Sorry this update's super late, it's been ready for like a week, but didn't feel like working when I tried to upload it :(

Well, better late than never. Enjoy!

When Nadakhan went to check on his newest prisoner, he found Jay was on his hands and knees, scrubbing the deck of the main ship with what had to be the most tattered rag in Djinnjago.

Nadakhan sneered at the pathetic sight.

"You missed a spot." He said, knocking over Jay's water bucket with his smoky tail.

A look of dismay flashed across Jay's face, but he quickly covered it up.

"Whatever." he muttered as he began to wipe up the spill with the threadbare rag.

"You don't have to go on like this, you know." Nadahkan said "You could just wish it all away..."

"Nice try Nadakhan!" Jay thrust his rag at him "But you're not going to get me that easily."

"Well, if wasting away doing menial labour waiting for friends who aren't coming is how you want to spend the rest of your days, be my guest, I suppose." Nadakhan shrugged and began to turn away.

"That's where you're wrong! My friends are coming for me! You'll see!"

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that little ninja." Nadakhan said "I doubt you're much more popular with them than I am right now."

"Pfft, what are you even saying." Jay scoffed. Nadakhan had been a lot better at deceitful manipulation during their last encounter. "They may be kind of mad at me right now, but there's no way they hate me as much as you. You're an evil slimeball that just uses everyone around you for your own selfish gain."

"You're one to talk." Nadakhan scoffed.

"I'm a ninja, I help people! That's, like, the opposite of selfish!"

"And what about how you treat your friends? Hm? Especially the girl."

"Nya?"

"Yes. You were so quick to ignore what she wanted to get your own heart's desire."

"That's not...you tricked me into wishing to impress her!"

"Hmm...I suppose you could say that, but it honestly wasn't that hard. I mean, I barely had to suggest making a wish to win her over and you were all over it. I knew you were weak willed, but I was expecting some kind of resistance, you know?"

"I know what you're doing! You're insults won't work on me!" Jay insisted, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Ah, pathetic human." Nadakhan shook his head, a sharp little smile forming on his face "You like to cover it up with your silly little jokes, but I see right through you. You're weak, and you know it."

Nadakhan began to circle Jay.

"So full of fear that one day your friends will see right through your little charade and realize just how worthless you are. That was what was happening with the girl, wasn't it?"

"I...I don't know what you're talking about." Jay said with an unsteady voice.

"You let her in close. Closer than you've ever let anyone in. Too close." Nadakhan's circles steadily grew tighter. "That's why she rejected you. She ran away when she saw the real you, didn't she?"

"That's not..." Jay found it hard to think over the sound of his beating heart "W-We just didn't work out! It was...complicated..."

"Really?" Nadakhan cocked his head "I find it quite simple."

"Shut up! You weren't there! You don't know what happened!"

"The real you is...not so nice, is he?" Nadakhan ignored Jay "He's not someone anyone would like. He's whiny, clingy, too sensitive. That's why you hide him. You can't let anyone see him. Usually it's behind those jokes of yours no one laughs at. I imagine you've been using me as a shield these past few days? Nadakhan tricked me into making that wish! It wasn't really what I wanted!"

Nadakhan laughed at his own bad Jay impression.

"Ah, but the truth is, I can't make you want something you didn't already desire. You made that wish because you wanted the girl. You didn't care that she had already spurned you. You didn't care that you didn't make her happy. All that mattered was that she made you happy."

"That's a lie!" Jay glared at Nadakhan with as much fury as he could muster. "I do care about Nya!"

"Oh please," Nadakhan rolled his eyes, "You only wanted to use her to cover up that horrible person you secretly are deep down. You needed her to be your girlfriend to convince yourself you were someone who deserved a girlfriend. Then again, I suppose we both know you know you don't. Were you trying to lie to yourself? Or the rest of the world?"

"Shut up." Jay's voice was barely above a whisper.

"What? Can't handle the truth?" Nadakhan's smug grin made Jay want to throw up "Ah, who am I kidding? You've made it more than obvious you can't."

"Y-You don't..." Jay unconsciously clenched his fists, his brain a whirlpool of emotions "I can...I can handle..."

He stopped talking when he felt a tear prickling the corner of his eye.

"Ah, but don't think me unsympathetic. I know it must be painful. I know the reason you keep the real you hidden. But don't worry, he can stay hidden where he belongs. All you have to do…" Nadakhan leaned right next to Jay's ear, his voice softening, "...is wish that terrible person away..."

Jay couldn't even voice a proper rejection. It might have been because a part of him wanted to give in…to just wish away how bad he felt about-

Jay grabbed his rag and began scrubbing the deck as hard as he could, not realizing that he was wiping the same spot over and over again.

It took Nadakhan a minute to realize that even after all of that, Jay still wasn't going to make the wish.

"Very well." Nadakhan rose into the air, no longer smiling. "But if you're going to stay on my ship, you'll have to earn your keep. You already know you'll be spending the day cleaning and doing various other chores, but at night we'll need some entertainment, so you'll be the newest competitor in Scrap-N-Tap. Understood?"

