***Jay's POV; song for this chapter: "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars)***

"Absolutely not!" Lloyd yells, causing a dismayed look to cross Nya's face.

"And what, exactly, is wrong with you covering for us while we go spy on some suspicious characters?" Nya growls.

I was in such a great mood after dancing with Nya. Now, I'm stuck standing in front of the school, talking to her uber-jealous best friend. I already have a song for him picked out in my mind:

"Same bed, but it feels just a little bit bigger now.

Our song on the radio, but it don't sound the same.

When our friends talk about you, all it does is just tear my down,

'Cause my heart breaks a little when I hear your name.

It all just sounds like ooh, ooh, ooh, hoo, hoo.

Mm, too young, too dumb to realize

That I should've bought you flowers

And held your hand,

Should've gave you all my hours

When I had the chance,

Take you to every party, 'cause all you wanted to do was dance.

Now, my baby's dancing,

But she's dancing with another man."

"You guys really think it's a good idea to be alone, secretively observing dangerous people?" he fumes.

"Um, I won't be alone. I'll be with Jay." She rolls her eyes.

"That's worse. You two will be kissing behind a lamppost or something – "

"A lamppost?" I cut in. Aren't those, like, literally not big enough for just one of us to hide behind?

Lloyd ignores me. "And then, before you know it, some guy will have gagged you and stolen all your money!"

"You're overreacting," Nya accuses him.

It's not that he's overreacting. He's just angry that Nya and I are spending any amount of time together alone. I mean, if she were fake dating Cole and I was her best friend who was secretly in love with her, I would do the same thing. I think? That's a lot of "if's".

"My pride, my ego, my needs, and my selfish ways,

Caused a good, strong woman like you to walk out of my life.

Now I never, never get to clean up the mess I made, oh,

And it haunts me every time I close my eyes.

It all just sounds like ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,

Mm, too young, too dumb to realize

That I should have bought you flowers

And held your hand,

Should've gave you all my hours

When I had the chance,

Take you to every party, 'cause all you wanted to do was dance.

Now my baby's dancing,

But she's dancing with another man."

"No, I'm not. I'm going with you. We'll get – " He looks around. "We'll get Cole to cover."

Nya sighs. "Fine, whatever." She waves her arms frantically at him. "Cole! Over here!"

He looks up from some girl he's talking to, then frowns fiercely when he sees us. He mutters an apology to his partner, then stalks over to us.

"Can't you see I was busy?" he asks.

"Who is she?" I question, smirking.

Cole rolls his eyes. "I'll tell you later. Now, what do you want?"

Lloyd steps in for a macho-leadership move. "We need you to cover for us with Wu during training today."

Cole raises his eyebrows. "You're not coming?"

Nya looks at Lloyd. "We think we may have a lead on the kidnappings of those elemental masters."

Cole's look changes to one of interest. "Ooh! Sounds like an opportunity to kick butt. Mind if I join?"

"There won't be any butt-kicking!" Nya scolds him. "It's a secret mission! And someone has to pacify Wu."

"You know, he'd probably be fine if we told him the truth," I suggest.

She looks at me like I have two brain cells. "Okay, I guess he'd think it was really ethical to stalk Lloyd's girlfriend in hopes she'll lead us to the kidnapped elemental masters. And I bet he'd be thrilled to learn that we're talking to Ronin, who will probably later sell whatever information we tell him to the enemy. And don't get me started on how he'll feel about telling our dilemma to you-know-who."

I wrinkle my nose. "Who's you-know-who?"

She sighs. "Boys!"

Cole shrugs. "I'm sorry. It's sometimes hard to keep up with your kind. But, anyway, can I come?"

Nya facepalms, and Lloyd places a hand on her shoulder. "They probably have a point about telling Master Wu," he says.

"No, they don't. He would never, ever let us go through with this. That's why one of us is staying behind. Or, shall I say, one of you? Because you're not making it through Ronin without me."

I almost laugh. She's totally being bossy right now, but she's at least six inches shorter than every one of us.

"What if Zane covers for us?" Cole asks hopefully.

"Are you kidding me?" she says flatly. "He physically cannot tell a lie. Why am I even talking to you guys about this?"

