Kai and Cole chuckled quietly as they looked on at Jay's sleeping position. He was practically face down on the ground. It looked like he was just shot.

"Why do you think he's sleeping like that?" Whispered Kai; still trying to hold back a laugh.

Cole chuckled "Knowing how he is now, probably some dark, depressing story behind it."

"Should we get him up?"

"Ha, ha. Probably."

Cole knelt beside the sleeping ninja and began lightly shaking him awake. Jay groaned and rolled over; pulling the blanket over his head. He mumbled something that sounded like "five more minutes Ronin. I'm tired."

Kai burst out laughing. The blue ninja peered out from under the dirty blanket, then Jay sat up all groggy. He looked around the room, and then at Cole and Kai.

"So it wasn't a dream?" he yawned.

Kai calmed down and confirmed the current situation was in fact, real. Jay almost perked up after the reassurance. Just then Zane walked in the room carrying his crossbow.

"Today is a trade day, remember?"

Cole an Kai jumped to their feet in a hurry. With that they ran out the door. Jay, despite not having any clue what so ever what a trade day was- got up and followed after them as they headed down to the lobby. The entire group was waiting by the door with a few smaller crates of the fruit they had gotten from the island. Reasonably, Jay questioned what was going on. Lloyd told him that if he comes with them, he'd find out. So the ex ninja agreed; and they were off.
-
They walked through the abandoned, overgrown cityscape mostly in silence. Looking up at the crumbling buildings along the road they were walking was saddening in a way. Looking at them was impossible without imagining the beauty they were once in. Nya stayed relatively close to Jay's side the entire walk. As they passed the demolished remains of "Master Chen's Noodle House"- She brought up that she frequently wonders what became of Skylor or the other elemental masters. As devastating as it would be to find out that they had all perished over the years, it would unfortunately not be surprising. Even the ninja had an inexplicably difficult time surviving some of the conditions. There had been times where it looked like it was the end for them. Especially winter. They used to love the snowy months; the days they would get away with calling it a snow day were the best! They would get bundled up and head into the courtyard for a snowball fight. Usually, whatever team Zane had decided to side with would win. Naturally, of course. But now it was just a harsh reminder of their mortality. A reminder that it doesn't take much for a body to give up on itself. It's freezing, Kai is constantly exhausted from creating enough fire to keep everyone even remotely warm enough, and worst of all... unlike Master Wu, the apocalypse doesn't provide hot chocolate. So thinking that a good chunk of their allies had given in made sense. It was incredibly heartbreaking, but it made sense.

Finally, the ninja stopped at a wall of foliage and trees. You couldn't see through to the other side at all. However, the formation appeared to be natural. It was still quite peculiar.

A rustling sound broke out all around them. Jay couldn't pinpoint the location. *THWACK!* An arrow was shot from a tree and stuck in the ground only about an inch away from Jay's foot. He pulled back expecting to be about to face a large criminal. A small figure hopped down from the branches with a bow in hand. They stepped into the light; lowering the weapon. It was a child. He looked to only be about 14 at the most. He wore a purple hoodie, practically decaying sneakers, a purple pleather face mask, and well worn ripped jeans.

"Oh! Ninja! I am SO sorry I almost hit you guys! I'm just really tired this morning..." he bowed in an apologetic manner. Lloyd gave an understanding smile and nod.

"No worries Nelson! I get it. I'm not much of a morning person myself."

Nelson walked over and pulled some of the foliage out of the way to let them pass. It went smoothly until he got to Jay.

"Woah. I've never seen you before. You guys pick up a new survivor from out of town or something?"

Nya giggled. "You could call it that. This is Jay! Our old friend!"

Nelson's jaw dropped. "JAY! ELEMENTAL MASTER OF LIGHTNING!?! B- But I heard you fell in battle."

Jay sighed. "Ya. Well, you heard incorrectly. I lived." The ex ninja had the look of being tired of explaining that he isn't dead. Nelson beamed with excitement as he let Jay and Nya through the wall. Emerging from the other side, a blinding beam of morning sunlight shown down upon them. Jay covered his eyes as they adjusted to the light. What he saw after was insane. The NCTV News Tower- (or what remains of it) had been transformed into a home for survivors. How many? He had no idea yet, but it sure looked cool. Definitely captured the resourcefulness of the apocalypse esthetic. Most of the things there were repurposed or reused. A chunk of what he saw was extremely creative. It made Jay's inner inventor get all tingly and happy inside.

"Heya kiddos!" Called a voice. A larger man ran over to the group. Nelson removed his mask and hood; revealing his messy brown hair.

"Hello great leader!" He said in a playful manner.

Jay couldn't believe who was standing in front of them. Dareth! Out of all the people that had managed to survive all these years, DARETH was one of them?!

