This story contains some swearing.

Caged.

Again.

Why?

Heartbreak. Tension. Pain.

That's why.

But it wasn't anything new. They were ninja, it was a part of their job. But for the first time in their whole career, they didn't have the motivation, the mental strength, to fight. None of them. Yes, to save everyone they had to fight, but if they couldn't even save one of them, why should they go on? How should they go on? They had to.

That's why they tried. They failed, but they tried.

It was their first mission after... the loss. And of course, criminals took that to their advantage. Clever.

The Mechanic, being one of the few criminals that really knew how to tick the Ninja off, was the one to take matters into his hands. Well, one hand and one robotic hand - arm. He knew damn well about their loss, he was one of the few people to have watched the whole scenario like a hawk. He was hiding in a skyscraper across the news tower. He saw every single bit of what happened to the former Water Ninja, to the point where she left. Of course he could not hear anything, yet he still knew exactly what was going on. And that's what he took advantage of.

You could say it was his master plan. He was lividly positive that the protectors of Ninjago would be scarred and hurt, and did he care? Of course not. That's what made his face form into a smile. A wicked smile.

He gathered some low leveled thugs and went to the bank with them. It was nighttime, so there was no one in the bank guarding it. And being the Mechanic, he hacked into the security systems and turned them off. Easily.

Although stealing some gold bars wasn't what he came for. He wanted to go full house. He wanted the Ninja.

So, after some hours of crafting alongside his best men, he easily built some vengestone cages in the middle of the huge basement of the bank. Some might think that was a failure, a waste of time and energy, but he was successful. And he knew that.

The Ninja fell into his trap like a mouse into a mousetrap full of salami covered in cheese sauce. Fake. Just like the over exaggerated laugh of the Mechanic. It was worth puking for.

"You might be wondering how I managed to catch you all," The Mechanic started. He crossed his hands behind his lower back and paced back and forth the cage slowly, taking his sweet time. "You did make it easy for me, silly Ninja."

No one answered. No one gave a damn. They all eyed him, hands on the thick, light black bars of their cage. Weird... there were a lot of cages of every kind of height and weight, but the five Ninja were all in one together.

How? That's something they wondered as well.

Hatred. That's what flowed through their veins. Hatred towards the Mechanic, but mainly at themselves. They all kind of blamed themselves for their significant loss. A loss which they couldn't do anything about. And that's what hurt the most.

"What, did the cat bite your tongues?" The Mechanic laughed. Making fun of the hurt, nice.

Then he dangerously came closer to their cage, watching as they all looked back at him. Annoyance was reflected in all participants. His voice dipped low. "Oh, I forgot to capture the girl, she's late to the party." Then he put his right hand up to his face and started to caress his beard slowly, as if he was thinking. "Wait, that's right, she left you... how pathetic." He laughed.

The Ninjas' faces shifted. It was only a matter of time until one of them snapped. And honestly, it could've been because of annoyance, pain, hatred, or simply all of them.

The Mechanic hummed while still standing in front of the cage, but keeping his distance. He didn't want to be in reach for them, of course. "I wonder why she left... maybe she wanted to escape y'all, five teenage boys must be a heavy burden." He smiled.

"For your information, the only reason she left was because she saved all of us, including your sorry butt!" Kai snapped back.

The Mechanic shifted his gaze towards the Master of Fire to his right. He tilted his head, unimpressed, but still keeping his smile. "We'll see about whose sorry butt needs to be saved."

"What do you want?" Jay asked, unable to hide the hurt in his voice. It was only a matter of time until he would break down... once again. It wasn't a rare occasion ever since he lost the love of his life, his whole life changed for the worst. He'd never been more heartbroken, not even during that stupid love triangle, and he always thought that would be the worst. And of course he didn't forget about the whole alternate timeline, but since it was in fact erased fully, that was like one of the rarer things that made him worry anymore.

"Ah, Mr Walker. What a shame, couldn't even keep one pathetic girl by your side, eh?"

That only hurt. Nothing more, it just hurt. Badly.

"Don't you dare call her pathetic, Screwdriver! She sacrificed herself and saved your fucking existence!" Jay snapped back. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes, but managed to force them back.

All the Mechanic did was laugh. He turned around to look at the dozens of goons behind him and forced them to fake laugh alongside him with only one look.

While doing so, everyone in the basement, the huge basement, noticed how the lights in the far back started to flicker. Nobody did anything, though. They all probably thought it was normal.