Jay didn't respond. Why couldn't Nadakhan just leave him alone already?

"Good. I'll tell you the rules tonight."

Meanwhile, on Tiger Widow Island, Cole, Lloyd, and Nya were working on a raft to sail them back to Ninjago City. It wasn't the hardiest vessel, but since the storm had passed the sea was calm enough for even the Dinkins of rafts to sail on.

"One more round of ties, and she should be ready to sail." Lloyd announced after examining their progress.

"How come people always refer to ships as 'she'?" Nya wondered out loud.

"Zane and I were actually talking about that on the boat." Lloyd said "He said the most popular theory among linguists is that it's a leftover habit from old gendered dialects of Ninjargon."

"I always thought it was because it took a lot of paint to make them look good." Cole said glibly.

Lloyd started laughing, but immediately stopped when he noticed the scathing look Nya was giving them.

"Alright, alright, relax water lily! it was just a joke." Cole said dismissively.

Lloyd nervously looked between Cole's nonchalant expression and Nya's seething glare.

"Uh...I'm gonna go and...get some more palm fronds." he said, quickly disappearing into the jungle.

Nya let out a beleaguered sigh and knelt down to work on some knots.

"You know," Cole said "I think the real reason people call ships 'she' is to honour the important woman in their lives. Mothers, sisters, daughters..."

"Or maybe it's because they see them as objects that they own and control." Nya replied bitterly.

"Oh, uh...I guess that's one interpretation you could-"

"And then when those oh-so important women in their lives ever complain about how they're treated in any way, they can just turn around and say 'Oh but I dedicated my ship to you! It was an effortless task that doesn't really do much, but my ship's really really big, so that's cool, right?'"

"Okay, okay, I get it."

"Do you?"

"What?"

"It's easy to joke when you don't have to deal with it all the time, isn't it?"

"Okay, what's your problem?"

"My problem? What's your problem? Why do you always do this?"

"What are you talking about? Do what?"

"You're always so sweet and caring with everyone we meet, and you're like that with me when we're alone, but when the other ninja are around you treat me like...like I don't matter. It's like you only want to be my friend when no one's looking."

"What? That's not true!"

"You don't call me 'water lily' or 'sweetheart' when we're alone, just when you want to dismiss me in front of the others."

"Don't be like that." Cole rolled his eyes. "I don't want to dismiss you."

"What about five minutes ago? With Lloyd and the ship thing? Why'd you change your answer after he left?"

"That wasn't…I guess I kind of…"

Cole wracked his brains, but he couldn't find an answer.

Which led him to a very unflattering conclusion.

"Oh…"

"Yeah, 'oh'." Nya picked up her hammer. "Men are all the same," she griped, glaring at the rock her hammer had been resting on. "They act like they care about you," whack! "But the second it's convenient for them," whack! "They'll hang you out to dry," whack! "And everyone acts like you're the crazy one for being mad about it!"

WHACK!

Cole winced as the melon-sized rock split in half.

"This…isn't just about my bad joke, is it?" he asked tentatively "You're pretty upset about Jay lying to you, huh?"

"It's not just that he lied. I told him we were never gonna happen, and he said he understood, but then he went and crossed my boundaries behind my back!" Nya slammed her hammer into the sand and folded her arms. "I honestly don't even care if Nadakhan traps him in his stupid sword. He deserves it."

"Hey now, I know Jay really screwed you over big time, but isn't that a bit harsh?"

Nya didn't say anything.

Cole made a thoughtful face.

"Look, I get why you're mad. Jay totally disregarded what you wanted for what he wanted. And, I guess in a way I kind of did that to you too just now. And so do those reporters that interview us, and those short film producers, and those kids we taught for a bit…"

A look of realization crossed Cole's face.

"Oh, that…really does happen to you a lot, doesn't it?"

Nya silently looked at Cole.

"That really stinks." he said earnestly.

Nya's expression softened slightly. Cole was a real idiot sometimes, but he really did listen, and he was making a genuine effort to understand why she was angry, which was more than she could say for a lot of people.

She let out a long sigh.

"I don't actually want Nadakhan to trap Jay in his sword." Nya admitted "I really do hope he's okay. But when all of this is over, I swear, I'm going to grab Jay by the gi and- hey, have you seen my hammer?"

"Can't say I have."

"I literally just put it down right here..."

"Well, maybe you- hey! Did you take my palm ties?"

"What? No. I've been looking for my hammer."

It turned out their stuff was being stolen by giant sand worms. Nya and Cole discovered this when two of them suddenly burst out of the sand and attacked them.

They managed to retreat to the soil of the woods where the worms couldn't reach, but their almost-finished raft ended up getting completely destroyed.

Lloyd had a lot of questions when he returned with his arms full of palm fronds.

'Scrap-N-Tap' turned out to be a thinly veiled excuse for Nadakhan's crew to take turns beating Jay to a pulp.

In between rounds, Nadakhan would remind Jay that he could just 'wish it all away'. As tempting as it was, Jay held firm, his annoying stubbornness coming in handy for once.

Once the crew had had their fun and Scrap-N-Tap was finally over, they threw Jay in a cell to sleep for the night.

