*1 year and 2 months later*

Nya's POV

I roll around in bed, struggling to fall asleep. Pulling my beige duvet over my head, I try to force myself to sleep, knowing we have to get up early tomorrow. No matter how hard I try, my achey legs keep me up. We did strength training today, and my legs are definitely feeling it.

After several more minutes, I give up. I throw my blanket off of me. I stand up before slowly opening my door. Using the stealth skills we've been practicing, I   sneak into the kitchen. Slowly, I open the third cabinet from the refrigerator. I take out the bottle of painkillers, and plop two in my mouth.

"Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" I hear Mother yell from the courtyard, freezing me in my place. Although I know she's not addressing me, it still scares me. If she knew I was up, she'd be furious.

"When the Great Devourer attacks, it slows things down a bit," Auntie says, and I can sense her rolling her eyes.

"Who in all of Ninjago is dumb enough to release that thing? Was it sent to get you?" Mother fumes, obviously upset. I don't know what a Great Devourer is, but it doesn't sound pleasant. "Has it already destroyed all of Ninjago?"

"I'm not sure, I don't think so, and no. It was defeated," Auntie informs her.

"W-what? How? Who?" Mother seems speechless. I sneak a bit closer in hopes of being able to see them.

"Who do you think?" Auntie asks like it's obvious.

"There's no way it was them. They've only been training for a little over a year!" Mother sounds furious. Auntie sighs.

"They had help from Lord Garmadon. The guardians let the Great Devourer chase them around the city, tag teaming on and off, to get it stuck. Then, Lord Garmadon destroyed it using the four golden weapons," Auntie explain. My eyes widen, and I sneak even closer in an attempt to get more information.

"How were they? I'm sure you watched them in action," Mother asks, sounding concerned.

"Much, much better than I expected. Wu really is a good teacher. They were agile and worked together as a team. Our girls are strong, but once the realms align, these boys will most likely pose a threat," Auntie says solemnly. "However, I come with worse news."

"Worse! How can this get worse?" Mother yells, and I hear Auntie shush her.

"Don't wake up the girls," she whispers harshly. "Garmadon's son was there."

"And? I know you're still hung up on him, but that's not significant."

"He was wearing a green gi, the prophesied green gi. It makes sense, he is the grandson of the First Spinjitzu..."

"Don't say that name here," Mother snaps. "How old is the boy?"

"Young, still a child," Auntie answers.

"Then he won't be old enough when the realms align in around 9 months. It won't be a problem."

"Just in case, I grabbed something when I was getting the girl's presents..." Auntie drifts off. I hear some clattering before Mother gasps.

"Is that..."

"Yes it is," Auntie says proudly.

"I need a glass of bourbon. I'll be back," Mother announces, making my eyes widen. I scramble, rushing quietly out of the kitchen. When I reach the hallway all of our rooms are in, I open the door before my own and slip in before approaching my sister.

"Skylor... Skylor wake up," I shake her shoulders. Groggily, she stirs around.

"What time is it?" she mumbles, pulling the blanket over her head.

"I'm not sure, but that's not important. I overheard Mother and Auntie talking about the guardians," I say quietly. Skylor rolls so she's facing me, her scarlet hair a mess behind her.

"What did they say?" she asks, now interested.

"They're stronger than Auntie and Mother thought they'd be, and they're 'boys' whatever that means. They defeated this thing called a 'Great Devourer', and there's possibly a fifth one," I repeat what I heard. Skylor's eyes widen in shock, the news waking her up.

"A fifth? There's never been a fifth in the picture. It's always been four versus four. That's how it's meant to be. And what in all of Ninjago is a boy? You'd think they'd want us prepared," she groans, sitting up in her bed.

"Should we ask them about it? I know I wasn't supposed to hear, but it's important to know what we're up against," I suggest. She seems to contemplate it.

"No, we should wait until they tell us. It insures that you can't get in trouble for overhearing," she explains. I nod, understanding her point. "You look exhausted. We can deal with this in the morning."

"You're right. Thank you, Skylor."

---

"Girls! Time to get up! We have things to do!" Mother slams the gong in the hallway. Even though we're all in different rooms, my sisters and I groan in unison. I roll over, facing away from the door, exhausted. I got very little sleep, and the gong isn't helping.

I get out of bed, slipping on my beige training outfit. Looking in the mirror, I quickly throw my hair up into a bun before entering the hallway. I walk into the kitchen where Auntie is finishing up breakfast. Skylor is already sitting at the table with Mother.

"Where are your sisters?" Mother asks. I shrug.

"They're most likely still getting ready," I yawn, taking my seat next to Skylor.

"We're going to have a family meeting over breakfast," Mother tells us. Soon after, Chamille and Seliel walk in together, their pink and purple hair accenting each other well. They sit down at their assigned seats across from us. Auntie hands us plates of eggs, toast, and hash browns before taking her spot next to Seliel. As usual, her and Mother only have their black coffee.

"When your aunt was in Ninjago for her past visit, she learnt some interesting news about the guardians that we think is imperative to tell you," Mother states before taking a sip of her coffee.

"They were battling a giant snake creature. I watched it with my own eyes. However, I saw something that shocked me. I can't make sense of it still," she shivers, looking confused. I raise my eyebrow. Nothing that I heard last night should be confusing to her.

"What is it?" Chamille asks, curious.

"The master of ice...half of the skin on their face was missing. Where their skin should've been, there was metal. The master of ice is not a human, but an android," she informs all of us. My eyes widen. I didn't know that elemental masters could be robots, or that there's even technology advanced enough to make an android that lifelike.

"Robots can be elemental masters?" Seliel asks, confused.

