"We found it!" Nya declared triumphantly.

"Really?" Cole gasped. They all crashed and stumbled into each other as they rushed over to where Nya and Zane were staring intently at their computer screen. Cole's eyes honed in on the familiar car that they'd spent the last hour searching for. It was only half visible in the bottom left of the screen but was definitely the same car. "Isn't that the bar in this town?" He remembered passing by it yesterday. While it was great it was so close, this didn't seem like a good sign. The chances that Lloyd was just hanging out at some bar was almost zero. The kid wasn't old enough to drink, even if he was, he had no interest in it. And Lloyd still wasn't answering his phone…

"It is," Zane nodded. "However, the vehicle seems to have left town for some time before returning. That paired with the vehicle's location being at a bar, the probability that Lloyd is still with the car is extremely low. And he was not accompanying the driver."

"So did you see the driver?" Kai demanded, glaring at the screen as if it had offended him in some way.

Nya hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah… Not really sure what to make it though…"

She rewound the feed, everything moving in reverse as the minutes ticked back. Cole was watching out for any one suspicious so he was blindsided when a normal looking teenage girl slipped into the drivers seat. He'd seen her coming, but he'd been expecting her to just walk past the car. Nya sped forward a little more then paused on a frame with a full view of the girl. Yeah, the girl looked normal. Around Lloyd's age, long clean black hair, off-shoulder black and silver shirt, no tatoos, no weapons, no weird scars. Maybe it wasn't the same car? No, it had to be. But…

"He was sneaking off to meet a girl in the middle of the night?!" Jay gasped. It took Cole a second to process what Jay was implying, then he blanched.

"There's no way," Kai said, taken aback.

Cole was baffled. "Have any of you ever seen her before?" He definitely hadn't.

"No."

"Nope."

"Never seen her in my life."

"Negative."

"It doesn't have to be- like- a romantic thing," Cole reasoned, but he was freaking out a bit in his head. There was no way this was some kind of cray romantic rebound to get over Harumi. Lloyd wasn't emotionally ready for that; Harumi had crushed him by turning out to be an evil bitch. The kid wouldn't want to move on to another girl so quickly. This new girl was pretty, and Lloyd was somewhat emotionally volatile right now, but Lloyd wasn't the type to rush a relationship like that. And he would have told the rest of them. "Maybe they're just friends. Or maybe she's just a Lyft driver." Lloyd had a car though, and a bike, there was no reason to pay someone else to give him a ride.

"We know all of Lloyd's friends," Kai scowled, giving the girl on the screen a look of supreme dislike. "Are we sure she was the one driving the car when Lloyd got in it?" That was a good point.

"No," Nya frowned. "It's possible she wasn't the one driving the car at the time. She's our best lead right now though."

That was enough for Kai. "Right, let's go!" the fire ninja almost shouted, already halfway to the door. Jay hurried after him.

"I'll stay behind to monitor the cameras," Zane volunteered. "I will also see if I can find any information on this mystery girl."

"Good thinking," Cole nodded. "It's not like we all need to be there to question her anyways. She looks like a normal civilian. And she isn't trying to hide or anything." She didn't seem guilty of anything.

Jay's voice called out to them from down the hall. "Guys, hurry up! Kai's leaving without us!"

This was a rare occasion where Cole supported Kai's impatience.

They were standing in front of the bar fifteen minutes later. In their rush, none of them had put on their gi, which was probably for the better, they didn't want to draw too much attention. The girl might have taken them more seriously if they were in uniform though. Hm, it was fine. They were just asking her what she knew.

As he gazed up at the bar's neon sign which looked dull in the sunlight he realized, "It's kinda weird to be in a bar at this time of day, right?" Or maybe it wasn't. Cole wasn't familiar with bar culture. Why have alcohol when you can have a milkshake.

Kai was seething beside him, heat radiating off him even without any fire. "It's shady as the cursed realm." Kai had already decided this girl was some kind of demon in human skin out to hurt Lloyd. Admittedly, they were all more protective of Lloyd after the Harumi betrayal. They all felt like they should have noticed something, stopped it somehow. Even Cole was struggling not to jump to the worst conclusion. This girl could easily be totally innocent.

"It's got normal food too," Jay pointed out.

"She could be meeting up with someone else," Nya theorized.

"Kai, maybe you should stay out here," Cole suggested. "In case she tries leave." Kai's approach might be too aggressive.

"What?!" Kai snapped his head to glare at Cole. "No way I'm staying out here. You stay out here."

Cole didn't want to stay out here either. Really the girl running away wasn't likely to be a problem. Even if she did for some reason, they were four fully trained ninja. A teenage girl didn't stand a chance. "Ugh, we'll all go in. Just don't scare her off, Kai."

"Yeah, Kai," Nya seconded, elbowing her brother.

"No lady runs from me," Kai puffed. "Except for the evil ones. And even then, they're tempted." The rest of them rolled their eyes.