The cell was completely empty, except for a small pile of hay. Jay piled the hay into the world's worst make-shift bed, and tried to find the most comfortable position to lay in.

Jay's body hurt all over. His left eye was so swollen he could barely see out of it.

At some point, the timid serpentine Clancee came to visit him in his cell. He threw an eyepatch down the grate to Jay, saying that he'd 'earned it'.

Jay looked at the eyepatch in his hand.

In his vision of the future, he'd worn an eyepatch just like it.

And Nya had been smiling by his side.

Nya…

Jay's heart ached as he slipped the patch over his injured eye.

Nya certainly hadn't been smiling the last time he'd seen her. The look she'd given him made Jay wonder if she'd ever smile at him again.

The vision...Jay didn't get it.

His reflection had clearly shown a future with Nya, but when he'd tried to make it happen it just ruined everything. He felt farther from that future than he had before he'd ever seen the vision.

Jay groaned and curled into a ball.

Why'd he have to see that stupid vision? Why'd it have to ruin everything?

No, it wasn't the vision that ruined everything…

It was Jay.

Just like Nadakhan had said.

He knew that Nadakhan was trying to mess with his head, but had he really said anything that wasn't true?

Jay really had done all those things to his friends.

He'd pushed aside what Nya wanted because it didn't line up with what he wanted. He'd decided to make a wish with Nadakhan even though he knew it was dangerous. He'd kept information from the team because he didn't want them to know about his selfish screw up.

It was Jay who'd done that. Not Nadakhan, and not some stupid cave vision.

It made Jay feel sick to his stomach to think about how he'd treated his friends, but he couldn't run from the facts Nadakhan had laid out so plainly.

A wave of self-hatred washed over Jay and crashed around his insides.

He was still wide awake when the silhouette of Flintlock, Nadakhan's second in command, stepped in front of the moon and called down to him.

Much to Jay's surprise, Flintlocke tossed down the key to Jay's shackle and pulled open the grate.

Once Jay was above deck, Flintlocke explained his plan to betray Nadakhan. Jay was too exhausted to pay full attention, but fortunately the plan was pretty simple

Unfortunately, Flintlock's proposed mutiny ended up being a trick, but Jay managed to use his brief period of freedom to draw a map, stuff it into a bottle, drop it down into the ocean below.

He hoped the map would help his friends to find and stop Nadakhan, even if they, understandably, had no interest in finding and rescuing him…

Nya, Lloyd, and Cole had decided to give raft building another try, this time at the edge of the jungle so they wouldn't attract anymore giant sand worms.

After getting the basic structure set up, Nya had gone off into the jungle by herself for a break.

It had been over an hour and she still hadn't returned. Lloyd was starting to get concerned.

"Is it just me, or has Nya been gone for an awfully long time?" he asked Cole.

"I wouldn't worry." Cole waved his hand "Nadakhan dropped the tiger widow into that ravine, so there's nothing on this island Nya can't handle. She's probably just taking some time to cool off. I…might have ticked her off a bit earlier."

"You mean with your mean paint joke?"

"Hey! You laughed at it too!"

"I shouldn't have." Lloyd said pointedly "It wasn't funny."

"Yeah, and I shouldn't have said it." Cole rubbed the back of his neck. "For the record, we did talk things out, but I guess she's still a bit sore. Can't say I blame her, especially after the whole Jay situation. She's kind of been going through it."

"Yeah…"

Lloyd stood up.

"I'm gonna go check on her. Just to make sure she's okay."

"Alright. I'll just keep working on the raft."

Lloyd nodded before heading into the jungle in the same direction Nya had.

He hadn't been walking for long when he saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks.

A giant stack of coconuts was climbing up a slope a few metres away from him.

Nya had the right idea about that break, Lloyd thought as he stared at the coconuts. I've clearly been spending too much time in the sun.

It wasn't until he spotted a familiar maroon sleeve that Lloyd realized the stack of coconuts wasn't walking on its own, but was in fact being carried by Nya.

"Either you've got the biggest snack attack ever," Lloyd said "Or you're working on a Nya surprise."

"Lloyd!" Nya jumped and dropped her coconuts. They scattered around her feet with a chorus of clunks! "I thought you and Cole were working on the- wait, what do you mean by 'Nya surprise'?"

"You know, that thing you do where you work on something really cool in secret, and then you wait until we're in a situation where we really need it, and bam! Suddenly, we have just the thing we need."

"Oh, I..." Nya suddenly felt very bashful. "I didn't know you guys called it a 'Nya surprise'."

"I mean, it's just what I call them in my head. You want any help?"

"Well…I don't know if-"

"C'mon please? It can still be a Nya surprise. I'll even pretend to be shocked when you unveil it for Cole. I've always wanted to see the behind the scenes of one of your surprises."

Nya looked into Lloyd's pleading eyes. He really did seem to want to help, for some reason.

"Uh…sure. I suppose an extra set of hands could be helpful."

"Great!" Lloyd beamed as he bent down to help Nya pick up the coconuts. "Where did you want these?"

