"Well, I hope I was able to help," Chen smiled. "You are all welcome back anytime. Just no weapons."
All eyes glared at Kai, who huffed and stormed out without a word. Garmadon continued talking with Chen while Lloyd, Jay and Nya reviewed everything they had just learned. The three were about to head out when Skylor approached them. Although, she seemed interested in one person in particular.
"So, you guys leaving?" she asked.
"About to, why?" Lloyd replied.
"No reason," Skylor shot back at Lloyd.
Lloyd and Jay exchanged confused looks as Skylor leaned towards Nya, slipping a paper into her hand.
"I wouldn't mind seeing you again," she smiled.
"Me?" Nya spluttered, cheeks turning pink.
"Of course, sweets," Skylor chuckled. "Here's my number. Call me if you get tired of the boys club."
Skylor smirked and winked at Nya before walking off. Nya turned, seeing Lloyd and Jay staring back.
"What was that?" Lloyd questioned with a little grin.
"Was she flirting with you?" Jay asked.
"I honestly don't know," Nya replied, staring blankly at the paper. "Let's just agree not to tell Kai."
The other two nodded, not wanting to see the hothead flip out. They walked outside where Garmadon and Kai were climbing into the car, Kai getting scolded for how he acted.
"Were you trying to turn him away? Huh? You may have blown the entire mission if Chen were anyone else!"
"I'm sorry," Kai sassed. "But in our realm, that man tried to steal our powers and kill me and my friends! Twice! You'd be on edge, too!"
Garmadon sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, collecting his thoughts. "Apologies, Kai, but we all know how important this mission is. If this goes wrong, someone is going to die. I'm trying to prevent that."
"We all know the risk," Lloyd sighed, "but it's one we're willing to take."
"Alright," Garmadon started the car. "Then we will return to the monastery and devise a plan."
The drive back was quiet and ominous. The group was just reviewing the information they'd learned. No one had ever met Lilly in their world, but it did make them wonder if she was as good a person as Cole remembered. Sure, everything and everyone was very different in this realm, but it still crossed their minds.
They arrived back at the monastery, and Garmadon asked them to wait outside while he went to talk with Wu. Kai moved to sit on the ground, thinking.
"What's up, Kai?" Nya asked, moving to sit with him.
"Just worried," Kai replied. "I mean, we don't know anything about this realm. We don't know Cole's situation or where to start looking for Zane."
"I highly doubt Zane's situation would be worse than Cole's," Lloyd assured him. "Zane is probably living a peaceful life in the lab with his father."
"Why don't we go find them then?" Jay asked. "Having Zane would be helpful."
"That's a good start, and we can do that," Wu spoke as he and Garmadon entered the training grounds.
"We will also need to visit Ray and Maya at the Blacksmith shop to get some weapons and armour," Garmadon added.
"But first, some good news," Wu continued. "We have contacted the Ivory City, and they are sending transportation for us. It should arrive tomorrow night, putting us in Shintaro the next morning."
"That's great news," Lloyd grinned.
"So tomorrow morning, Kai, Lloyd, and I will depart for Ignacia to get our weaponry, and Wu will take Jay and Nya to look for Zane," Garmadon added. "In the meantime, I think it's time for some training."
"Training? But we are all already skilled fighters," Jay frowned. "We don't need training."
"Perhaps training wasn't the word," Wu replied. "Maybe testing is better."
"Testing?" Lloyd questioned.
"While you four know your strengths and weaknesses, we know Lilly," Wu continued. "We want to test you, make sure you are up for the challenge and then we can adapt as needed."
"I guess that makes sense," Nya hummed.
"We know Lilly was a skilled fighter when she battled with you two, but how is she without her powers?" Lloyd asked.
"When we last battled with her, she was strong but not strong enough to beat us," Garmadon sighed, "but that was years ago."
"She has also been without her powers since Cole was born, so she would have trained to build her combat skills," Wu added. "So she will be stronger than we remember.
"And she's got to know about the vengestone mines," Lloyd added.
"Which is why you should prepare to fight without your powers," Wu commented. "Lilly is smart and skilled, but she is also impulsive. She'll assume you're at a disadvantage without your powers, but that's when you prove you are just as capable without. You are capable without your powers, right?"
"Yep! Absolutely!" Jay assured.
The senseis exchanged glances before looking at the four with questioning looks.
"We've all lost our powers for periods before," Lloyd sighed.
"Chen's Island, Aspheera, Morro's possession, Prime Empire," Jay listed.
Kai rubbed his arm, glancing away.
"Aspheera? Morro? What are you talking about?" Wu asked, looking concerned.
