***HI! Welcome back :)

Excuse the weird formatting for this chapter. For some reason, Wattpad went a lil' nuts with the italics. I'm trying to figure it out ;)***

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

My heart jumps, landing somewhere in the vicinity of my throat. "I – but –,"

"The city ordered what?" Kai shoves his way beside me to face our visitor.

"The city has ordered to take your foster girls back under their care," he explains again, his features sympathetic. "You've done a great job with the girls, Miss Chen, but in light of recent events likely targeting elemental beings, it's safer for most of the girls if we take them back."

"Most" – Kai suddenly sputters – "oh, you mean everybody but Cassie, because she's obviously less deserving of special care than the rest of the girls." Sarcasm drips from his tone, and he advances toward the official menacingly. "Who sent you here? Because I think they need to have a friendly conversation with me."

Finally regaining my composure, I march up right beside Kai. "Actually, I think I need to talk with the city. This is literally the safest place to house all the girls! I have a well-trained security team ready to defend them at any moment, and..." My voice dies when I see his expression.

"I hate to argue," the official sighs, "but yesterday's events seem to contradict that. The foster care team really just wants what's best for the girls, and yesterday, you had a whole group of powered individuals show up at your house. One even got inside, and he could've harmed someone." He looks at me with genuine remorse in his eyes. "You do a great job loving and caring for these girls, but for now, they need to stay somewhere else. We can't place Cassie in a home with other foster girls because she may be the target of another robot attack or protest. Plus..." He runs a hand through silvering hair. "No one's willing to take her right now. The safest and best place for her is with you all, if you're still willing to keep her here. You can defend her."

Anxiety claws at my chest. "But – they need the stability of this home in their lives," I protest weakly. I need them in my life.

"They can return to you as soon as the current anti-elemental threat is neutralized," the official says comfortingly. "But you can agree that the rest of the girls are just in harm's way while they're here, right?"

"What if it's not even elementals that this robot-Unagami-whatever thing is after?" Kai demands. "That's just a hunch, you know. We don't have very much evidence to go off."

"It's the best lead the police have right now," the official tries. "Plus, even if the robot wasn't after elementals, you still had a number of powered individuals show up here yesterday and try to break in. They themselves could be a threat."

Kai scoffs. "And they're somehow not a threat to Cassie?"

I resist the urge to elbow him in the ribs. He may have pointed out a valid error in the childcare system's logic, but no way can Cassie be taken from here. Kai doesn't know her well enough to realize that even though she's strong, this is the only place in the world where she feels safe – where she feels understood.

And I don't know if I would make it if I lost all my girls today. Cassie is my lifeline right now.

The official shakes his head. "They may be a threat to her, but so is this Unagami person, as far as the police can tell. She needs protection, and you all can give her that better than anyone else in this city."

Kai looks like he's about to argue again, but I reach out and grab his hand. It's not the jab in the ribs I want to give him, but it shuts him up just as well.

It's just that in the past, he's only ever fought battles with his fists, his element, and his words. He's never learned to fight with lawyers and by targeting your opponent's evidence instead of your opponent directly.

The official fishes inside the front pocket of his jacket until he finds a small card.

"Take this," he bids me, handing it over. "It's my business phone number, and I'd be happy to help you with anything you need. You're welcome to schedule visits with the girls. Please keep me updated on how Cassie's doing, as well." He clears his throat. "But under court orders, I'm to come inside and oversee the girls until they leave for their new foster home today."

"Foster home?" Kai asks suspiciously. "You found one place that was willing to take all of them? On such short notice?"

The official nods, smiling warmly. "Yes. Mayor O'Hara has taken a special interest in this case and would like to open her home to all the girls. It's better for them to all be together – less change will help them adjust for now."

It takes me a few moments to process. Did he just say –

"Mayor O'Hara?" Kai blurts, fuming. "All that lady has ever done is oppose elementals. How do we know she isn't the one behind the robot attacks?"