"...and while the worms are going after the distraction coconuts, we can sneak across the beach with the raft." Nya finished explaining to Lloyd.

"I can't believe we managed to make something like this only using whatever we could find on the island." Lloyd wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"It certainly took some doing. Hold this for a sec."

Lloyd held some sticks in place while Nya finished tying a knot. She gave the tie one last good tug before stepping back and signalling to Lloyd he could let go.

"And with that, it's done!" Nya announced "Not my most polished creation, but it'll do the job. I'm not super confident in the structural integrity though, so we'll have to move fast once it's activated."

"Nice work Nya!" Lloyd stood back and looked at the launcher with pride. "I'm glad I could help. We never seem to get to spend time together anymore."

"Anymore? What do you mean 'anymore'?"

"Remember when I first joined the team, and the other ninja would always leave me behind, so you'd run me through drills and listen to me talk about my comics, even though in hindsight you really didn't seem that interested in Fritz Donnegan."

"Yeah, I didn't really get it, to be honest." Nya shrugged "I could never remember the difference between Star Blasters and Blaster Stars. I didn't think you'd really remember any of that Lloyd."

"The Star Blasters are Fritz's team, and the Blaster Stars are the Star Blaster's specialty supersonic spaceships. They only used the Blaster Stars on very rare occasions anyway, so you don't actually have to worry about- wait, why'd you think I wouldn't remember? Of course I remember! You were the only one who'd hang out with me when the others went off to do ninja stuff."

"'Hang out' seems like a generous term. I pretty much just ran you through training exercises."

"Maybe, but you never told me to go away or tried to drop me off on someone else. You were the only one who never left me behind. I don't think I ever told you how much that meant to me."

"Yeah well," Nya shrugged and looked at the coconut launcher, "I know how lonely it feels to get left behind all the time."

Lloyd frowned.

"You know," he said "I used to think you were Samurai X instead of a ninja like the rest of us was because it was what you wanted. I didn't realize that nobody ever really invited you."

"Hey, don't you worry about me." Nya smiled "I get along fine on my own. It's not like I ever needed approval from the boys club, anyway."

"I know, but still. How many vehicles have you built for us over the years? How much time did you spend looking after me? How many errands have you run for Wu and everyone else? And in between all that, you still found time to train enough to be combat-ready at all times. That's a lot, and I feel like people don't realize just how much you contribute to this team. It really is a shame we never-"

Lloyd was cut off when Nya suddenly wrapped him in a hug. After recovering from the shock, he silently hugged her back.

Nya was just as surprised about the hug as Lloyd was.

What was with her? She'd never needed anyone else's validation for her work. The personal pride of a job well done was always enough to satisfy her.

And yet…hearing someone say that they appreciated her felt…unexpectedly good.

Really good, actually.

Just as suddenly as she'd initiated the hug, Nya pulled away.

"We…um…" Nya began adjusting the straps of her gi to avoid looking at Lloyd, "We should probably head back before Cole starts to get worried."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Thanks for helping me with the launcher." Nya paused, "And thanks for…what you said."

"Yeah, anytime." Lloyd smiled.

Nya's coconut distraction machine worked. For a little while, at least.

The three of them were about halfway across the beach when an oddly shaped coconut jammed up the tracks.

The worms turned on the ninja once the coconuts stopped firing. They got a few good hits on the raft, but Nya used her powers to make a big wave pull them the rest of the way to the ocean (being very careful not to get Cole wet).

Unfortunately, the worms had done too much damage to their raft. The mast had snapped off, and the planks were slowly drifting apart.

As the last few pieces began to come undone and Cole began to panic, the sound of whirring helicopter blades caught the ninja's attention.

A swarm of police copters had come to their rescue! The commissioner let down a ladder for the ninja. Once they'd all gotten to safety, he showed them a map he'd found with directions to Tiger Widow Island and Nadakhan's base of operations.

Armed with the deadly venom and the location of Djinnjago, the ninja and the police formulated a plan to rescue Jay and take out Nadakhan.

Things didn't go exactly as planned. They managed to rescue Jay, but were caught before they could work out the 'defeat Nadakhan' part of their strategy.

To make matters worse, Cole had dropped the tiger widow venom somewhere.

In a last ditch effort, and against Jay's warnings, the ninja began using their wishes. It went disastrously, and Nadakhan managed to capture Lloyd and Cole in his Djinn Blade, the aged-up Lloyd's last words of wisdom to Jay being that he had to make a 'wish from the heart'.

Jay and Nya managed to escape to the police headquarters in Ninjago City. There, they discussed a plan with the commissioner where they would hide out in Dr Julien's old lighthouse prison while they figured out how to stop Nadakhan.

Nya had used up all her wishes during the rescue mission, leaving Jay the only one with a wish remaining. With all their friends captured and the vial of venom lost somewhere onboard Misfortune's Keep, that wish was their only hope. They had to use it wisely.

The rhythmic splashing as Jay rowed them to the island wasn't enough to dispel the eerie quiet that descended on him and Nya.

Their little wooden boat was only made for two, but the fact that they only needed that much room was a sombre reminder of just how dire a situation they were in.