Suddenly, her head snaps up. "Wait! What if we come up with a totally believable lie as to why we're all going to miss training? Why didn't I think of that earlier? Just one of us will let Wu know, then we'll all meet together and go do some surveillance." She sighs, rubbing her temples. "I think your stupidity is rubbing off on me, guys."

"I'm not that dumb," I argue.

She gives me a small smile. "Okay, I rephrase that. I think your stupidity is rubbing off on me, Cole."

"Hey!" he shouts, but she just laughs.

"Okay, now, who has an idea as to how we can get Wu to let us go?"

I think for a moment. "What about an after-school activity? Like, planning for the winter formal or something."

"Winter formal? Are you kidding me?" Lloyd moans. "I would never sign up to help with that!"

"Maybe you needed extra credit in one of your classes, and it turned out your teacher was really into dancing, so she struck a deal with you? Maybe you're sort of forced to help out with the dance."

"Okay, but what about me?" Cole asks. "Wu knows I don't care that much about my grades."

"Maybe that girl you liked was on the dance committee, and you joined to get to know her better?"

Cole blushes. "That actually sounds pretty accurate."

I continue, "Nya would of course join to defy Kai. And I would join just to help Nya." I laugh nervously.

"That's not a bad idea, Jay," she says. "It might work. But leave the talking to me, would you? Especially you, Cole."

"Hey! Why do you suddenly feel the need to insult my intelligence?"

"Or lack thereof," Lloyd mutters.

"It's nothing personal, Cole. I just get snippy when I'm thinking." She pats his shoulder, forgoing an apology. "Now, let's get out of here. Lloyd kept me from lunch, so I'm definitely getting something from the monastery before we leave."

***(Nya's POV)***

I pig out on chips and salsa while Jay tries to explain our situation to Wu.

"Um," he starts, "Sensei, the, uh, team and I, except Zane, and Kai, of course, decided to, uh, help out with preparations for the winter formal. We have a meeting this evening, so we need to miss training tonight." He nods like a bobblehead, as if emphasizing his words.

Wu gives him a skeptical look. "You...what?"

Lloyd takes over. "We need you to let us skip training tonight so we can help out with the winter formal. I made a deal with one of my teachers to help out and get extra credit."

Now, our master just looks confused. "You're a straight 'A' student, Lloyd."

"Well, yeah, but I got a semi-bad grade on my last quiz, and I'm afraid it might make my 'A'...um, not an 'A'."
Oh, these boys are going to get us grounded. I jump in, "Sensei, we've already volunteered to help out. Can you cut us some slack, just for tonight? We'll do sunrise exercise tomorrow with no complaints."

The guys all swivel their heads around like owls. I can tell they don't like the sound of this.

"No complaints?" Wu asks.

I nod. "For sure. Right?"

"Um...yep," Lloyd agrees.

"Whatever it takes," Cole shrugs.

Jay says nothing.

"You aren't going to complain tomorrow, right, Jay?" I prompt him.

"Um, I'll...try not to?"

I shake my head. "Not good enough."

He sighs. "Fine. I promise."

"Good job." I hand him a chip in recompense. "So, what do you say, Master Wu?"

He gives me an observant stare. Finally, he nods. "All right, you may go. But no complaining tomorrow, and I'll expect all of you to be able to answer this riddle by this time tomorrow: How do you spell 'cow' with thirteen letters?"

***Courtesy of riddle.com, because I'm horrible at coming up with riddles!***

I scrunch up my nose. "Is that supposed to teach us anything?"

He shrugs. "It gives me a reason to punish you if you can't figure it out. Dismissed!" He exits the room, leaving the rest of us in confusion.

"That wasn't a very 'Wu' thing to do. He should've seen right through Jay's stuttering," Lloyd muses.

"Yeah. Who knows what's up with him, though? We need to get out of here." I snatch one last chip before leaving my food on the counter and heading off to my room. After changing into dark-colored clothing and pulling my hair into a messy bun, I grab a flashlight, a knife, and a pack of mint gum.

Not that I would kiss Jay behind a lamppost or anything. I wouldn't put a mission in jeopardy like that! But there's always time after we're done spying.

Once I'm ready, I sneak out to the back of the monastery. The others are already waiting there.

"Okay," Lloyd begins. "Let's strategize here. Harumi's usually at her parents' house now, so we should head there. If we don't make it by around eight, she'll be at a party."

I frown. "It's Wednesday night."

