***Here we go, guys. Lots of plot here, plus a little humor and a little Kailor romance. Sorry it's taking me so long to write these chapters, but I typically get all the Jaya out of my system before I start writing this stuff, so...yeah. Enjoy! :)

https://youtu.be/ybXrrTX3LuI

Oh, and just because...here's "I Will Survive" but with an animated alien. It looks really stupid at first, and it kind of is, but the ending made the whole thing worth it, soo...***

***(Kai's POV)***

***Music Cuuuue***

I gape. "W-what is m-my – "

"I didn't know Nya could do that," Skylor muses.

"She can't!" I shout.

My sister is wiggling her body in some dance move to whatever song is playing through the speakers. And she's...not bad.

Skylor smiles. "She really liked this song when I let her listen to it the other day."

My wild eyes turn on her. "Why in Ninjago did you let her listen to...to..."

Skylor raises a brow. "Are you asking why I let her listen to something that actually has a nice beat? It's a classic, Kai. Of course, I wanted her to hear it."

I scrub my hand down my face. "You're corrupting my sister!" I moan. I begin to push through the throng of people toward her.

Cole elbows his way over to us. "Hey, Kai. I saw that you'd left your wallet at the monastery, and I thought you might want it, so the team and I brought it to you."

"You let my sister come?" I shriek.

Cole holds out his hands in surrender. "Easy. We're just dropping in for a few minutes. I told her to stay in the car."

"Well, clearly you haven't spotted her dancing suggestively in front of a group of teenage boys yet!"

Skylor grabs my wrist. "It's not suggestive, Kai. Let her have a little fun, just for this song."

"Are you nuts?" I fume. "Do you see the way she's moving her hips?" My sister's reputation is on the line here!

I once more push against the crowd. Nya, who's currently lip-syncing to the song, has a small gathering of observers.

Oh, no. This could not get any worse.

I spot Lloyd on the other side of the group. We make eye contact, and he nods slightly.

Good. We're on the same side: the "get-Nya-out-of-here" side.

He manages to shove past several people, but suddenly stops and turns.

"Lloyd!" I shout. "What are you doing?"

"Someone's in trouble!" he replies. I can barely hear him over the deafening noise of the music, the cheers Nya's receiving, and the drunk laughter coming from not far off.

"Lloyd, wait!" I yell.

He's already heading in the opposite direction.

I guess it's up to me to rescue my sister.

Skylor grabs me by the shoulders. "Stop, Kai! Didn't Lloyd say someone's in trouble? Shouldn't you go check that out?"

"I have to save my sister!" I grunt, pulling away from her grasp. "But...this...crowd...won't...budge!" I ram right into a huge body.

None other than the face of Karloff turns to me. "Oh, hello, Smith. I see you're looking for a fight."

"Just...let me...through!" I manage to get past him, but he grabs me by the shirt collar.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demands.

"Calm down, Karloff!" Skylor cries. "He just wants to get to his sister."

"You should've thought about that before you got to my girlfriend!" Karloff seethes.

He slams me in the jaw, and I groan.

I rub the side of my face. "I don't have time for this, pea brains!"

"Pea brains?" he exclaims. "By the time I'm done with you, you won't have enough brains left to even consider yourself  that!"

His fist connects with my face again.

Cole wrenches my shirt out of the brute's hands. "Easy, big guy!" he yells. "Maybe we can solve this when you aren't drunk!"

He turns on my teammate. "Karloff is drunk with nothing but rage!" the huge man insists.

I struggle up, and Skylor places my arm around her shoulder.

"We need to get you out of here," she commands, dragging me away from the action.

I wriggle away. "I'm not leaving without my sister!"

She rolls her eyes. "You really think Karloff's letting you in his line of sight again?"

"I'll go around the other side!" I try to run for the other half of the crowd, but Karloff's two blows to my head have me staggering over somebody's beach towel.

I fall flat on my face.

"Calm down, Kai!" Skylor shouts.

"My sister is attracting all the wrong kind of attention, and I have to – "

Skylor's lips suddenly land on mine.

I'm shocked. How – why –

And then I begin to kiss her back, and I realize she's still on her 'A'-game.

That's when she abruptly pulls back. "Are you listening now?" she breathes.

"Listening...to what?" I'm still incredibly surprised she did that.

"Are you listening to me, Kai? You drank a beer, and now your judgment's a little off. I need you to hear me out."

I frown, the shock beginning to wear off. "But – my sister – "

Someone suddenly collapses on the beach next to us. I turn to see it's...

Harumi?