"Apparently," Mother shakes her head.

"Additionally, we fear their might be another guardian. There is a prophesied elemental master of energy, and I fear they are working with the guardians. However, they are still a child, so one can not be sure it's really the master of energy," Auntie sighs.

"Combining those two bits of news, we thought it was necessary that we keep an edge on the guardians," Mother explains, but it just confused us even more.

"How are we going to do that?" I ask.

"PIXAL, can you come in?" Auntie calls. From the other room, someone walks in. I gasp. The girl has metal skin detailed with purple circuits. Her eyes are glowing bright green. She is wearing a purple dress, and her silver hair is tied up in a bun.

"Hello everyone. I am PIXAL: Primary Interactive EX-ternal Assistant Life-form. I hope I can be a valuable asset to this team."

"This is so cool," I mumble to myself, looking at the android girl in front of me. She looks as if she's human with an exception of her silver skin and hair. Everything about her is so realistic; it's insane.

"Hi PIXAL, we're more than happy to have you as one of our sisters now," Skylor gives her a warm smile. PIXAL smiles back at her.

"I am glad. Ciara has informed me that I will start training with you guys immediately in the hopes that I can catch up," she informs us.

"Call me Auntie, and since you don't have to build stamina, it will make it easier for you to pick up moves. I know you'll be a great addition to the team, and now that you're officially one of my nieces, you get a present just like the rest of them," Auntie smiles, the scars on the side of her face scrunching up as she does so. When she went on an errand over a year ago, she had a run in the master of fire. She attacked Auntie, burning the side of her face. Now, she has to live with the scars, just like Skylor.

Auntie gets up and walks behind the counter. She bends over, crouching out of sight. When she comes back, she's holding a large bag. She stopped individually wrapping our gifts, deciding to just hand them out instead.

"For Skylor, exploding arrows," she hands Skylor the package. Skylor smiles, looking at the back of the box. "For Seliel, a new magazine," she gives Seliel a magazine with a luxurious flying ship on the front. "For Chamille, a big thing of lip stick," Chamille nearly rips the package from Auntie's hands, obviously excited. "For Nya, a new toolbox," she gives me a red toolbox. Immediately, I open it to be met with a plethora of tools, both electric and manual. "And for PIXAL, a katana."

"I appreciate your kindness," PIXAL nearly glows, looking genuinely touched by the present. I just met her, but I can tell she'll be a great addition to our family.

---

"What's a ninja?" Seliel asks as she flips through her magazine. Auntie convinced Mother to turn today into a bonding day since PIXAL just joined, and she obliged. If a team is not in sync, they're not efficient.

"I have no idea," I admit. I look over to Skylor and Chamille who both shrug.

"I'm unsure; Why are you asking?" PIXAL asks Seliel.

"Well, my magazine has an article on these people called 'the ninja' who apparently tons of girls love. They're 'ninja', whatever that means. There was a picture of them on the page next to this, but it's ripped out," she squints her eyes, rereading article.

"What else does it say? Maybe that can give us clues," Skylor suggests, sitting up to give the task at hand her full attention.

"It honestly doesn't say much. Their names are Kai, Cole, Zane, and Jay, and apparently girls find them 'hot, dreamy, irresistible, and charming', but I don't know what they mean by that. Irresistible like how when Auntie cooks I feel a strong urge to eat all of it?" Seliel questions, confused. None of us seems to know the answer.

"Maybe we'll see them when we're there, and we can find out for ourselves," Chamille suggests. She takes her red lipstick and reapplies it, keeping her lips relaxed to ensure they're completely covered.

"It's not probable . Don't we have a mission we will need to complete?" PIXAL brings up.

"PIXAL is right. We'll have to focus on getting the gemstones and facing the guardians. We won't be able to focus on what other girls do," Skylor agrees, leaning back against the couch cushions.

"Okay, but these ninja sound really cool. That Zane person is apparently a good chef. Oh, I would kill for Auntie's salmon with a kale salad," Seliel gets easily distracted, derailing from her train of thought by the sheer thought of food.

"Can I see your magazine?" I ask Seliel. She hands it over, and I flip through the pages.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

"Mother and Auntie put me in charge of creating the vehicle we're going to use to move around Ninjago. I was hoping to use the picture of the flying ship on the front and any other pictures of it as inspiration. It says here that it's called the 'Destiny's Bounty'," I share, reading the name off the cove . The ship is beautiful. It has jets so it can fly in the air. The sails are intricately decorated, and the ship has a lot of red detailing.

"We're so close to going to Ninjago. Are you all ready to show these guardians whose the boss? We need to obliterate them," Skylor cracks her knuckles.

"But we can't kill them. Auntie and Mother made that very clear," Chamille adds.

"They never said we can't severely hurt them. We're going to defeat them at all costs. We need to make Mother and Auntie proud."

A/N Yay, another chapter. If anyone is confused, all of the season one events have happened in this story, just without Nya being there (which is why I said alternate season 2 in the preview).

PIXAL finally joined the team! I couldn't introduce her earlier since her body doesn't age, and it would be weird to have a full sized robot with a ton of 5 year olds.

Question: how old do you guys think I am? I'm curious (I might've said it before, but I'm not sure).

Thoughts on this chapter?

Also, next weekend for like 4 days I won't be on/ writing because I'll be on vacation (with corona precautions of course). I'll try to update extra this week to make up for it. No promises though.

Also, I added a chapter into my plan so now one of my favorite chapters in the book is still 4 chapters away.

This book is going to be approximately 24 chapters (shorter than my usual books) but then the sequel is going to be around 30ish so it makes up for it.

Thank you guys for reading/commenting/voting. You all make me very happy