The official frowns, confused. "Mayer O'Hara has worked closely with Nya and Jay Walker, both famous elementals, to protect Ninjago City. In fact, I just visited her this morning, and she expressed her concern over the girls here. She's a great foster home candidate, and things would only be temporary until Skylor was in a position to take the girls back."

I shake my head, bewildered. "None of this makes sense. Mayor O'Hara has never come to a single charity event I've invited her to for the girls' home, she's never supported us financially, she's never visited the girls, and she's tried to pass legislation that would prevent people like me from having more than five foster kids. She certainly doesn't care for my girls personally, and the idea of her hosting all of them goes against the very policies she's tried to implement."

The official smiles, his face sympathetic and paternal.

It's annoying.

"You're welcome to bring up those concerns with our agency," he pushes, "but the mayor has been registered for foster care for several years now and has always been faithful to care for those temporarily staying with her. She's the only one who can take all the girls on such short notice. They'll be lucky to have her."

I open and close my mouth, feeling powerless and furious. Forget what I said about fighting battles with lawyers! I can't let my girls go stay with someone like Mayor O'Hara. She has to have ulterior motives for taking my girls, and something tells me those intentions involve me never getting them back.

Tension clutches at my lungs, sucking all the air out of them.

My girls are all I have. She can't take them away from me.

I feel Kai's warm breath on my ear, and he whispers low, "This guy isn't letting up, but I think we can work the system. I'm sure the girls can ask to be placed somewhere else after going to Mayor O'Hara's for a few days or something. There's a policy like that, right?"

I run his words through my mind. Maybe – maybe – he's right. I can grill Zane on that if I call him.

And if there isn't a rule that says my girls can request to be housed elsewhere...I guess we'll have to figure out what this Unagami guy wants. And fast, because I don't think there's any way I can keep this guy from taking the girls right now.

Reluctantly, I step aside. "Go ahead inside, Mister..." I wait for him to fill in his name.

"I go by Mr. F," he smiles, walking up the steps to my house. "That's what the kids I work with like to call me, anyway."

"Mr. F," I repeat, filing away the name for later. He seems harmless, but how do I know he's not one of the city goons the mayor has under her thumb?

I wait for him to enter the house, then grab Kai by the shoulders. "I need you to call Zane immediately and ask to see if there's a policy like the one you mentioned to me," I whisper. "Then, call up Jay and Nya and figure out if they know anything about the mayor's involvement with the android attack. If they have any evidence that she's involved, we can use that to put the girls in other foster homes for now. I don't like the fact that she wants them." I suck in a huge breath, trying to relieve the stress tightening my chest.

Kai places his own hands on my shoulders, his eyes communicating comfort and determination and all kinds of other things I used to trust from him.

I have principles. I have standards that Kai Smith does not meet. He's a selfish, prideful idiot with a temper paralleled only by my own. I should not be accepting his touch or depending on him for help right now.

But there's nothing else I can do.

"It's done, Skye," he promises. "Go get the girls. Go tell them exactly what they need to be prepared for and how you're going to turn this situation around for them. I'll update you as soon as I have news."

I nod, desperately hoping that I can depend on his help. I need him on my side right now.

And without a moment to waste, I whip around and run into the house. "Girls," I yell, trying to keep my voice calm, "I want you to meet Mr. F."

***(Jay's POV)***

I see Nya's form in the darkness of whatever hole we're falling through, and I reach out my arms toward her. "Hold onto me!" I yell, knowing that the ground below could be less than welcoming when we hit it.

Her hands latch onto mine, and I use the stability to wrap an arm around her back and pull our bodies flush against each other. I need to make sure I can break her fall when we hit the ground.

"Jay," she says quickly, "I think we're in a portal."

"What?" I exclaim. "A portal to where?"

"I don't know," she admits, "but I think we can both agree that it seems a bit suspicious that the mayor has one in her house, doesn't it?"

"How would having a portal in your house even work?" I frown. "I thought portals were only opened by magic and tea and stuff."