The Mechanic turned back to the Ninja, stopping his laughter to look at them with a straight face. Before he could say anything though, the lights flickered again.

"Will somebody please just make the lights work again?!" He exclaimed, unamused. He turned around to see some thugs running towards the area.

The Ninja looked at each other, wondering about what was going on.

Just as the Mechanic turned around to face the Ninja again and to provoke them, the lights in the back turned completely off and a few screams distressed the whole room. Everyone recalled the screams as the ones from the thugs. Strange. The Mechanic was filled with worry. The worry was targeted for himself, of course.

"Who's there?" He screamed, trying to sound intimidating.

For a solid ten seconds, no one answered. The whole room was completely silent. If they were to be in a cartoon, there would definitely be some crickets going crazy. But no, it was real life.

"WHO'S THERE!" The Mechanic screamed at the top of his lungs. Surprises were most definitely not on his list of things he liked.

Suddenly, a light chuckle was audible. The chuckle sounded oddly feminine. "Water," The person started. "is a powerful element. It's mostly underrated, which makes it even deadlier."

There was no doubt, it was her.

"Nya?!" The boys exclaimed in unison. However, the person, most likely Nya, didn't step out of the shadows. Instead, she continued her speech, her voice low, almost intimidating.

"Drink too much, you'll intoxicate yourself. Don't drink enough, you'll dehydrate. Keep your head underwater, you'll drown. Stay in boiling hot water for a long time, you'll be cooked alive. Stay in freezing cold water for a long time, you'll freeze to death."

"Why are you talking like that?" The Mechanic was confused. "You think you can scare me?" He laughed afterwards.

But Nya just continued. "Being a part of the sea for about two months was something I hope no one else has to experience in the future. I had been the Master of Water for almost six years and nothing of what I've learned couldn't have warned me of what would await me down there."

The Mechanic gulped. She did in fact intimidate him a lot. She scared him. He took a few steps back, towards the cage. After a few seconds of complete silence, he spoke up. "W-what?" He asked.

Then suddenly, Nya jumped into the middle of the room, visible to anyone. The boys, the Mechanic, the goons. Everyone gasped once she stood upright.

She seemed different. At least, physically. She was in her human form again, yet she still had some marks on her face. Her left eye was completely blue, a forceful blue from her water-form, the right one was back to being the chocolate brown it used to be. About 30% of her lips were also still blue. A mix of her cherry lips and the water it used to be. Her hair was down from its signature ponytail, reaching to her collarbones. A few strands were also still in her water-form. The rest of her body was covered with some sort of bodysuit. No one could really know where she got the completely black bodysuit from, but it fit her slender form well. She also wore a long cape around her neck. It was black on the outside and red on the inside.

"I've learned about the dark sides of my element. Don't get me wrong, I was taught well by my Master, but I don't think even he knows what I'm truly capable of." She continued.

"Nya!" Jay screamed, tears in his eyes.

She tilted her head and met Jay's gaze. "Jay." She simply stated, smiling. He smiled back, he couldn't really think of anything to say at that moment.

Then she looked back at the Mechanic in front of her, her smile dropping drastically. "Water can be manipulative. More manipulative than any of you can think." She took a few steps forward, causing him to take steps back with fear in his eyes. "Why do you think I couldn't return sooner?" It was a question no one besides her could answer.

"Nya, what happened?" Lloyd asked her.

She walked ahead until the Mechanic fled out of her way, leaving her gaze. Instead of glaring at him, she looked at her family in the cage. "Guys, I've learned about many things that make me scared of myself. From becoming the rightful queen of the endless sea and being known as a water goddess, to the dark truth of my powers." She stated.

"You're the queen of the sea?!" Cole squeaked.

She nodded.

"You're a goddess?!" Jay squeaked afterwards.

She nodded again.

"What dark truth?" Kai asked, concerned.

She sighed. "As I said, water can be deadly. And being the Master of Water, I can control that liquid. However, a human consists of about 60% of water." She turned towards the scared Mechanic who was on the other side next to her.

Nya lifted her hand in his direction, everyone following her hand. She looked him dead in the eye and suddenly, he started to float.

"That means," She looked back at her friends who looked at her in amazement. "I can control people. I can move them." She moved the Mechanic up and down, then moved him around the room, showing off her new found ability with ease. Then she moved him next to her, right in front of the cage for better view for her friends.

