Hey, all! Here's chapter 18!

Chase's walk home was quiet. Minimal cars and people were roaming the streets at this late afternoon hour.

He made sure to keep his little container of healing saliva in the zip-up pocket of his pants. He didn't want to risk losing potentially the only thing that could save his injured friends.

He decided to take a shortcut home, wanting to provide the ninja with the healing serum as fast as possible. This quickly turned out to be a mistake.

Chase turned down an alleyway, knowing that this particular road would save him the time of weaving through an intersection.

But as he neared the end of the garbage-infested alleyway, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. It took all of his willpower not to scream his lungs out. Without even looking at who was behind him, he knew that he was in trouble.

He turned around, only to meet eyes with some stranger dressed in all black. He was definitely part of Garmadon's army, based on the black attire and purple-tinted eyes.

This time, Chase did scream. He was kicking himself inside for choosing to go down such an alleyway. Now Kai and Lloyd would have to wait even longer for their cure.

The figure grabbed both of his shoulders and hurled him onto the ground with a weird, satisfied grunting noise.

Chase hit the ground, positive he heard something break. As he stood, a sharp pain shot through his ribs. He struggled to stand, but he fought the agony, knowing that the ninja were more important than his ailing ribs right now.

He adjusted his backpack so it would fit better, than he attempted to run. But it was no use, as the figure once again pounced on him, causing Chase to collapse underneath him.

Chase was unable to get up due to the weight. "Get off me, you monster!" he shouted.

"My name is Draven! You shall not escape my wrath!"

"Your wrath? Isn't it more like Garmadon's wrath?" Chase couldn't believe the fact that he was actually making conversation with an enemy, but he couldn't help his curiosity.

"Garmadon? Who in all the sixteen realms is Garmadon?" Draven seemed taken aback.

"What? You don't know who Garmadon is?" Chase squirmed under Draven's deathly weight, but the shadowy figure wasn't loosening his grip.

"Never heard of him in my life."

"So, then…who exactly are you?"

"Me? Why, I am Draven, the oldest Master of Shadow. I seek to exterminate all elemental masters, past, present, and future!"

"Hold on, if you're an elemental master, why do you want to exterminate all other elemental masters?"

"Enough questions!" Draven sounded angry, and his next action confirmed that. He threw his fist at the helpless Chase, succeeding to hit directly on his shoulder.

Chase shut his eyes, attempting not to make the slightest sound of pain, hoping that would cover up his weakness.

He thought to himself how lucky he was to have made even the slightest conversation with a rising villain. Draven didn't even seem that evil, aside from physically assaulting him. Maybe he didn't choose to be evil.

Chase made a mental note to himself to research more about Draven when he got out of this mess. If he got out of this mess.

Draven finally released Chase from his weight, but as soon as Chase stood up, Draven grabbed by the collar on his shirt and pulled him close.

"I know what you have," Draven whispered. Chase's hand protectively went to the pocket holding his only hope to save his friends.

Draven nodded. "Exactly that. And if you don't turn it over, there will be consequences." Chase turned away, wanting to run, but unable to due to the death grip Draven had on him.

"Never." Chase wrenched his other arm free, clasping his pocket desperately.

"Hand it over. I mean it."

"Not a chance." Chase looked around. He saw a dumpster overflowing with trash to his right. If he could just get behind it and hide until this monster left, maybe he'd get out alive–and mostly unharmed.

But how would he get behind that dumpster? He decided to use a very uncreative method to do so.

"Look out!" Chase called, pointing behind Draven. There wasn't anything there, but he hoped that Draven would fall for it and look away. And he did. The villain whipped his head around searching for the supposed danger.

Chase wasted no time in diving behind the dumpster. When Draven looked back, Chase could hear him angrily shouting. "You won't get away from me that easily, you little weasel! I'll find you, if it's the last thing I do!"

Chase was surprised that Draven didn't even bother looking for him. He breathed a sigh of relief, double and triple checking his pocket to ensure that the healing serum was safe.

He realized that Draven must be after all the elemental masters, including him. That also meant the ninja. He had to warn them, but he also remembered that Draven was only a rising villain, one that wasn't quite popular yet.

But the underdogs can sometimes be the most dangerous. Anyhow, their real problem was the obvious one: Garmadon and his forces. After they dealt with him, they could switch gears and focus on Draven.