"Maybe the arcade game we locked ourselves in was magic?" Nya suggests. "All I know is, the floor was there supporting us until we closed the front of the arcade game. When it latched shut, it must have opened the portal."

I hold tight to her. "Unfortunately, both of us have very little experience with portals."

Nya adjusts so she can protect the back of my head with her arms. "Skylor and Kai have traveled with them before, and the rest of the team has, too. I don't know much about portals, but they can either lead to other places in Ninjago or to another realm."

"I remember learning about other realms in school, but I don't remember any."

"I remember a few," she says slowly. "The Departed Realm and the Cursed Realm are both where people go when they die, so I don't think it's likely we're traveling to either of those. I think you usually have to be dead to get in. Then there's the Cloud Kingdom, which is where the Destiny Writers are said to live."

"I hope we're going there," I practically shout. "Boy, would I have some words for them!"

"Focus, Jay," Nya bids me. "I don't know how much time we have before the portal drops us, and we need to be prepared for whatever we're facing. There's Djinnjago, which is basically where a bunch of really powerful magic people live. If you remember fighting Nadakhan when Harumi had that scheme to steal elemental powers, he was a Djinn."

"Yeah, that was a crazy time of life," I scoff. "Nothing about it made sense. Like how when you were zapped with that power-stealing staff, you didn't lose your elemental power. Or how you knew so much about what was going on in the story, but you never shared it with me or our audience. Or how we never found Master Wu, who decided to get my mom out of that one – hey, my mom was in a realm, wasn't she?"

"She was," Nya says. "I forget what it was called, but she said there were these crazy mud monster things that lived there. And I think that's where Garmadon got his four arms."

"Yeah, I really hope we don't end up there," I grimace. "Anywhere else you need to tell me about?"

"There's this place called Chima where a bunch of talking lions live, but if I remember correctly, they're friendly. I'm just trying to remember where Kai and Skylor ended up when they met Sensei Yang."

I frown. "I don't know. The rest of the team went there, but I stayed behind with you in the hospital."

"Right." She takes a deep breath. "See, for some reason, I think it was the Cursed Realm, but I'm almost confident only dead people can go there. But if we somehow end up there...we could be facing a lot of villains we thought were long gone."

My eyes widen. "Like, history book villains? Like Acronix and Crux or Aspheera?"

"Yes, Jay," she replies, her voice tight. "And it would be difficult to take care of all of them at once."

The world suddenly erupts into bright light and a pure blue sky, and I look down, trying to view the ground. Lush green grass and a thick forest loom probably fifty feet below us, but strangely, I feel our descent slow.

I frown. "Is it just me, or are we...slowing down?"

"It's...not just you," Nya replies, her tone confused.

Suddenly, a mechanical voice booms from somewhere below.

"Welcome to Prime Empire," it greets us cheerfully. "You are the game's newest contestants."

"Game?" Nya asks, confused. "And I've never heard of a realm called 'Prime Empire'."

"Maybe we were just transported somewhere else in Ninjago," I try.

"You are not in Ninjago," the mechanical voice replies, its tone incredibly chipper. "You are in what used to be known as the Cursed Realm, but that now exists as a haven for all creatures to enjoy happy, fulfilling lives."

"Who are you?" I ask the voice, trying to determine where it's coming from.

"I am Entry Point Four. You will both check in with me and get registered with Prime Empire's system before beginning the game."

"What game?" Nya asks warily. "And what if we don't want to be part of it?"

"The game Prime Empire," comes the reply. "You will learn more when you check into the game. And I don't understand what you mean by not wanting to be 'part' of Prime Empire. I have not been programmed with an answer for that."

"We mean to say that we don't want to be participate," I try to explain.

"Everyone enjoys participating in Prime Empire," the machine replies. "Just register to be let into the game, and you will see."

Nya pushes at my shoulders. "Hey, let me go. We've just about landed."