"That's never stopped her before. Anyway, Nya, what do you know about Ronin's whereabouts?"

I sigh. "He's probably in his odds and ends shop in Stiix, but he could also be out on some sort of a raid."

"Stiix?" Cole exclaims. "That's two hours away!"

"Then let's get going," Lloyd says. "Should we split up?"

"Bad idea. Horrible idea!" Jay cautions. "When we split up, bad things happen! Remember Morro's possession? Or when Nya got captured by Lord Garmadon and the Stone Army? Or when – "

"Jay, what are you talking about?" I interrupt him.

"I'm just saying, a thousand horrible things could happen if we don't stick together!"

Lloyd frowns. "Do we have a choice? Stiix is two hours away!"

"We have four people," I remind them. "Jay and I could split up and head to Stiix, while you and Cole head for Harumi's house."

"Remember what I said about the lamppost?" Lloyd shouts. This attracts the attention of Zane, who's skulking around behind the building.

"Oh, hello, friends," he smiles, approaching us. "I heard you were helping with the winter formal planning. Nya, why are you wearing all black?"

"I don't want to distract from the decorating committee," I shrug. "Um, hey, would you mind doing us a favor?"

"Certainly," he smiles.

"So, I heard there was a party tonight, but since the rest of us are helping out with the dance, we're going to be there late. Would you mind finding out where it is and texting us the address? We can meet you there."

Zane nods. "Of course. I would be happy to. Shall I change my attire to something more suitable for a social event?
I agree. "Oh, for sure. Thanks, Zane! You're a great sport."

He gives us a smile before walking away.

Lloyd looks at me. "You're too good at lying. You need to watch less murder mysteries."

I sigh. "The best lies, Lloyd, are woven into truth. We really will be going to that party later. You think I'd miss a chance to expose the evil deeds of your villainous girlfriend?"

He rolls his eyes. "Okay, we were talking about splitting up to do this mission. Why don't you come with me, Nya?"

I sigh and look to Jay. Lloyd isn't going to let this go.

He gives me a nod and a smile in return. "I'd be happy to go with Cole. We haven't gotten a chance to hang out in a while."

"All right, I guess we're all settled," Lloyd smiles triumphantly. "Nya and I will head to Stiix on my bike, and you two can find a stealthy way to visit Harumi's."

"I guess we're all happy," I monotone.

He smiles innocently. "Yep, I guess so." Snatching my hand, he drags me over to his motorcycle and hands me a helmet.

Yes, Lloyd has a license to drive a motorcycle. I don't even have one to drive a car. What's with that?

"So, Jay told me that Ronin's probably responsible for feeding Wu information about the underground power-exploitation," I inform Lloyd.

He nods. "Not surprising. And I bet he's withholding a lot of info."

"That's why I have to strike a deal with him. Start thinking about what you want to live without."

"How about your attitude?"

"Oh, puh-lease. Everybody secretly admires me for it."

"Or they think you're annoying and don't want to talk to you."

I nonchalantly shrug. "Whatever. Their loss, I guess."

Lloyd starts the bike, and I pull up my phone's GPS. We ride for an hour and a half, talking about our mission or nothing too deep. We're both dancing around our conversation earlier, and I know I have to get things settled with Kai soon. I don't want to be this guarded with my best friend, and I don't want to fake date Jay. I'm sick of these appearances.

And I kind of feel a little guilty about leaving my brother out of the loop, but I can live with that.

Finally, I see us approaching Stiix. I check the time. "Did you speed?"
He chuckles. "Only a little. But we need to get out of here before dark, so I had to go a little faster than usual."

"Afraid of what we might run into?"

"Or who."

We both let that sink in. If we get kidnapped, our powers might get stolen. Even if we aren't robbed of elemental power, though, Wu would be hopping mad. I mean, he'd be angry anyway if he found out we'd lied to him, but I'm trying to block out that thought.

I turn off my GPS. "If you make a left here, Ronin's shop is just down the strip." I look to the sidewalk and see a man with a scraggly beard staring at us.

I don't make eye contact or even recognize his presence. This place gives me the creeps.

"Okay, we're here," Lloyd says, slowing the vehicle to a stop. He puts the lock on, snatches the key, and extends a hand in question.

