Cole was pacing. He seemed to be under a lot of stress and, really, Jay could understand why. Kai stood off to the side, silently fuming, and Zane was also pretty glum, to say the least.

It had been quiet for some time. Everyone seemed to be pretty miffed by their defeat against Garmadon's students. They had underestimated the girls, and Master Wu wouldn't be happy to know they failed. He hadn't shown up yet, and Jay was grateful for it. Master Wu was also obviously very stressed too, but hey, the fate of the world was at stake here. Could Jay really blame him for pushing them to get it right? 

Master Wu had always been rigid and tough, pushing the boys to their limits to make them stronger. He saw potential in them that no one else ever had. But they weren't exactly achieving that potential right now. Somehow, Master Wu had known exactly what happened last time with the scythe. Jay wondered if he already knew about the shurikens. He would certainly be disappointed if he did.

And now Jay was nervous about their next destination, where his Nunchucks of Lightning were supposed to be. If Garmadon's students managed to get them first, would he be blamed?

"I think I've got a plan," Cole finally spoke up. "Jay, have you managed to make that glider thing of yours work?"

Jay grimaced. He had been tinkering with that contraption for a while, but it was still just a prototype. "Kind of. . ."

"Can you make three more before we get to the ruins?"

"You're not thinking of using them in the middle of a lightning storm, are you?"

"According to the map, the nunchucks are at the top of the tower," Cole explained. "If we can get to them first, all we have to do is wait for the girls to come after us and then glide right to the ground. They won't be able to catch us, then."

"You forget, one of them can teleport," Kai reminded him.

Zane nodded. "Perhaps it doesn't matter how fast we can get someplace, she could always get there faster."

"Even if she follows us, it'll be four against one. She won't be able to fight all of us alone."

Jay thought about it. Maybe, under his instruction, he could have them help put the gliders together. It could be worth a shot. Finally, he nodded. "Whatever gets us those nunchucks, I'm in."

. . . 

Jay had never been afraid of thunderstorms. On the contrary, he looked forward to those 'gloomy' days, when dark clouds gathered in the sky, rain pattered on the windows, and the air rumbled with electricity. Now he understood why.

Standing among the floating ruins, the ground so far away, the wind whipping through his hair and bolts of light flashing all around him – everything just seemed to make more sense.

His golden weapon was so close; Jay was itching to get it in his hands, to feel its power. But Cole wanted them to wait. He was depending on the plan he'd come up with. They had climbed halfway up the ruins and then stopped to wait. Above them, a long chain reached into the sky, bridging the gap between pillars at the top and at the bottom. The golden weapon would be at the highest point.

Jay glanced toward the ground for the millionth time. Still nothing. Jay groaned and asked, "How long do we have to wait here?"

"However long it takes," Kai answered shortly.

"Just keep your eyes peeled," Cole interceded. "They're crafty. We can't let them sneak past us."

Jay glanced at Zane, who had been strangely quiet so far. "You okay?" he asked.

Zane only glanced at him. For a moment, Jay thought he wasn't going to answer. Then he said, "I simply can't fathom what happened at the ice temple."

Jay frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Right before we got away, when the purple ninja used her element and –"

Jay laughed. "Oh yeah, when she threw you on your butt in the snow?"

Zane didn't seem to find it as funny. "I'm serious, Jay. Her power, it's strange. I can't work out what she did."

"Looked like some pretty basic telekinesis to me," Jay said, still confused. "Maybe she's a Master of Gravity?"

Zane let out an exasperated sigh. "No, it was different. It felt different! At least, I think it did. Although I suppose I've never been telekenisized before . . ."

"I doubt many people have," Kai interjected.

"And I'm pretty sure that's not a word," Cole added.

"You know what I mean."

Jay shook his head. "I don't know what you're getting so worked up about, but I'm sure if it's important, we'll figure it out sooner or later. So far we only really know what one of them can do."

Their discussion was cut short when Kai abruptly leaned forward. "I think I see something!"

They all looked down the ruins. Toward the base, they could see a small group of vibrant shapes moving around.

"Wait until they get closer," Cole instructed. "Then we make our move."

. . . 

Due to the erratic electricity skittering through the open air, it had been a unanimous decision that Pixal should stay on the ground with Garmadon. This had been rather disappointing, considering that the girls considered her the reason they had been able to retrieve the shurikens in the first place. But if they were all honest, it was really the safest decision. That left Nya, Skylor, and Seliel to scale the tower ruins themselves.

"Have you ever tried to teleport with more than one person before?" Nya asked Seliel as she reached for another handhold. She was getting tired of all this climbing and would have appreciated an alternative route.

"Well, no. I only just found out that I have these powers, after all."

"I think we ought to test them out sometime soon," Nya suggested. "All of us. It would be helpful to know our limits and how we can push ourselves."

"Maybe I should just try to go up there and get the weapon by myself," Seliel said. "I would be in and out, back before you know it."

"I distinctly remember you saying you couldn't teleport that far," Skylor pointed out.

"I said I didn't think I could. But maybe I don't have to. If I teleport a little bit at a time, it would be way faster." She looked like she had already made up her mind.