I release my grip on her just enough that we can both place our feet out below us to gently hit the ground. However, as soon as we land, gravity feels normal again, and we both topple onto the grass.

I'm jerked up from the ground, and I practically jump out of my skin. "What –,"

I see an android – similar to the one we found in Ninjago, but smaller – standing beside me.

"I am Android Twelve for Entry Point Four," it introduces itself.

I look to Nya and see that there's a robot standing beside her with a similar spiel.

I turn back to Android Twelve. "Hey, any chance you can help us get out of here? We don't exactly want to register for Prime Empire or whatever."

Android Twelve turns on some kind of function on its face, and a blue light appears. "You must register to play in Prime Empire," it says.

"We don't want to play," I argue. "We didn't mean to come to Prime Empire or whatever this place is." I look over and see that Nya's android is scanning her with its beam.

"I do not understand," Android Twelve replies. "Everyone who comes wants to play Prime Empire."

"We don't!" I groan. "We want to leave. How do you leave Prime Empire?"

"You can leave by winning the game," Android Twelve explains. "There are twenty levels in Prime Empire, and each level is harder than the last. If you make it to the checkpoint for the last level, you will meet Unagami himself and may ask to leave the game. He will grant your request."

"Unagami?" I ask, freezing. That's the same name that robot in Ninjago mentioned when –

"Alert!" the robot next to Nya suddenly yells, its scanner suddenly flashing red. "An enemy of Unagami has been found. An enemy has been found!"

"What?" Nya frowns. "I don't even know who Unagami is. How am I his enemy?"

Android Twelve flashes red and turns toward his companion. "Take this" – he scans Nya quickly – "Nya Walker as a prisoner of Unagami."

I step toward her. "Um, I don't think you guys understand what we're saying. We don't know who Unagami is."

Android Twelve turns toward me, flashing blue again. "Unagami is Prime Empire's leader. He was created by –,"

"Hey, get off me!" Nya yells, and I look up to see the robot who originally scanned her wrapping its arms around her shoulders.

I move to shoot lightning at it, but when I do, the bolt is scattered out around me instead.

"What?" I frown. "Nya, something's up with our elemental powers. It's like they're being deflected!"

A splurt of water shoots out of her hand at the ground, and she wrestles at the robot's arms. "I see that!" she yells. She wrestles against her captor.

I lunge for her just as Android Twelve grabs me by the arm. "Do not interfere," it bids me. "She is an enemy of Unagami. She will be taken prisoner in the game."

I try to wrench my wrist out of the android's iron grip. "What did she ever do to Unagami?" I demand.

"Jay," Nya panics, "what's it doing?"

I jerk my eyes over to see her android slowly scanning her, and as the beam travels from her feet up, she slowly vanishes.

I gasp. "Nya!" I try to blast lightning at Android Twelve again, but it zaps both of us. I cry out.

"I don't know where it's taking me," Nya shouts, "but I'll be taken prisoner in the game. You have to get the others and tell them what's going on." Her eyes grow wide with fear as she fades. "And Jay, I need you to come find me."

I struggle to reach her as she disappears. "I promise I'll find you," I swallow. "Just hang tight. Nya, I love –,"

But she's already gone.

"Nya!" I scream.

There's no response.

Android Twelve releases my wrist. "Now, excuse my tardiness, but I must scan you as well to register you for the game."

I blanch. If I get scanned, then Nya and I might both end up in prison, and then I might not ever be able to find her!

I grasp at straws. "Look, what's that?" I toss my arm in the direction of nearby bushes. "I think it's an enemy of Unagami!"

"Where?" asks Android Twelve, whipping around. "Come quickly. It may be the one called Monty!" It and its counterpart scurry off in the direction I pointed.

My brow furrows. "I – I can't believe that worked!" I run toward the place I last saw Nya and stretch out my arms, all the while knowing that I won't find her there.

She's somewhere inside the game, and I have to find some way to get in without being scanned.

With that thought, I run into the forest before me.