"Let's just approach her normally," Cole cautioned. "And you should probably take the lead Nya. Talk to her girl to girl."

"Cool," Nya nodded. "I'm on it."

There weren't many people inside. An older man in a corner booth, a young couple in a window seat, and the girl was sitting alone at the bar in the center, drinking a vibrant pink and blue drink from a tall glass.

The girl turned to face them as they got close. She didn't seem offput by strangers coming up to her, only vaguely curious.

"Hi," Nya greeted. "We were wondering if we could talk to you."

"You're already talking to me," the girl answered, taking another sip of her drink. Cole noticed her nails were painted in very fancy patterns. He wondered what her brightly colored beverage tasted like.

"We think you might have given our friend a ride last night," Nya continued.

"Oh?" The girl raised an eyebrow. "And who is this friend of yours?"

"Um, Lloyd," Nya answered, a bit of uncertainty creeping in. "Blonde, green eyes…" Should they mention Lloyd being the green ninja? She had to know, right? But Lloyd hadn't been in his gi…

"Hm," the girl hummed, swirling her cup so the straw spun in circles. "Why exactly are you asking?" The way she said it made it sound like she knew. Why not just tell them? Was it because she didn't know who they were, or did she have darker reasons?

"We want to know where he is!" Kai burst, taking a step forward.

The girl was silent for a moment. Then, "You don't know where he is?" Her lips quirked.

Cole's opinion of the girl took a steep downward turn.

"We're asking you if you know where he is!" Jay snapped, prickling up angrily. Cole covertly bumped the lightning ninja's shoulder. They were all on edge, but losing their cool wasn't going to make this girl answer their questions.

"Kind of a private question to ask before even introducing yourself," the girl said lazily. "You could want that information for all sorts of reasons."

Cole grudgingly had to admit that was fair. "We're not Lloyd's enemies," he assured her, but something felt off. Surely a friend of Lloyd's would have recognized them and already know that. Maybe she was just a rando. "We're the other ninja." Saying they were Lloyd's brothers and sister would just complicate things. "Maybe you didn't recognize us out of our uniforms? I'm the earth ninja, he's the fire, he's the lighting, and she's water." Cole nodded at each of the other ninja in turn.

"Oh no, I already knew who you are," the girl snorted, amused. "I was just pointing out that you were being rude. My name's Zuki. Zuki Enyo. So, Lloyd didn't come back then?" The news didn't seem to worry her.

"No, he didn't," Nya confirmed, struggling not to sound annoyed. "And you're the last person we know saw him."

"Hm." Zuki tapped her nails against the countertop. "Maybe he's just avoiding you."

"What?!" Cole was so genuinely surprised by the accusation that he wasn't even angry. Kai didn't have that problem. The fire ninja was livid.

"He would never!" Kai shouted, getting right into Zuki's face. The girl didn't react to having an enraged man looming aggressively over her. She just kept her somewhat smug confidence that was really starting to grate on Cole's nerves. "Just tell us where Lloyd is!"

Zuki gave Kai an unimpressed look. "My, my, not the cleverest out there, are you? If your leader is missing, I wouldn't go around screaming it to the world. Especially considering Ninjago's current state."

Cole glanced over at the couple in the window seat, who had twisted around to see what the commotion was about. "She's got a point, Kai," he admitted in a low voice. If Lloyd was out somewhere by himself, they didn't want any bad guys to know about it. And, if Garmadon wasn't responsible and he found out Lloyd was gone…

"Well- she- urgh," Kai stuttered. In a quieter voice, he told Zuki. "If you were Lloyd's friend, you'd tell us where you took him."

Zuki tilted her head slyly. "I never said we were friends."

Nya's eyes narrowed. "You aren't going to tell us, are you." It wasn't a question.

The strange girl smirked. "I'm no snitch."

The tension in the air grew thick. Cole's jaw clenched, Kai's hands tightened into fists, Nya's expression went cold, and Jay's muscles went taut.

Zuki looked as calm as ever.

"You are going to tell us," Kai threatened.

"And how are you going to make me?" Zuki asked silkily, silver eyes glinting like daggers. "You don't even have your weapons. I'm not impressed with those paltry powers you've got on loan." What did that even mean? "Lloyd is the only one of your lot that is even remotely threatening. And, as you've so aptly pointed out, Lloyd isn't with you."

They stared each other down for a few long seconds. Neither party backed down.

"You're coming with us," Cole ordered. They couldn't properly interrogate her in public if she was going to be uncooperative.

Zuki smiled, putting down her drink. "Nah."

Suddenly, Cole was choking on thick silver smoke and couldn't see an inch in front of his face. How had she-?

The bell on the front door jingled.

"Shit," Kai swore. At the same time Nya cursed, "Crap."

Cole made for the entrance; he knew it was basically straight behind him. He bumped into someone, probably Jay judging by the grunt, on the way but once they burst out the door the air was clear again.