Neither of them felt any relief when they reached the shore with a hollow thunk, the lighthouse's looming silhouette doing nothing to ward off the oppressive atmosphere of the dark grey skies.

Jay grabbed the noodles Skylor had given them, Nya grabbed the pot of traveller's tea they'd picked up from that weird tea lady (in case of emergency only), and the two of them entered the lighthouse and climbed the stairs to the highest room.

The only noise in the room was the occasional whistling of the wind through the open windows and the distant breaking of the waves on the rocky shore below.

It wasn't much better than the boat.

Jay found some bowls in one of the cupboards and portioned out the noodles.

Even in the darkest of times, food always seemed to make things a little better. Especially when that food was Skylor's noodles.

Feeling full and slightly more hopeful, Jay and Nya got to work brainstorming ways they could use Jay's last wish.

"What if we wished to resurrect The Great Devourer?" Nya suggested "Then we could sic it on Nadakhan!"

"But what if Nadakhan sics it on us instead? Even Pythor couldn't control The Devourer when he summoned it."

Nya sighed.

They'd been at it for the last two hours and hadn't come up with anything much better.

It's strange how hard it is to figure out what you need when you have anything you can think of at your disposal.

Jay looked over at the frowning Nya.

His stomach churned guiltily as he studied her face, Nadakhan's words replaying in his head.

Jay just wanted to pretend that the wish never happened, but all he could think about was how upset Nya had been the last time he'd seen her.

And he didn't really blame her.

They clearly weren't getting anywhere with the wish right now, so maybe it was a good time to clear the air.

"Hey Nya," Jay said "I wanted to talk to you about…about the wish I made."

Nya looked up from the table. Jay wasn't sure what to make of her expression.

"Is now really the time?" she asked "All of our friends have been captured, and a power-hungry djinn is one step away from total domination of a world he's already half-destroyed. We should be focusing on the wish you still have, not the wish you already made."

"I know there's a lot going on, but you still deserve an apology. I've got some issues, and instead of facing them I just used you in a way that you had already told me you were uncomfortable with. I shouldn't have done that, because that's a horrible way to treat a friend. I knew it the moment I made that wish, and if I could take it back I would, but-"

Jay was cut off by a rough scraping sound as Nya pushed her stool back and stood up.

"And all it took was the end of the world for you to realize that." There was a slight shake in her Nya's voice.

She marched over to the window and crossed her arms, her back turned to Jay.

"Nya?" Jay asked with confusion "What are you-"

"Good on you for realising what you did was wrong. I'm glad you're figuring your stuff out Jay, I really am." Nya interrupted, not sounding particularly glad at all.

"I-I was just trying to apologize!" Jay floundered, totally lost by the sudden anger. "Are…are you okay?"

There was a long moment of silence, but it wasn't dominated by the same bleak oppressiveness of the boat ride.

This one was loaded with palpable tension.

Finally, Nya let out a deep sigh.

"I'm tired Jay. I'm sick of 'Nya deserves the same respect as the boys' being a lesson everyone around me has to learn. Like, what's so difficult about that? Why can't people just be normal about me? Why does everyone treat me like I'm either some weird alien or totally disposable?"

"Oh, I…didn't realize you felt that way. " Jay responded lamely.

"How?" Nya spun around, her eyes burning with rage. "How could you not realize that? Do you not remember how Wu didn't think I was worth training as a ninja at first, even though I showed the same skill level as the rest of you? Or that I'm the only ninja the producers don't call to do those PSAs? Do you not hear the condescending questions about my personal life the reporters ask me and no one else? Or notice that every villain we fight either tries to kidnap or flirt with me? Seriously! It's always me! Everytime!"

"Oh uh, I mean," Jay rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess I did kind of notice that stuff. I didn't really think it bothered you that much, though."

"Maybe that's because everytime I talk about it you guys just brush me off. Not a single person cares about what I want. Wu, our fans, the other ninja, they only care about me when they can get something out of me, and if they can't they just ignore me or tell me to 'get out of the way sweetheart'."

The absolute venom in Nya's voice was enough to silence Jay.

"Sure, you guys will tell off some sexist jerk every once in a while," Nya continued "But you don't realize that's only one step! You'll all congratulate yourselves on what a good job you think you did, but I still have to deal with the sexism coming at me from a million other directions, and no one seems to care! I honestly don't know if you guys just don't see it, or if you're ignoring it on purpose. You say you're my friends, but everything I have or am I had to get on my own!"

Nya paused, her fists clenched and her breathing heavy.

"I know you all think I'm stubborn and headstrong, but have you ever considered it's because I have to be? That I have to struggle and fight every step of the way to not get pushed to the background? Not that it really matters…"

Nya turned back towards the window.

"In everyone else's eyes, all I'll ever be is 'the girl'. The ninja will always be Kai, Lloyd, Zane, Cole, Jay, and 'the girl'. It doesn't matter how strong I am…or how hard I try…I'll never be more than that to anyone…"

Nya's voice broke and her shoulders slumped.

The room was one again filled with silence.