"That's amazing!" Jay stated.

She sighed again. "I don't think you're gonna like what's about to happen, then."

"What?" Zane asked.

"I've also learned that our blood consists of about 83% of water." She stopped for a few seconds for the others to comprehend what she just addressed.

"Hold on, does that mean you can-" Lloyd started, but couldn't finish his own sentence.

"Exactly. I can manipulate the blood in this man's body to function the way I want it to." She gestured towards the shaking Mechanic. "If I tell it to stop, it. will. stop." Her voice dropped down intimidatingly.

Suddenly, her watery eye turned blood red. "I can stop the blood flow," She slowly scrunched her hand. The Mechanic tried to wiggle out of her strong hold to fall to the ground, but couldn't. He was hovering after all. It seemed as if he was suffocating.

"I can't breathe." He tried to say, his voice raspy.

Everyone was shocked. "Nya, I think you should stop now!" Cole panicked.

Nya then looked at Cole and closed her hand. The Mechanic stopped struggling. It didn't seem as if he was breathing either. He didn't move. The Ninja were officially scared of their own family member.

"And if I tell the blood to flow, " She began again. Then she opened her hand again, and only in a few seconds, the Mechanic's eyes opened and he started to cough roughly. "it will flow." She dropped him on the floor. Her eye turned from red to blue again.

She crouched down to his level. "Where's the key?" She asked slowly.

While he still coughed, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out an old key and threw it towards her.

"Thanks!" She beamed.

Then she walked towards the cage and opened it with a click. The boys inside walked out, still scared of her. She just laughed. She turned around and looked at the goons who were trembling once she looked at them.

"Into the cage. Now." She said, her voice deep.

They all nodded and hurried into the cage. To everyone's surprise, every single goon in the room was actually inside the cage.

Then she turned towards the Mechanic. "I said everyone."

Without hesitation, the Mechanic walked into the cage as well. After they all were inside, she locked the cage.

After she turned towards her family behind her, a crushing bear hug... crushed her.

"I've missed you so much!" Jay whispered into her hair. She quickly hugged back. Then he pulled away to take a look at her. "How?" He wondered out loud as he held her cheek. She melted into his touch.

"That's... a very long story." She told him, her eyes closed.

Then she opened her eyes again and looked at the others. "Alright, on a scale from one to ten, how scary did I look? Be honest." She teased.

"24." Zane stated, his facial expression unreadable.

The others nodded in agreement.

She laughed. "I did want to put on a show, but seeing even you guys being scared of me gave me the rest." She stated, still laughing. "Oh, and did you know I can actually still change my form?" She asked.

Then she stepped to the side a little and started doing Spinjitzu. After only a few seconds, she stopped and turned towards her family. And yes, she was back in her watery form, from head to toe.

"And you can still turn back?" Jay wondered, still concerned obviously.

"Yes, but first..." She answered, but wanted to show them what she was able to do... well, again.

She concentrated and shortly, her whole liquid body changed into something. Something big.

Something like a... dragon.

Yes, she turned back into her dragon form. She couldn't fly around due to lack of space, but sat down on the ground. Her gaze was still locked onto her family.

They all gasped. "Wow." Jay said as he walked up to her. He extended his arm and surely, her head bent down to his level. She let him pet her head lovingly. He smiled at her even more brightly as he saw that she relaxed into his touch and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

"You're so majestic." He whispered.

She opened her eyes and her pupils widened. She lightly pushed him with her head, making him laugh.

"Could you please turn back?" He whispered again.

Nya nodded with her dragon head and pulled away from his touch, her every move reluctant. Then she concentrated again and turned back to her watery form. After that stage, she started doing Spinjitzu again and after a few seconds, she stopped, revealing her normal body.

Jay ran up to her and hugged her again. "I'm so proud of you." He told her as they pulled away. She smiled at him, a light blush visible.

"Sis, you have a lot to tell us." Kai told her, laughing, while the rest of the team walked up to the couple.

"You bet." She answered, smacking her brother lightly before pulling him into a quick hug. After she pulled away, she looked at everyone. "Can we go home?"

They all smiled and nodded hysterically.

Hello people, just wanted to say I'm probably gonna make a story in the future, continuing this storyline. It's not gonna be an official part 2 because I don't really see it as one since it's gonna be readable on its own anyway.
But it's gonna be posted after a few one shots.
Just wanted to let y'all know.