But for right now, until something dreadful happened, Draven honestly didn't pose much of a threat. Of Chase's knowledge, he didn't even have a force. But he'd have to do more research.

Chase slowly got up from the bags of trash he'd been lying in. He hoped he didn't smell too bad, but he'd take a shower either way.

His walk home was very cautious. He didn't want to run into another stranger like Draven on his way back to the bounty.

The whole way back, he kept a sturdy hand attached to his pocket, fearing that more people like Draven would be after it. But why was Draven after it? What did he want with it? He must have wanted to ensure that Kai and Lloyd didn't get better, which would get rid of two elemental masters. After all, it was his goal to exterminate them all, so us not having the serum would only make his job easier.

Chase shrugged, relieved that he still had possession over the most precious liquid he had ever known.

He beamed when he saw the tips of the bounty appearing through his peripheral vision. He knew he was safe now.

Chase sprinted towards the open garage. It was empty, except for Nya, who was fixing up something with one of the vehicles. She looked up when she heard Chase approaching.

"Hey, Chase." Then her expression instantly changed to disgust. "Woah, Chase, where have you been? It smells like a garbage dump."

Chase only laughed. "It's a long story. But there's something I want to tell all of you at dinner. It's important."

"Got it. Hopefully it'll explain the smell."

"Yep, it will." With that, Chase bolted inside, swinging his backpack off his shoulder and taking off his garbage-stained jacket.

He shut the door to his room, and just as he was about to undress fully, he remembered the serum. He bolted back out the door and out to the garage, where Nya was still hard at work.

"You need something Chase?" she asked, taking off the headphones she wore.

"Nya, I have more of the healing serum to heal Kai and Lloyd!" Chase exclaimed.

At first, Nya looked disoriented, but soon she realized what Chase was talking about. "You mean more of that fox's saliva?"

"Yeah!" He pulled out the small container from his pocket, showing it to the water ninja.

"That's great! Where'd you get it from?"

"I'll tell you later. That's not important right now. We need to focus on giving it to Kai and Lloyd."

"Right." She unhooked a few things, then ran inside. Chase followed. They were met by Zane, who looked confused at our hurry.

"What's the rush?" he asked. All Chase did was show him the container, and instantly, recognition played on the titanium ninja's face.

"You got more of it? How? Where?"

"I'll tell you later. Let's focus on getting this to Kaii and Lloyd." Zane nodded, and the three of us bolted down the hall towards where the injured ninja were resting. They hadn't shown much improvement over the course of their ailment, so hopefully this would do the trick.

Nya equalized the amount of saliva into two containers so they would each get an equal share. Then Zane slowly tipped the liquid down Lloyd's throat, and Nya did the same for Kai.

Chase only watched in anticipation, praying with all his heart that this was the cure. And if it was–and it most likely was–, he needed to give Kara a big thank-you note with some sort of gift. She could be the reason Kai and Lloyd live.

After the containers were empty, Zane and Nya took a step back, watching nervously as they waited for some sort of reaction.

After a few long, torturous minutes, Kai opened his eyes. "Guys?" Nya screamed, moving in for a hug.

"Woah, woah, woah, chill," Kai said groggily, but he definitely sounded like his old self again.

Then Lloyd woke up. "Hello?" Nya screamed again, repeating what she did to Kai on Lloyd. He had a similar reaction, taken aback by how tightly Nya hugged him.

"Woah, how long have I been out?" Lloyd asked.

"A few days. You were hit hard," Chase said. Everyone was smiling. Chase felt relieved, but something was tugging at him. It was Draven. He couldn't get that mysterious villain out of his head.

Chase said good night to those in the room and headed quietly to his own room. He heard Jay and Cole in the gaming room. He shook his head with a smile on his face. Those two were so wrapped up in their game, they didn't even realize that their friends were now awake and healthy. He decided he'd let them find out on their own.

Chase undressed and stepped into the shower. As he felt the warm water running down his face, all he could think of was Draven. Who was he really? Questions spiraled in his mind, clogging his thoughts.

Chase wanted to dismiss it, hoping that he really wasn't that dangerous at all, but deep down, he knew that wasn't true. Draven was dangerous to some degree, and he could become another Garmadon.

What Chase didn't know was just how dangerous Draven really was, and dismissing him would prove to be a very big mistake.

Chapter 18, complete! Hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to review, your feedback/suggestions are always appreciated! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!

Ducky :)