I debate for only a second. I may not be that romantically interested in him, but we always held hands before I started fake dating Jay. It may have seemed weird to others, but Lloyd and I have known each other for a while. We don't make more of the contact than it is.

Now hand in hand, we walk into Ronin's shop. A dim light illuminates shelves of artifacts: Weapons, musical instruments, statues. I'm sure ninety percent of them were stolen. Ronin may have the goods we're looking for, but he doesn't use honest methods to get them.

"Ronin, I know you're here," I call out.

Silence answers.

I see one window slightly ajar, so I walk over to it and gently push it shut. A chilly ocean breeze wafts in, causing my arms to break out in goosebumps. With the wind come sounds: Coarse laughter from a nearby bar, shouts from the dock, cursing from the dark alley below.

"Ronin?" I call again.

Something shifts from behind a shelf. I immediately turn toward it on high alert. Lloyd eyes me, letting me know he'll have my back should anything go wrong.

Slowly, I creep toward the sound.

Then a dark-cloaked figure darts out, heading for the window I just closed. I shout and sprint to the same place, but the character seems to take two steps for my every one. The window shatters as the figure collides with it, and I shield my eyes from the flying glass.

"What are you doing in my shop?" asks a deep voice.

Lloyd jumps out the window, and I rush to follow. Before I jump, I shout, "Saving you from a break-in, obviously!"

When my feet hit the alley below, I see the outline of Lloyd's face.

"Whoever it is had a getaway ride," he sighs.

I nod. "You didn't see where he went?"

"No. I suggest we talk to Ronin and make sure nothing's missing."

"I have no idea how he would know, unless it was something really valuable. There are no two of the same thing in his store," I sigh.

Back in the shop, Ronin paces. "Only a few paintings were stolen. Clearly, the thief didn't have an eye for art. They were only worth fifteen a piece."

Lloyd frowns. "But something more valuable could have been taken, had we not come here in time. How did you not hear whoever it was?"

"Well, I was busy following up with a lead in the back. I heard Nya – " he motions to me " – call my name, so I thought I'd finish up what I was doing. Then I came out here, the window shattered, and you two jumped through it. I'll have to brush up on security." He releases a breath. "Anyway, what are you two doing here?"

"Well," I begin, "we thought you might know something about an underground power-stealing operation."

"Power-stealing, huh?" he asks.

I nod. "We assume it was you who told Wu about it in the first place."

He sits back and crosses his arms with a smirk. "And why should I tell you anything now? Don't tell me you've somehow stumbled across money."

"No, but I thought you might be interested in a few of Wu's teas." I draw some out of my backpack.

Ronin raises his brows. "What do you have?"

I read the labels. "Beau-tea, agili-tea, reali-tea – "

"I'll make you a deal," he says. "What would you like to know?"

"First, how does Chen's staff work?"

He ponders how much he should disclose. "Okay, so the staff being used is only a replica of Chen's original one. This staff depends on vengestone, rather than magic, to work."

"But if it's just vengestone," wonders Lloyd, "how can it actually steal a person's elemental power?"

"It works through a type of reverse reaction. When vengestone is heated to extreme temperatures, unusual properties are unlocked. One of those properties is to completely remove elemental power from a person."

"And then that power can be redistributed," I fill in the blanks.

Ronin nods. "Yes. However, this process, unlike magic, takes a toll on the elemental master. Those with powers removed by the staff suffer from...power withdrawals."

Lloyd and I exchange a concerned look.

"What do you mean 'withdrawals'?" he asks.

"The former master may seem fine at first, but whenever they come into contact with the lost element, they have a reaction similar to an allergy."

"And too much of that power could theoretically...kill the elemental master?" I ask timidly.

Ronin nods.

"Do you know who's behind this?" Lloyd questions.

Ronin shrugs. "That's enough information for this deal. I will let you know one last thing, though: You kids need to stay out of this. I don't want you getting targeted. Remember what I always say, Nya?"

I nod glumly. "We don't run toward danger, but away from it."

He nods and smiles. "Good. Now the sun's setting, so you'd better get out of here."

"Okay. And I only brought one box of each tea."

He just laughs. "I taught you well, kid."

***Wow! 3400 words! This is the longest chapter so far, but I hope you really liked it! It contained a lot of important info ;) Sorry for anyone who was looking for something a bit more romantic, but the plot must go on!***