Hey ya'll! I'm back with another chapter. I'm so sorry about this being infrequent. I swear I didn't mean to lose my computer (which is the only device this works on). Luckily, I was not wasting the almost-month's worth of time and actually did some stuff. A good portion was spent with random one-shots, which I will eventually post, but I have up until Chapter 5 all written out! Just need editing and I can post them.

Enough of that...time for the good stuff!

Thanks for all faves, follows, and reviews! I really appreciate it. It motivates me to keep writing, and I hope I can live up to your expectations. This is why I'm super excited for this fic 'cause I've got some MAJOR stuff planned out.

Anyway, enough author's note. Let's get to the story!

(Oh, this is a Zane POV. There will be at least chapters from each Ninja's POV).

I stare at the picture Cole had sent me only moments ago.

Even if I didn't have pictures of crystals exactly like this one, I would still know exactly what it is.

The Overlord's crystal. One of his crystals. This shouldn't be real. But Cole, of all people, wouldn't joke about the Overlord. Maybe another villain but not the Overlord. Never the Overlord. Not after what had happened.

I am unaware of texting it, but as soon as I hear the sound phones make when a message is sent, I glance down and see that I texted Cole:

Where did you find that?

Chased some robbers. Found this in stuff they left behind.

That's…not helpful. And I assume, since he sent a picture of it, that he doesn't have it with him. Which…will make this difficult. However, I should be able to see if it matches the pictures I have of the Overlord's crystals.

When light passes through objects or substances, such as a crystal, it reacts differently with different materials and the light that emerges from the object or substance contains data that can be used to figure out what elements the object or substance is made out of. This is something that I can process with pictures, to figure out if one of the Overlord's crystals and the crystal Cole just found have similar chemical makeups. I try not to think about what it might mean with if I find them to have similar chemical makeups….

I work while I wait for Cole to arrive, sorting through my memories to find a shot of one of the Overlord's crystals being hit with light. When I find one that will provide sufficient information, I start processing the data light carries.

Just as I am about to get results, Jay and Lloyd race in, each trying to grab a video game controller from the other, scattering the results into my memory banks. I groan in frustration and turn my attention to the two fighting before me.

"Give it back!" Lloyd cries, tackling Jay and knocking them both over.

I jump out of the way as they roll around the floor of the hangar bay, still struggling to gain control of the video game controller. Before Lloyd can look at the picture stretched across the screen of the main computer in the hangar bay, I exit out of it.

Although it's hard to ignore such a prominent part of our lives, especially since it happened so recently, Lloyd and Kai…are affected the most when it is brought up. Kai pretends otherwise, but the fire alarm has gone off enough times for us to know what's happening…intense nightmares. As for Lloyd, talking about the Overlord's latest conquest is talking about his heritage, particularly his Oni heritage, and he rarely talks about his heritage without paling or glaring at whoever brought it up.

"You cheater! It's my turn!" Jay shouts, rolling the pile that the tangle of him and Lloyd over so he is on top. He struggles to grab the controller from Lloyd, who tries to bring it out of Jay's reach.

I sigh, walking over to the two. They freeze, watching as I approach, waiting for my next move. I immediately keep them from guessing what I will do and stoop down to grab the controller. Neither of them offer any resistance as I take it from them and bring it over to the main computer.

"Are you finished?" I ask, holding the controller in my hand, just out of their reach. Their eyes follow it as though they are puppies watching a treat in their owner's hands.

"Sorry," Lloyd says, shaking his head and snapping out of the trance the sight of the controller put him in. He disentangles himself from wrestling with Jay and gets up, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly. "Were you doing something?"

"Yes," I say simply, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice. Their wrestling match made me lose the information I had just right before me. Although I still have it, I have to search for it in my memory banks. This could have been avoided if they had simply not brought their argument done here.

"Oh, jeez, sorry, Zane," Jay laughs nervously.

I sigh again. "Just do not do it again."

"What are you doing, anyway?" Lloyd asks, causing me to freeze.

I do not wish to lie, but I do not wish to bring up the Overlord's latest attempt at taking over Ninjago.

"...it means we're doing it for a good reason…–" Kai's voice whispers. A white lie…he'd been explaining it to me, about how it was different from regular lies. I would still rather not lie, though. Even for a good reason. The truth will set you free, but what if the truth will hurt your friend? Then, it hits me. It is not really lying if you tell the truth…but leave parts of it out, right?