Lloyd's sitting right next to her, rolling her onto her side. Water pours out of her mouth.

"Come on," he orders her. "Cough! Breathe!"

Nothing.

Lloyd immediately presses his mouth to hers, tilting her head back. He tries to instill life-giving breath in her body.

"What happened?" Skylor demands.

Lloyd doesn't respond, instead focusing on reviving the girl below him.

"She must have almost drowned," I realize. I push myself to a sitting position and whip out my phone, calling the emergency number.

Just as I begin to answer the operator, somebody tears the phone out of my hand.

"Are you crazy?" slurs a boy. "If the cops show up, they'll know a bunch of teenagers were drinking underaged!"

I roll my eyes. "That's your problem, not mine. I'm more concerned about saving Harumi's life." I reach for my phone, but the angry kid chucks it into the water.

I lurch upward. "No!"

Skylor touches my shoulder, then leans forward to whisper in my ear. "I'm going to call them on my phone," she hisses. "Distract this guy."

As she gets up to make the call, Lloyd sits up. "You have to breathe!" he moans, starting the process over again.

I stagger to my feet. "Get back!" I yell to the few people who've noticed what's going on. "We need space here!"

The guy who threw my phone speaks over me. "We've got to get out of here! This freak decided to call for emergency help!"

Well, nothing like the threat of police showing up to make a party disperse. Kids begin running every which way, trying to locate their belongings and vehicles.

"Stay back!" I growl as someone crashes into my body.

I look down at Lloyd. "How is she?" I ask.

Coming back up for air, he grunts, "Not breathing yet. I seriously hope the emergency help gets here soon!" He aims for Harumi's mouth again.

"Ugh, and I've still got to find my sister!" I moan. "Nya! Nya!"

Any number of horrible things could've happened to her!

I continue calling her name into the night. Amidst the chaos, I don't know that she ever responds.

That's when Lloyd's head drops to Harumi's, and he lets out a huge sigh.

I feel panic grip my heart. "Do you need me to take a turn, Lloyd? We can't stop – "

"No," he reassures me, panting. "It's okay. She started breathing again."

"Oh, thank you." Relief floods me, but it's quickly replaced with fear. "I've got to go find my sister. And – Skye! She's been gone too long!"

I only hope they're okay.

***(Skylor's POV)***

I hang up, having just finished giving the emergency operator the rundown about Harumi's situation. The personell said help would be here in just a few minutes.

I look back toward all the commotion on the beach, glad I found a quiet spot. I hope the others are okay.

The one I'm really worried about is Nya. She's so young, and she got separated from all of us. And being stuck in a frightened, clumsy crowd is not a fun thing for anyone – much less a girl who's not even sixteen.

It's probably okay for me to go back and look for her now. I mean, help's already on the way.

I rise to go find her, but something stops me.

A hand on my arm.

"Babe," says a deep voice.

Oh, no. Oh, no. This cannot be –

"Babe, it's me, Shade."

That's when I start screaming bloody murder and running for what's left of the party. Unfortunately, my cries are all drowned out by the loud music still filling the air and the frantic shouts of drunk, scared teenagers.

"Babe, please hear me out," Shade begs.

I lurch out of his grip, creating a ball of fire with my hand. "Stay away from me," I warn him. "I managed to beat you once, and I'll do it again."

"I know you can," he says calmly, holding out his hands like I'm a wild animal. "But I'm not here to fight you. Just...to talk. You're in danger."

"And you're in danger of getting a broken nose. Stay away!" I screech.

"Calm down. Your father, Skylor, he's...up to no good. He wants to take your power."

I begin to run for the others, but Shade stops me with one line.

"It's because of your mother," he yells.

I close my eyes, breathing heavily. If Shade knows anything about my mom...

"You're lying," I accuse him.

"No. Here, we can both...sit for a moment, just to talk. You don't have to get anywhere near me. Just hear me out on this, okay?"

"Wait a minute," I say cautiously. "How do you know any of this?"

"I know a guy who deals in the same kind of stuff as your father."

I roll my eyes. "Right. And noodle sales are a perfectly good indicator of my dad's shady behavior."

"Skylor, I'm not talking about noodle sales. I'm talking about your father's idea of stealing elemental powers."

"I have no idea what you mean."

"That's because if you knew about it, your dad wouldn't be able to lure you in and take your power."

"You...can't just take elemental powers, right? I mean, vengestone can stop them, but – "

"Theoretically, you can. You know your father's henchman uses magic."

I sigh. "And why are you telling me this?"

