continued talking to Kai and Nya, but they didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I stood apart in silence, trying to wrap my head around it all. It didn't make any sense. Krux couldn't have suspected; he obviously didn't suspect, so where had the Vermillion gone? More importantly, why had they left?

I stayed in the bridge with everyone else for a short time, mostly out of obligation, but I eventually left. They obviously didn't need me at the moment, and from Kai's cold silence, I guessed I wasn't wanted either. Without anything else to do, I drifted down to the brig. Cole and Morro perked up at my entrance, and I noticed Morro had returned to his usual place against the wall. Cole looked like he was playing some kind of solitaire with the cards I had left, and for some reason, that irked me. Everyone knew what I was trying to do with Morro; couldn't they at least help?

"Hey," Cole said, his tone slightly wary as I wandered up beside him, "How'd it go?"

"Ray and Maya are gone," I responded dully, "I don't know why or how. Sensei's going to question Krux, and Zane's gone to rendezvous with Kai and Nya. Hopefully, he and Pixal will be able to give us some clue on what happened."

Cole hummed absently and nodded. Morro remained quiet, watching us, his expression unreadable. I wanted to break the silence, but I wasn't sure how. Thankfully, Cole was the first to speak again.

"It's not your fault, you know," he said, seeming to read my expression, "You…" he paused, casting a quick glance at Morro before he went on in a quieter tone, "You did what you could. You couldn't have known what was going to happen, could you?"

"No." I sighed, "But I still can't help but feel guilty. They were supposed to be there. The only explanation for them not being there would be because I came and interfered. It's like that whole butterfly effect. The only thing I can't figure out is how."

"We'll figure it out together," the boy said, giving me an confident smile, "We're ninja; it's what we do."

"What?" I teased, a small smirk creeping onto my face, "The 'together' or the 'figuring it out?'"

Cole shrugged, "I mostly meant the 'together,' but maybe we can do both."

I snorted in amusement. The Earth Ninja grinned at me before he started gathering up the playing cards.

"So you wanna play something?" he asked, shuffling the deck.

"Sure," I said before I turned to Morro, "Morro, you up?"

Cole fumbled the deck, giving me a startled look, but I pretended not to notice. Morro narrowed his eyes briefly before he gave a shrug.

"Sure," he said, getting up to cross the cell. Cole still looked doubtful, but he followed me as I went to sit on the floor closer to Morro. The three of us debated briefly about what to play before we settled on Black Jack. Luckily, both boys knew how to play, so I didn't have to explain any of the rules this time.

Morro seemed to be more relaxed around Cole than around Lloyd. At least, he didn't keep shooting the boy glares and making jabs at him. We played cards and chatted until Jay came to inform us that the others were back. He relieved Cole of guard duty so we could run up to greet them.

It was nearly dark when we emerged on deck, which surprised me; I didn't realize I had been with Cole and Morro for so long. Back in the bridge, we found the others talking to Kai, Nya, Zane, and Wu. Evidently, Wu hadn't been able to get anything out of Krux, but Zane claimed to have found something of interest.

"The signature was faint," the Nindroid explained when pressed, "But Pixal did manage to pick residual traces of some kind of temporal energy centered on the clearing where the tracks were gathered."

"Temporal?" I repeated, my mind buzzing at the word, "As in, time travel?"

"Most likely," Zane admitted, "I would not believe it myself if it weren't for the odd nature of the tracks."

Misako frowned, "So someone came to the camp, either from the past or from the future, and took the Smiths and these 'Vermillion' back with them to their time."

"But who?" Nya mused, "And why, and… how?"

My heart jumped as all eyes turned to me, and my mouth went dry. I stammered, "I…"

My gaze met Kai's, and a chill ran down my spine at the accusatory look he gave me. This is your fault, it seemed to say. It tore me apart.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I dropped my eyes to the floor and whispered, "I'm sorry. I don't know."


AN: Aaaanndd the plot thickens!

Also, somebody tell Cole to stop, this boy keeps sneaking his way into the spotlight. -_-