"Analyzing chemical makeups of certain materials using data from light," I reply, hoping that will be sufficient to quench their curiosity.

"Huh?" Lloyd says, looking confused.

Jay gives me a similar expression before he starts attempting to sneak around me to take back the controller. Lloyd notices him and proceeds to leap at Jay and tackle him again.

"Can you please take it out to the courtyard?" I cry, startling them. They look up and nod. I throw the controller aside just as they start to rush out. Jay alters his route to scoop it up, sparking another tackle from Lloyd, tangling the two together again. They roll into the elevator doing that, making it extremely difficult for me to suppress the laughter rising up in me.

For what seems like the millionth time, but is really only the seven-hundredth and forty-second time, I appreciate my siblings. I owe so much to them, and it is little things like this, even in their unfortunate timing, that make life at the Monastery worth living.

I turn back to my work, muttering though I do not need to and do not truly mean it, "Finally! Enough peace to work!"

And as soon as I speak the words, Nya calls, "Zane! I need your help!"

I turn, surprised and worried, to her, waiting for her to tell me what she needs help with. Instead, she shows me a green hoodie.

"Where should I hide this from Lloyd?"

"Is that…–?" I start to ask.

"It's Greenie," she replies, showing that my analysis was, indeed, correct.

"Greenie" is the name of Lloyd's favorite hoodie. I must admit, it is odd to name an article of clothing, but this is Lloyd's favorite hoodie. He wears it all the time. If he is not wearing his green gi, then he is wearing this. It is essentially his comfort object, though he does not rely on it much. To manage to snatch it from his room is an impressive feat. Now, however, Nya must bury all evidence pointing the cause of Greenie's disappearance to her, or…well, the resulting outcome may not be pretty.

I sigh. This is risky. Exactly something my siblings would do, even if that risk was…dangerous. "Hide it somewhere by the exit," I reply, turning back to my work and waving a hand at the indicated spot. "He doesn't go there often."

"Right, thanks." I hear Nya's footsteps lead away but then abruptly stop as she asks, "Hey, what are you doing?" Then she glances at the main computer screen. On it is the picture of the crystal Cole had sent me about thirty minutes ago. I am concerned as to why he hasn't responded to my question, but I quickly forget about it as I try to find an excuse for the picture. "You're not going to let Kai or Lloyd see that right?"

"I have been attempting to keep it from them. It is not helpful that everyone keeps bursting in here while I analyze this image," I say.

"Why?" Nya's voice is concerned and her face shows perhaps twice that much concern as I turn to face her.

"Cole found it while chasing the robbers we have been attempting to capture," I say. "He wants me to make sure it is simply an imitation of the Overlord's crystals."

Nya looks at the picture with disgust carved into her face. I do not blame her. I share much of the same feelings for the crystals. However, I must be sure this is not the same crystal as the ones the Overlord had used.

"It looks the same," she remarks.

"It may very well be the same," I admit, however grudgingly, and then I say, "But I am attempting to analyze its chemical properties using light."

"How?" She tilts her head at the image.

"Light reacts differently to different substances. We can use this reaction to analyze exactly what elements make it up, be it oxygen or carbon or calcium," I explain, "I am using the light that passes through these crystals to attempt to analyze their chemical makeups."

"That's cool," Nya says, hefting Greenie over her shoulder, "Tell me what you find out. But, in the meantime, I'mma hide this." Then she speeds off in the direction of the hangar bay's exit, usually used for our multitude of vehicles, where Lloyd does not often go. Not usually. He hasn't been on a mission for at least seven weeks due to his broken arm and our unwillingness to let him break it again.

Of course, Jay seems to have forgotten that.

I roll my eyes at the sudden memory of him and Lloyd wrestling for the controller resurfacing. Such a childish pursuit, even for us. You would have thought they were nine….

Then, I turn back to my work, hoping this would be the final interruption.

I manage to get the results from the first image and, learning from the first interruption, write them down. Just as I begin processing the second image, I hear the lift doors open and someone step out. I groan. Not another distraction.

"Hey, Zane," Kai says after about two seconds. He sounds a little breathless, as though he had sprinted the entire way to me. "I was just in my room," he explains, "Messing around on my phone…–"

"Shocker," I murmur. He ignores it and continues.