He frowns. "I've changed, Skylor. I'm sorry for what I put you through. But – "

"I don't want to hear it, Shade." He's an idiot if he thinks I'm going to fall for that again. "I get that my dad wants to take my element, but what does this have to do with my mother?"

He sighs. "Well, he has a staff. And that staff can take and redistribute elemental powers."

"How?"

"As I said, Clouse enchanted it. With your power – the same elemental power as your mother – your father has intentions to...bring her back from the dead."

I spin around and begin walking away. "Shade, you aren't the master of shadow. You're the master of lies."

"No, wait! Skylor, your father could kill you doing this!"

I don't listen, instead running back to the safety of the crowd.

"Kai!" I yell at the top of my lungs. "Nya!"

I scan the crowd, my eyes landing on Lloyd. He's sitting next to Harumi.

I rush over to them. "Have you seen Kai?" I ask.

Lloyd doesn't glance up. "No. He went looking for you."

I bite my lip, once more looking around. I would totally text Kai, but his phone's gone.

I guess Nya still has hers, though.

I quickly pop off a message, hoping she'll respond that she's fine. Meanwhile, I decide to look for her brother right in the middle of the pandemonium.

"Kai?" I shout, my voice getting hoarse. "Kai! Nya!"

An arm lands on mine, and I turn.

Shade.

I spit in his face. "Get away from me!" I run deeper into the crowd.

"Skylor!" I hear my ex call after me. "Please! Sensei Yang sent me to help you!"

Chills race down my spine. Shade...he's involved with Yang?

And the freak thinks telling me that is going to help his case?

Sirens sound from not far off, and the chaos only gets worse. Bodies collide with me from every which way. I try to see over the heads of those around me, but even with my height, I can't spot anyone I'm searching for.

That's when he grabs me again, and I turn on him. "Get away from me," I threaten, "or so help me, I will – "

"Skye, it's just me!" Kai exclaims.

I let out a huge breath. "Oh, I'm so glad." I rest my head against his chest for a moment, getting my bearings.

"Have you seen Nya?" he asks worriedly.

"No, Kai. I did text her." I fish around in my back pocket. "No response yet, but I only messaged her four minutes ago."

"Oh, no. No, no, no!" Kai cries. "I can't find her anywhere!"

I rub his back. "Hey, it's okay. Let's go sit down. I'll give her a call."

"Or we could keep looking. I mean – "

"Just do it, Kai."

He grabs my hand so we don't lose each other in the throng of people, and we navigate our way out of the crowd.

"She'd better be okay," he frets. "Oh, when I get my hands on her, I'm going to – "

"No! Kai, just worry about it in the morning! You need to calm down a lot before you even try to correct her. Besides, you haven't even heard her side of the story yet."

"I don't need to! She disobeyed me, and she could be seriously hurt because of it!"

I shoot him a death glare. "I suppose the one good thing about you losing your phone is that I'm the first one to talk to your sister." I hit her contact angrily and wait as the phone dials.

She picks up on the third ring. "Skye, are you there?" she questions.

"Yep, it's me, Sis. Where are you at? Are you all right?"

When Kai realizes she picked up, he lets out a huge breath.

"I'm fine," she answers. "I found Cole. Um...I guess you know I'm at the party, since you called and all."

I wave her off. "Don't even worry about that right now. Do we have everyone else? Kai, me, you, Cole...we know where Lloyd is. What about Zane and Jay?"

"Jay didn't come, since he had to get back home. Zane is with Cole and me."

"Good," I sigh. "Where are you at?"

"We're in the parking area near the beach. I think I saw Kai's car around this place when we pulled in." She clears her throat. "How are Lloyd and that girl?"

"She's fine. I'm sure Lloyd is talking with the emergency personell at the moment."

"I have to go be with him," she says determinedly. "He needs my – "

"Nope. Maybe Cole or Zane can join him, but not you. I'm having enough trouble keeping your brother off your back, as it is."

"But I didn't do anything wrong," she argues. "And Lloyd – "

"Can we just please talk about this tomorrow?" I beg, massaging the bridge of my nose. "I already have a stress headache." Possessing the power of mind can be a challenge when you're surrounded by mass feelings and memories. I need to go someplace quiet and lonely.

Nya sighs. "Okay. We took the Earth Driller, so it's kind of hard to miss us. Just come to the same lot you parked in."

"Thanks, Sis. I'm glad you're okay."

"You, too," she sighs.

I hang up.

Kai clears his throat. "You handled that very well."

My headache worsens, and I squint my eyes shut. "I only wish I didn't know you'll go off at her the moment you see that she's safe and sound."