"Woah, hold on there!" Skylor objected. "What if Wu's students are already up there? You know we're no match for them by ourselves, and you alone wouldn't stand a chance. You'd be captured for sure, and with Pixal stuck on the ground, Nya and I would be the only ones to help you. And I doubt we'd be much use from all the way down here."

Seliel huffed in frustration. "Fine. Let's just hurry up, then."

The girls continued in silence, the air full of electricity that sparked and buzzed in their ears. The wind whistled, though not too loudly to hear over. Nya's muscles were already aching, but she dare not ask to stop.

For what had to be the hundredth time since this whole thing started, Nya's thoughts wandered back to her brother. She was certain that he still didn't know it was her under the mask. She worried about how Kai would react if he found out. Would he be more willing to listen if he knew it was her? And did he really not know the truth about Wu? Or was it possible that he was simply too far gone? How would he feel about her, knowing that she had sided with his enemy?

Admittedly, they had been growing apart for years, even before he ran away. Maybe that animosity had been festering all these years, and now had turned into hatred. Maybe the brother she had once known was truly gone forever.

"Look!"

Nya was broken from her thoughts at Skylor's cry, her eyes shot up. Four ninja stood at the base of a large chain that stretched into the thundering sky. The boys took a second to glance down at them, then began climbing the chain, one by one.

"Hurry!" Seliel instructed, though they were clearly too far to catch up. But neither of the girls argued. All weariness forgotten, Nya heaved herself up the rocky face of the tower as fast as she was able.

The girls reached the base of the chained structure when the boys were already on the top half of the tower. "We'll never reach them in time!" Seliel lamented.

Nya could see a certain determination in her eyes. "Don't you dare – we'll have no chance if we split up!" But Seliel was gone before Nya could say her piece. Nya growled and slammed a fist on the stone. Why could no one stay back and work with their teammates?

"Just keep going!" Skylor instructed.

Nya obeyed, but her eyes were on the skies, watching for Seliel to pop back into view.

It took longer than she expected, but just as a bolt of lightning flashed overhead, Seliel Kapowed back into existence –

– and began to fall.

Seliel gasped and reached out for any sort of handhold. Her fingers only just caught the rim of the tower, but her body twisted and she cried out as her arm was wrenched out of place. The pain seared through her shoulder, and the rest of her arm went numb. For a moment she feared that she would lose her grip, but her fingers still clung stubbornly to the edge.

Gritting her teeth, Seliel swung up her opposite arm up to grab hold as well. She clung to the side of the tower, unable to pull herself up, growing weaker by the second. She thought about trying to teleport again, but the pain and the chaos of the wind and lightning around her was too distracting.

Just as her fingers started to slip, two pair of hands grabbed hold of her arms and began to haul her upward. Seliel had to bite back another cry of pain. But soon enough she was able to use her legs and scrambled onto to the flat peak. She immediately collapsed from exhaustion. Her heart was pounding, her shoulder throbbed, and if she never moved for a hundred years, it would have been too soon.

"Come on, sit up," someone was saying. The black ninja – Cole. She wanted to argue, but didn't think she had the energy, so she allowed him to help her up. "Your arm has been dislocated," he observed.

"Is that why it hurts?" she managed to growl sarcastically.

Cole huffed in mild amusement. "I'll have to reset it. Just hold still." He put one firm hand on her shoulder and another on her forearm. "Ready?"

Seliel gritted her teeth and nodded.

"One . . . two . . ." Seliel hissed as her shoulder snapped back into place. But at once, the pain started to fade a little, and she felt she could move her arm freely again. "Better?" the black ninja asked.

"Perfect," Seliel grumbled.

"Right, then. Jay, get the nunchucks." The blue ninja nodded and moved toward the weapon. Seliel had hardly been aware that anyone else was here, until now. But of course, all four of the dark ninja had made it to the weapon first.

Cole turned back to her. "If we get out of this, you and I are going to have a little talk."

"It's not 'if,' it's 'when,'" Seliel shot back as she rotated her shoulder some more. If he was going to resign himself to being eaten by a dragon, that was his business. "Besides, the only thing I have to say to you is to stay out of my way."

He gave her a mildly amused smile. "That's funny. I was going to tell you the same thing." He looked back to Jay, who was hesitating by the golden nunchucks. "Hurry it up!" Then to Seliel, "The dragon will be here any second, but we can take you back to the base of the tower."

Seliel glared at him. "I don't need any more of your help."

Cole scoffed. "You really want to try to climb back down?"

"I don't need to." She could be more careful teleporting down this time. If she could just make it back to her teammates, they could help her.

"I've got 'em!" the blue one announced as he hooked the nunchucks to his colored belt. At this point, Seliel was painfully aware that it would be impossible to fight all four of them for the weapon.

Cole stood and offered his hand to her. "We have to hurry!" he urged.

She didn't want to trust them, and she certainly didn't want to owe them any more than she already did. They were her enemies for goodness' sake! But it seemed she had no choice. With a resigned huff, Seliel stood and took his hand. After everything that had happened so far, she couldn't believe she was going to let them rescue her again. 

. . . 

A/N: Oof, I don't know why but Seliel always seems to get the worst of it, doesn't she?

Also I updated a few of the chapter titles. Recently I had been using some pretty generic ones because I didn't have time to think of anything before I posted the chapters. I should proooobably start working on those ahead of time, heh. Now they're just punny :P