Jay knew he'd betrayed Nya with that wish, but he hadn't realized how much of a microcosm his actions towards her were.

What was he supposed to say now? How could he possibly comfort Nya after everything she'd been through not just this week, but her entire life?

How could he have been such a bad friend for so long?

"Oh no!" Nya broke the silence before Jay could figure out what to say.

"What is it?" Jay shot out of his seat.

"They found us!"

Jay ran over to the window and was horrified to see dozens of ships approaching the lighthouse from all sides.

He and Nya activated every defence the lighthouse had, but a few pirates managed to slip past and distract them long enough for the rest of the crew to dock and swarm the lighthouse.

Jay and Nya tried to use their familiarity of the battlefield to their advantage, but Nadakhan's crew had them hopelessly outnumbered.

During a scuffle on the stairs, most of the traveller's tea they'd brought ended up getting spilt. The portal they'd accidentally created helped Jay and Nya get rid of a few key enemies, but Jay didn't like how light the pot was feeling by the end of that scuffle.

He followed Nya into a boiler room at the base of the lighthouse, slamming the door behind him.

The two of them barred the door with their bodies, but they could tell from the heaving and creaking that it wouldn't hold long.

Jay poured what little remained of the traveller's tea onto the ground. A portal opened in the floor, unquestionably only big enough for one person to go through.

Nya and Jay looked at each other.

"You should be the one to go through." Jay said "If Nadakhan marries you, he'll be unstoppable!"

"Pfft, you really think I'd let that happen?"

"I can handle Nadakhan." Jay insisted "I've been his prisoner before. I can-"

"Jay!" Nya cut him off sharply "Our only hope is your last wish. If Nadakhan captures you, he'll find a way to stop you from using it. But if I'm his prisoner, I can distract him long enough for you to figure out the right wish!"

"Nya, I…" Jay's voice faltered "I can't do this on my own! I'm not-"

"Now's not the time for self-doubt! You're a ninja Jay, you can do this!" Nya grabbed Jay's shoulder and softened her voice "I know you can."

Before he could protest further, Nya pushed Jay through the tiny portal.

"Ny-" Jay's cry was cut off as the portal shrank and closed.

Nya pulled down her mask and drew her chokuto.

The door flew open.

Pirates swarmed into the room, only to be met with the ferocious blade of a ninja who had nothing to lose.

As skilled a fighter as Nya was, she was still only one ninja. She managed to take down the first few waves of pirates, but they eventually managed to overwhelm and restrain her.

Nya struggled against her hand ties, knowing she couldn't break free, but refusing to go down without a fight every step of the way.

"Well, well, well."

She momentarily stopped struggling when she heard that slimy voice.

"You tried your best to escape me, little ninja." Nadakhan said "I commend your efforts, even if they were futile from the beginning. Bring her to Ddjinjago!" Nadakhan commanded, "She has a wedding to get ready for."

He poofed away before Nya could tell him exactly what she thought of his wedding.

It was a beautiful sunny day at the scrapyard, and Ed and Edna were spending it outside combing through one of the many mountains of old parts.

"What about this diddlywoozit Edna?" Ed pulled a rusty contraption he'd spotted out of the scrap pile. "It's in great shape! Can't imagine why anyone would've thrown it out."

"That's a wonderful find Ed, but it looks like it might be too big for the coffeemaker extension. Oh! But if we cleaned it up a bit, it'd be perfect for-"

Vwooom!

Ed and Edna looked up at the noise and saw a small hole swirling with sparkling energy open up above them.

"Now what in the hey-diddly-dey do you suppose that is?" Ed asked as he squinted up at the hole.

Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the hole shrank and vanished.

"Well now, that was odd."

"-aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Do you hear something, dear?" Edna asked.

Crash!

Ed and Edna covered their faces as bits of debris flew in their direction.

Once the dust had settled, Edna cautiously lowered her arm.

"Well fill me with stuffing and call me a turkey," she exclaimed "It's Jay!"

"Our Jay fell out of that hole in the sky?" Ed rubbed his chin thoughtfully "Ah, so he must've gotten himself mixed up in some ninja magic shenanigans. That explains things."

Jay groaned from his newly-created crater.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Edna moved to help Jay sit up "That was quite a big fall you had there."

"Eugggh…" Jay rubbed his head "Where am I?"

"Why, you're here in the scrapyard." Ed looked at Edna, "We'd better get this kid inside and figure out what's going on. He's looking like a bigger mess than the toaster I made you for our first anniversary."

Edna nodded in agreement and led Jay to the RV.

Flintlocke fiddled with his moustache anxiously as he watched Dogshank carry the ninja into what used to be a flower shop. She flailed and screamed the whole way, but Digshank had her securely tucked under her massive arm.

The yelling was finally silenced as the door shut behind the pair, but the ghost of the indignant noise lingered in Flintlocke's ears.

He watched as the door opened again and two of his crew emerged, struggling to carry an abundant array of flowers.

"Did you get the rhododendrons?" the one in the front asked.

"Uh…I think so." The one in the back replied. "That's these pink ones, right?"

"You don't know what they look like?!"