"...– And my news alert thingy came on and I might have accidentally clicked it."

I raise an eyebrow. "Accidentally" rarely means "accidentally" with my siblings. "What story did you accidentally come across?" I ask, prompting him to continue.

"Well…–" Kai rubs the back of his head and trails off, looking away. He quickly looks back at me after a second and hands me his phone, a paused video on its screen. Then he (finally) notices what is on the main computer screen before I can pull something else up to cover the magnified image. He freezes, his breath catching, but quickly shakes it off. He continues the pretense that he has not been affected by the Overlord's latest conquest.

For a moment, that particular moment, I can't help but feel hurt by how Kai is treating this, how he thinks he cannot tell us his feelings. He's my brother. I want to protect him, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Then that moment, seeming to stretch longer than it should have, ends and Kai shakes his head and says, "J-just watch it."

I nod and close the image so he doesn't have to look at it, and press play on his phone.

The intro music to NGTV plays for a few seconds, before it ends and a reporter's voiceover an image of dozens of crystals, all like the one Cole had found, sounds.

"It's the crystal craze that's sweeping over the city," the voiceover says, "Hundreds are buying these replicas of the crystals used in the Overlord's latest attempt to take over Ninjago. An attempt where, only months ago, many have suffered from. So why are so many people carrying, even treasuring, these reminders of that horrible event? To answer that, we have people from all over Ninjago City give their own thoughts."

The image of the crystals fades and is replaced with a woman sitting in a chair, with a black background behind her. A name flashes across the screen and quickly fades just as she begins to speak.

"I would say that…it's how the city is telling evil that it will never prevail. Using symbols of the Overlord's failed attempt to take over Ninjago seems like a good way," she explains.

A man replaces the woman. "They see it as a symbol of hope, a symbol of strength through good."

He nods, stroking the short beard on his face. "Yeah. It's interesting how quickly this spread, given the replicas first started selling around about…two weeks ago. Nearly everyone I've met has at least one. Some put them on necklaces, others have them in purses or pockets, some even have them set into a phone case. They're everywhere."

Another woman replaces the man. She chuckles, evidently at the question the interviewer asked. "Yeah, you have to admit, they're kinda creepy. But they're also really pretty. I think that some people, particularly influencers, started this trend and a good portion are doing it simply to fit in." She shrugs. "People are pack animals. They don't like being the odd one out."

The interviews stop and are replaced with multiple shots of the crystals.

"As you can see, they're popular," the second woman explains, "They're everywhere. But no one really knows what they are or where they come from. Just that one businessman or woman is very lucky and quite possibly, rolling in the cash."

I can hear Kai snicker behind me. Sometimes, maturity never changes everything. No matter how old that person is. He still can't quite get over certain sayings without giggling. Giggling. Not laughing, not chuckling. There is a fine, distinct line between the two, and Kai is firmly in the giggling side in this matter.

Though, I'm glad he's feeling well enough to laugh about something concerning the Overlord…and so soon after…–

The clip ends and I realize that I had been standing there, staring at Kai's phone, willing it for more information. Kai slips it out of my grip and my hands return to my sides.

"Did that help with…whatever?" he asks, waving a hand at the main computer screen.

"Yes, I believe so," I say, glancing at Kai. My shoulders slump in relief as I realize what the clip meant. "They are replicas. They are not real," I sigh.

Kai's eyebrows furrow. "Yeah, what made you think they're real?"

"Cole…–" I trail off, straightening myself and twisting my hands, "Found them after chasing the robbers we have been attempting to track down. He sent me a picture of those crystals to see if they are the same as the ones used by the Overlord."

"Oh," Kai says. He takes a step back, shaking his head. "Right. That's why you were…–"

Suddenly, Lloyd bursts into the room, glancing around wildly, as he shouts, "Have either of you seen Greenie?" Then he freezes as he sees me and Kai talking, then my analysis reports still on the main computer screen, and a red climbs his cheeks. "R-right, you probably have more important things to talk about than Greenie."

"We do," I agree, half covering for Nya, half getting down to business. I still do not think those crystals are a good idea. Though I haven't completely finished my analysis of the replicas, there is only so much I can do from a picture. I need a sample. "Can you gather the others?"

Welp...hope you enjoyed it! Have a nice day and thanks for reading!