"We've had a lot of villains come after us for our powers for many reasons," Nya replied. "And sometimes our powers would be affected anyways."
"So, you guys fight evil in your world?" Garmadon asked.
"You could say that," Jay nodded. "Our world has almost been destroyed more times than we can count."
"Destroyed?" Wu gasped.
"Most of those weren't our fault," Nya jumped in.
"I mean, one could argue that, but-" Kai started.
"We don't have time for this right now," Garmadon interjected, seeing Kai irritated for being interrupted. "You all can discuss this on the way. Now is the time to prepare. You four must prove that you are capable fighters and can hold your own in a battle."
"You want me to prove I'm ready?" Kai glared. "I can prove I'm ready, alright."
Kai flicked his wrists, fire sparking to life around his fists.
"Kai, that's-" Wu started.
"No, brother," Garmadon cut in. "Let him. I want to see where this goes."
Garmadon stared at Kai for a moment. Then Kai charged at him, fists flailing. Garmadon quickly stepped back into the courtyard and out of Kai's path. Kai turned, redirecting himself at Garmadon. He threw punch after punch, but Garmadon simply avoided each blow.
Kai was growing more frustrated with each missed hit. He whipped into his spinjitzu, only to be tripped and fall onto the ground.
"You gotta try harder than that," Garmadon taunted.
"Kai, you need to take a deep breath; it's not worth it!" Jay pleaded.
Jay's pleas fell on deaf ears as Kai raged on. Yet he still couldn't land a single blow. Garmadon was wearing him out quite quickly. Eventually, he wore himself out. Kai stood on shaky legs as he struggled to catch his breath. He wasn't giving up, though.
He formed one final fireball before launching it towards Garmadon. Garmadon simply stepped aside and let the fireball fly past him.
"Are you done?" he asked.
Kai glared at him. Then, something hit his legs and knocked him to the ground. He landed with a thump on his back and looked up to see Wu's staff hovering over him.
"Seeing how you can't even beat Garmadon with your powers, you won't stand a chance without them," Wu scoffed.
"I knew Kai was a hothead, but he attacked our sensei!" Jay freaked out a little.
"I think we know who just nominated himself for the next battle," Garmadon smiled at Jay.
"No, no, no, no, no, no," Jay shook his head, backing away.
"Have fun, buddy!" Lloyd pushed him.
"Watch it, or you're next," Garmadon shot his son a look.
Lloyd nodded, stepping back behind Nya.
Nya rolled her eyes. "Ninjago's finest, aren't ya, Lloyd?"
"I know I've beaten my dad before, but now I'm nervous," Lloyd whispered to her.
"You boys are all the same, I swear," Nya groaned.
"No! I'm not done!" Kai got up slowly.
"Kai, stop before you hurt yourself," Garmadon warned.
"I don't care!" his eyes glowed red as his hands lit up again.
Garmadon rolled his eyes. He quickly stepped aside and let Kai run past him.
But right at the last second, Kai's fist moved to the side, punching Garmadon in the gut the second he stepped aside. Garmadon stepped back, looking up at Kai as he held his stomach.
"So you do still have some fight?" Garmadon smirked. "I guess it's still on, then."
Kai panted, standing there for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground in a heap.
"Or not," Garmadon held back a chuckle.
"Kai!" Nya ran over.
Nya slid to a halt and kneeled next to her brother. It took a few minutes, but Kai opened his eyes, looking around before focusing on Nya.
"Are you ok?" Nya asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Kai replied quietly. "Just need a break."
"Here, let me get you some water." Jay headed for the dojo, but Wu stopped him.
"You're not getting out that easy."
Everyone looked over as Jay yelped, ducking under Wu's staff. He rolled away, looking at Wu in surprise. Wu turned around, spinning his staff before snapping his staff next to him.
"I was trying to help Kai! What the hell!"
"You think Lilly will care if your allies have fallen? In combat, you can't just walk away for some water!"
Garmadon moved Kai to safety. "If you three want to help him, you must win in combat first."
"Are you CRAZY?" Jay pleaded.
"No, we're training you to be prepared for the worst." Wu stomped his staff on the floor. "If one of you dies, the rest of you wouldn't be begging Lilly to let you help him."
"Dies?" Nya gasped, finally understanding the threat.
"W-we know the risks-" Kai tried to sit up. "B-but to save Cole, I don't care."
"We're going to save a friend, not lose one." Lloyd pointed out. "This doesn't need to be a suicide mission, Kai."
He stood up. "Whatever-" he went inside, struggling to do so. "You three can train the night away with these two; I'm doing my training."