"How would I know? I'm a pirate, not a botanist!"

"Well you'd better find out, because you know how Captain Nadakhan gets if he doesn't get what he-"

"Ow!" Flintlocke cried as he accidentally pulled out a moustache hair.

The two pirates whipped their heads around in concern.

"Are you okay, sir?" The one in the back asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Flintlocke hurriedly assured them "I just…I need to talk to the captain about something!"

The two pirates gave each other a confused look as Flintlocke marched off.

Flintlocke found Nadakhan by the temple they were holding the wedding at. He was talking to Doubloon, Monkey Wretch, and a few other pirates about the wedding and their newest prisoner.

"...must be perfect. And under no circumstances is anyone to harm the girl. Do I make myself-"

"Captain!" Flintlocke interrupted, "I'd like to have a word with you about this whole wedding business!"

"Ah, Flintlocke." Nadakhan raised an eyebrow "You suddenly have a problem with the wedding?"

"My problem ain't sudden, captain. There's been a disrest brewing in me from the moment you told me you wanted to marry that girl. Seeing her dragged up here screaming's just what's pushed it over the brim."

"You have an issue with taking prisoners now? Quite a strange ethical stance for a pirate." Nadakhan drawled sarcastically.

"You know I can stomach a lot worse than kidnapping captain, but this is all completely unnecessary! That girl doesn't need to be here and you don't need to marry her! I know you had a thing for Delara, but that ain't Delara."

"She's just as good as Delara." Nadakhan shrugged "Once we're married, I'll have the power to build Djinnjago."

Flintlocke baulked.

Nadakhan was barely even trying to hide his true intentions anymore. Had he even really cared about Delara?

"We already have the power to build Djinnjago!" Flintlocke gestured wildly to the floating islands around them "And it's clear as day you ain't marrying that girl because you love her, so the only reason you possibly could be marrying her is so that you wouldn't need us anymore!"

Flintlocke whipped out his pistol and aimed it at Nadakhan.

The surrounding pirates gasped.

Nadakhan laughed.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time until something like this happened." Nadakhan examined his fingernails "You have been incessantly whining about my marriage these past few days. Ah, but you forget, the little ninja wished away your shooting abilities. Even standing this close to me, you won't make that shot."

Flintlocke gritted his teeth. He knew Nadalhan was right. That wish had screwed up his aim.

But surely…if he was standing this close to Nadakhan…

Pow!

The shot sailed right past Nadakhan's head.

"You have guts, I'll give you that." He said "Now, would someone be so kind as to detain this defector?"

The crew members looked at each other uneasily.

"I said now!" Nadakhan barked.

Two pirates scurried over to Flintlocke and pinned his arms behind his back.

He didn't fight them. He just kept glaring defiantly at Nadakhan.

"It's a shame things had to end like this." Nadakhan said "You used to be my best man, but I have no use for a treacherous marksman who can't even shoot straight. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to prepare for, and you have a deck to swab."

With a puff of orange smoke, Nadakhan was gone.

The remaining pirates awkwardly looked between themselves and Flintlocke, unsure what to do.

Monkey Wretch suddenly started screeching, signalling everyone to get back to work. The pirates all scrambled back to their wedding preparations.

As he was led away, Flintlocke hung his head, unable to look any of his crew in the eye.

"...and that's how I ended up here." Jay concluded.

He was sitting on the recliner in the RV, wrapped in a blanket with a mug of hot cocoa in his hands.

"Well son- er, Jay, it sure is lucky that magical portal landed you in our junkyard." Ed said.

"Yeah, but now Nya's trapped with an evil djinn who's gonna force her to marry him so he can take over the world, and it's all my fault."

"Now now, dear," Edna rubbed Jay's back, "This may be a bit of a sticky pickle, but you'll find a way to fix things. You always do."

"No I don't, the team always fixes things. I just make everything worse. If I hadn't been such a selfish liar, then Nadakhan wouldn't have taken everyone. Now all that's left is the useless ninja. I'll bet that's why he left me. He didn't figure I'd be able to do anything to stop-"

"Alright, I've heard just about enough of this!" Ed suddenly stood up from his chair.

"Huh?" Jay blinked.

"Ed dear, maybe you should calm down and-"

"No Edna, I will not calm down." Ed gave Jay a pointed look "And I'm not going to just sit here and watch while you do this to yourself!"

"Um…what are you-"

"Don't you interrupt me! You know Jay, I don't know why you put yourself down like this. You've got friends that care about you, you're one of the most creative kids I know, you're a gosh-dang ninja for Pete's sake! A person like that is far from worthless."

"But…I've just been messing everything up lately…"

"When I mess up the buggy, do you think I sit around feeling sorry for myself? No! I get back out there and fix my mistake."

"But I didn't just overtax a battery, I lied and got all of my friends captured. This isn't something I can fix."

"Nonsense, you're one of the greatest fixers around Jay." Ed insisted.

"You're just saying that."

"Of course he isn't!" Edna piped up indignantly, "You fixed that old ship of yours when it wouldn't fly, you fixed your father and me when we were turning into snake-people, you even fixed your friendship with Cole. And I'll be honest, I thought that last one was beyond repair."