"There she is!" Kai shouted. Zuki was already on the roof of the next building, just standing there as she watched them stumble out of the bar. She didn't seem in any rush to get away. Cole's teeth ground together. If she wanted to be cocky and make it easier for them to catch her, that was fine with him.

The ninja surged forward. Jay threw a bolt of lightning at her in an attempt to stun her, but she merely leaned to the side to avoid it. Then she took off running.

And she was good.

Any lingering doubt that she wasn't your average teenage girl was wiped away as she effortlessly led them on a chase across town, jumping between streets and rooftops as needed without pause. She was dodging attacks, making incredible leaps, throwing smoke balls at just the right moment… The four of them should have been able to cut her off and pin her down easily but she'd always do something unexpected at the last second and she'd slip away. They needed to corner her.

Finally, she made a mistake.

Cole grinned triumphantly. "We've got her now," he told the others. "She just went into that storage building. There's no other way out." She must be getting tired if she was trying to hide to shake them off. But Cole had gotten a glimpse of her as she closed the door and now she was trapped.

"Great," Kai panted, landing next to him on the roof. "Let's go get that confession."

They all crept into the building, more of a shed. Cole stayed in front of the door to block any escape. There were only a few light bulbs to illuminate the room so the visibility wasn't great but there weren't many places to hide. Which was why a few minutes later…

"Cole, are you sure she ran in here?" Jay questioned, anxiously tapping his fingers against his side.

"Positive," Cole insisted. He was sure.

"Well, where is she then?" Kai challenged, sweeping an arm out at the room.

"I don't-" Cole started, only to break off when Jay suddenly leapt back from the racks he'd been checking. Something small ran past Jay's legs, way too small to be a human. A black cat scurried up a stack of crates then gazed down at them from its new perch. It probably thought they couldn't reach it up there.

"Sorry, kitty," Jay apologized. "We're looking for someone, we didn't mean to bother you. You didn't see a girl run in here, did you?"

"The cat isn't going to answer," Kai snapped.

"She definitely came in here though," Cole argued, but he was beginning to doubt himself. "And there's no other way out. Do you think she has powers?" Could she phase through walls somehow? But why wouldn't she have used that before now?

"Powers?" Nya frowned. "From where? She didn't seem to be using any powers."

"I don't know," Cole shrugged. His phone started ringing and for a moment Cole was hopeful that it was Lloyd finally calling back. But that hope withered when he checked the ID and saw it was just Zane.

Cole answered the call. "Zane, what's up? You find anything?"

"I have gathered more information on the girl," Zane reported. "Her name is Zuki Enyo, and she has a fairly extensive criminal record."

"Criminal record?" Cole repeated, surprised. Lloyd was meeting up with a criminal? Why?

"Yes, she's been especially active these past couple months," Zane informed him. "though she has crimes dating back to her childhood. Supposedly, she was a student at Darkley's School for Bad Girls, but I have yet to verify that. Darkley's didn't keep any official records so that information isn't easily accessible."

Darkley's sister school? That could explain how Lloyd knew her… But Lloyd almost never even mentioned the other school except to say how scary the girls were. Cole had never gotten the impression that Lloyd had been friends with any of them. The two schools weren't exactly close to each other either. There was a lot of Darkley's stuff Lloyd just didn't talk about though, it was possible he'd just never brought it up.

"None of them were violent crimes," Zane continued. "Vandalism and theft mostly. They also appear to have been solo crimes with no ties to any villainous organizations." That was good, right?

"Did you manage to figure out where she might live?" Cole asked. It must be somewhere nearby.

"No, she seems to move around a lot," Zane noted. "I will continue to investigate. Have you not talked to her yet?"

"She wasn't in a chatty mood," Cole sighed, ashamed to admit their failure. "I… think we might have lost her."

"How unfortunate," Zane said. "I will attempt to locate her on my end."

The others were now huddled around Cole trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. Kai's gaze was particularly intense.

"Thanks, Zane," Cole nodded.

"I will call if I find anything," Zane assured him, then hung up.

"What did Zane say?" Nya prodded. Cole told them what Zane had just told him.

"So she's a criminal?" Kai scowled. "Why would Lloyd hang out with a criminal?"

"Maybe she was a childhood friend?" Jay suggested.

"But he's never talked about being friends with any Darkley's girls," Nya countered. "Plus, she would've been, like, at least four or five years older than him. Little boys aren't generally friends with girls five years older than them." Oh yeah, Cole hadn't thought about that.

"Maybe they didn't know each other before last night," Cole shrugged.

"Hey," Jay realized. "Couldn't we go and search her car? There might be clues in there and she's bound to come back for it eventually, right?"

They all blinked at the lightning ninja with slightly stunned expressions.

"First Master," Kai breathed. "Jay coming up with a good idea? What is the world coming to?"

"Hey!" Jay gasped, offended.

"That's a great idea, Jay!" Nya beamed and Jay blushed at the compliment.

"We better get there quickly," Cole urged. "She might already be going back for it."

They all raced out of the building. The cat watched them go. Once the door had shut, the feline rolled her eyes.