"You can hardly stand." Garmadon sighed, getting frustrated with the brunette. "Just sit down before you get hurt."
"Why are you insistent on pushing yourself until you're half dead?" Nya snapped, growing frustrated. "Are you trying to wear yourself out? You'll be vulnerable! You'll get yourself killed!"
"I don't understand, Kai. You've been a pain in the ass all day. We don't know what we're facing, but keep pushing to get over there. You just want to rush in and wing it. What's wrong?" Lloyd asked.
"I don't wanna lose him," Kai snapped, tears welling in his eyes. "He almost died when we crashed battling the Overlord. I won't lose him."
Everyone stared at Kai in shock, this information sinking in. Kai turned and stormed off, leaving everyone in silence.
"What happened?" Lloyd asked, looking over at Jay and Nya.
"I'm not sure," Nya frowned. "I remember Cole had a concussion after the battle, but I'm not too sure on the details."
"They crashed into a building," Jay sighed. "I remember being on the comms when Skylor called it in. She was a few blocks down the street when it happened. I was half way across the city, going for you, Nya. I remember being half-tempted to turn back when Skylor said she didn't know if they survived."
"That's why both vehicles were totalled," Lloyd uttered.
"Yeah," Jay hummed, a grim look on his face. "According to Skylor, both of them lost consciousness for a couple minutes. Kai came back first, and had to physically drag Cole from his vehicle to escape Pythor. And they wouldn't have escaped if Skylor didn't reach them in time."
"I remember seeing their vehicles and thinking they must have escaped before anything happened," Nya uttered, sinking to the ground in shock. "I didn't realized they were inside when they crashed."
The two Senseis watched from a distance, giving the teens a moment to grapple with this new information. Information that Kai and their teammate Cole didn't want to share with them, but Jay knew regardless.
"Brother, go and check on Kai," Wu turned, whispering.
Garmadon nodded, slipping inside. He walked down the hall to the bedrooms the ninja were staying in. He couldn't hear Kai, but could see one door was closed. He paused, debating if he should knock or not. He eventually decided he was going in anyways, and just opened the door.
"Kai?" he called, his voice quiet to not startle the teen.
Kai froze, mid-stride in the middle of the bedroom. He stared at the floor, refusing to look up at the Sensei.
Garmadon slipped into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He walked over, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," Garmadon sighed, "but I know with my Kai, he always found it better to talk about his problems."
Kai looked up, meeting Garmadon's gaze.
"Why do you care?"
"Because you're a child still, Kai," Garmadon frowned. "I don't know what you and your friends have been through, but from what I've heard, it's not stuff you should have needed to deal with. Not at your age."
Kai looked away, biting his lip. He'd never had this type of reaction from someone.
"And honestly, you and my Kai are a lot alike in that sense," Garmadon sighed.
"But, you said your world has never been attacked," Kai frowned. "You've never had to deal with evil beyond the Serpentine Wars."
"Not evil like how you know," Garmadon sighed. He moved to sit on Kai's bed, inviting Kai to sit next to him. "You know, Kai's life here isn't the easiest either."
"How so?" Kai asked. "I'm guessing he had a simple life in Ignacia, didn't he."
"He would have if Ray would just accept him already," Garmadon grumbled.
"What?"
Garmadon sighed, shaking is head. "Ray has been nothing but ignorant to Kai. When Kai couldn't catch onto the blacksmithing business, Ray tossed him aside. Kai ended up spending most of his free time in the city at my Dojo, hence why he has a job there. Now that schools over, he's been saving up to get a small apartment in the city so he can work at the Dojo full time, and spend more time with his friends in the City."
"Is dad really that bad?" Kai asked.
"Here, he is."
Kai couldn't believe it. "My parents were kidnapped when Nya and I were little. I hardly remembered them, and didn't see them again until we rescued them from Krux and Acronix a few years ago. Since then, they've been nothing but supportive. Nya says they're overbearing, but they're just trying to make up for the lost time."
"So, you guys really have been through a lot," Garmadon sighed.
"You could say that," Kai mumbled. "But that's why Cole is so important to me. They all are. They're like family. And Cole's always been a big brother to me. He knows how to pick me up when I'm down, and how to comfort me. He's our rock, and I don't know what we'd do without him." Kai paused, the winced, "I guess I do, since he was a ghost and we've almost lost him a couple times."
"Well, we are going to find him and get him back," Garmadon assured Kai.
"I know," Kai mumbled. "I just hoping nothing bad has happened. I can't stand the idea of losing him. Not again."