Things break Jay," Ed's voice softened "That's life. And sure, maybe you have a tendency to break more things than others, but no matter how many things you break, you always have a choice. You can either give up, or you can stand up and try to fix what you broke. The Jay I know never gave up because…because…er, what's that thing you alway say?"

"'Ninja never quit', dear." Enda said.

"Yeah, that's it! You never give up because you're a ninja Jay!"

"No, that's not it..." Jay scrunched his eyebrows thoughtfully. "I was a stubborn lunkhead long before I became a ninja."

Jay drained the last of his cocoa and stood up, tossing aside his blanket.

"That's something I picked up from growing up in a junkyard with two crazy inventors."

Ed's eyes widened as Jay ran over and wrapped him in a hug.

"Thanks Dad!"

"Y-You…" a wide smile spread across Ed's face as he hugged Jay back "You called me 'Dad'!"

"Of course I did, you raised me and taught me all the stuff I needed to know." Jay turned to look at Edna "You too Mom!"

"Oh!" Edna put her hand over her heart before joining Jay and Ed for a big family group hug. "You don't know how happy I am to hear that son!"

The three of them stood there with their arms wrapped around each other for a full minute before Jay broke away from the group.

"Not that this isn't great, but I've kinda got an evil djinn to stop, and I need to gather up some help, so I'd better get going. Thanks for the pep talk," Jay smiled at both of his parents "I really needed someone to remind me who I am."

"Bye son!" Ed called as Jay ran out the door "Good luck saving the world!"

Ed and Edna watched as Jay summoned his dragon and took off towards Ninjago City.

"You know Ed," Edna said "I was worried when you started yelling, but that seems to be just what Jay needed to fix that funk he was in."

"I wasn't yelling, Edna. I was speaking passionately." Ed wrapped his arm around Enda's side. "Sometimes they just need a good kick in the pants to set their head straight."

Edna reached her arm across Ed's back. The two of them smiled at each other before turning to watch Jay's dragon fly off towards Ninjago City.

Slosh, slosh.

Flintlocke sighed as he pulled his mop out of the bucket and wrung it out.

He gave the ball chained around his ankle a good yank. Flintlocke didn't have any elemental powers that needed dampening, but the weight kept him from running away from his punishment of cleaning Misfortune's Keep.

Or from trying to organize a proper mutiny.

Flintlocke cursed himself. Confronting Nadakhan out of the blue on his own had been such a stupid decision! Since when did he go around acting rasher than a drunken sailor whose crush was in town?

But that girl…

Nadakhan had been obsessed with that ninja from the second he laid eyes on her, and it bothered Flintlocke.

As a seasoned pirate, he was more than willing to resort to unsavoury means. Flintlocke did what he had to do for his crew.

But seeing that girl struggle so hard stirred more guilt in him than any law he'd ever broken.

It was impossible for Flintlocke to deny any longer that Nadakhan was marrying her for completely selfish reasons, and in that moment of realization, he'd given into blind rage.

Part of it was directed at Nadakhan, but Flintlocke had mainly been angry at himself for turning a blind eye for so long.

Now all he felt was deep shame for failing his crew with his hasty actions.

"Psst!"

Flintlocke looked up.

For a second, he could have sworn the wind sounded like-

"Hey!" Someone hissed "Over here!"

Flintlocke turned and nearly dropped his mop.

Peeking out from under the stairs to the upper deck was that blue ninja.

"What in the Sam Hill are you-"

"Shh! Keep it down!" the ninja hissed "You're gonna blow my cover."

"If you're trying to keep hidden, what're you doing talking to Nadakhan's second-in-command?"

"Yeah, I feel like if you were still that chummy with Nadakhan, you'd be by his side getting ready for the wedding, not here swabbing the deck."

Flintlocke narrowed his eyes into the dirtiest look he could muster.

"Look," the ninja continued, "I know we have our differences, but I also know you really care about your crew, and I think you know Nadakhan marrying Nya means he won't need a crew anymore."

"That may be true, but so what?" Flintlocke said "What good can a single ninja and a gunslinger who can't shoot straight do against a soon-to-be all-powerful djinn and his crew?"

"Hey, don't sell yourself short. Those pirates respect you. Seeing you stand up ti Nadakhan might just spark something in them."

Flintlocke hummed in consideration.

"Also, we've got more than that on our side." Jay added, "Did you really think I was trying to storm Nadakhan's base all by myself?"

As if on cue, a few ninja, a police officer and Captain Soto popped out from behind the blue ninja.

Flintlocke blinked in surprise.

"I've assembled a small team of back-up ninja to help save the day." the blue ninja crossed his arms proudly "So what do you say? Care to join forces?"

Flintlocke tossed away his mop.

"Get this chain off my ankle, and I'll show you where they're keeping your friend." He said "And I'll help you take down the captain. For real this time."

Jay smiled.

"Welcome to the team."

Thanks so much for reading, feel free to tell me what you think.

Final installment should be up in a week or two. I can't wait to share it with you all :)