"WAIT! You're the leader of this place?!" questioned Jay. Dareth looked at Jay puzzled for a moment. Then he was hit with the realization.

"Jay? No way... is that really you?! You're ALIVE!"

The blue ninja looked so irritated, that he was about to swear. Nya nervously stepped in between the two.

"Yes, Dareth. It's Jay. He's alive. He's just been living somewhere else the past few years, that's all. No need to get all excited..."

Jay looked back up at Dareth after watching Nya's attempt at calming the situation down. The brown ninja looked a little confused, but shrugged it off and motioned for the group to follow. As they walked closer to the news tower, Jay asked the main question on his mind.

"So... You guys have been keeping these people alive all these years?"

Dareth shook his head. "No. We've been keeping each other alive. It's a team effort."

Jay looked almost unimpressed. "You help the prophesied heroes survive?... How exactly?"

Kai rolled his eyes in an irritated fashion.

"They help us by giving us part of their hunt. Because the only one in our group that's good with a crossbow, REFUSES TO KILL THE WILDLIFE!" His gaze snapped to Zane.

Zane groaned as if he had been in this argument 100 times over.

"I told you! I refuse to harm our furry friends! They have done nothing wrong. Killing them would be cruel and unjust. Besides, it goes against my programming."

Kai began to open his mouth to speak, but the nindroid wasn't finished, and cut him off.

"And don't you DARE mention that falcon nest on the tower. She has hatchlings now, so don't you even THINK about saying what I am aware you were going to say."

Kai groaned as his stomach let out a little growl.

"But what if it tastes like chicken?..."

Zane scowled. "My database tells me that is highly unlikely, Kai. And if I find you even attempting to touch them, so help me, you'll experience what it's like to be a frozen mammoth in the peak of the ice age."

Kai immediately cut the act and stepped away.

Interesting... He clearly feared Zane's threat. Back when Jay knew them last, Zane would never make such cold threats like that. He could only assume that the apocalypse had hardened his old teammates in ways he was yet to notice. Zane seems to get far more annoyed with things; especially Kai. But then again, Kai in general has a way of getting on your nerves sometimes. Though, the one that has changed most of all was the green ninja himself. Lloyd was very different. He had gotten taller, his voice changed, his personality changed drastically as well. And his eyes... It was like his green power was overflowing in them. Lloyd's eyes always had a slight green hue to them, but now they were bright green. And if you really looked at them closely, you could see the immense power swirling in his iris. He used to very clearly be a child trapped in an older body; ignorant, impatient, childish, and always making references to his favorite comic series. Now he seems to be far more mature, levelheaded, strict, and not once did he quote Fritz Donnegan. Yet. Regardless, he had definitely grown up since the last time. Kai and Cole seemed relatively the same, the only noticeable difference was that they were a little taller, their eyes also seemed to reflect their growing powers, and they had gotten slightly colder. They still seemed to joke around and roughhouse like the best friends/ brothers they were. Yet, Nya... she hasn't changed a bit. Jay lovingly stared at her as she carried one of the fruit crates in the building.

"There we are!" she exclaimed as she placed the wooden box down on the crumbling tile floor.

Dareth beamed. "Thanks a lot for this! We were all getting pretty hungry."

"No duh!" an annoyed voice yelled. Gayle Gossip marched over like the 'entitled queen' she was. Nya's smile dropped as she grabbed what was probably more than her share of supplies and walked off. Dareth glared at her as she left.

"I can NOT believe I used to have feelings for that woman. She's a brat." Poor Dareth looked drained from trying to maintain constant order of things. Like, he SERIOUSLY needed a nap. Lloyd and the others caught on to this quickly.

"Hey, Dareth? You look like you could really use some rest. You should go get some sleep... We'll hold down the fort while you do." Offered Cole.

"R- Really?! OH THANK THE FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER!.. UM. I mean, yah. I definitely think I need to hit the hay for a while. Thanks for this." He yawned.

Lloyd assured him that it was no problem as he walked away.

At this point, Jay was curious. He asked Nelson how many people lived there.
Nelson's gaze fixed on the ground below. "Oh. Well, there were 7 of us.. But now it's only 5. Me, Dareth, Gayle, Clutch, and Vinny."

The blue ninja didn't dare ask what happened to the two poor souls that supposedly didn't make it. However, what was odd, is that he more or less recognized all those names. Except for one. Vinny. He should probably write it off as some random citizen, but he was curious now.
"Um, Vinny?..."

Nelson nodded. "Vinny Folson. He was an intern for Gayle Gossip. He was apparently on a cameraman trial run when this all started."

"Yah, and it was the worst decision he ever made." Said a faint voice. Around the corner walked over a messy figure. He was slightly emaciated, had two large scratches across his right arm, and one on his left shoulder. (probably from a wyvern attack) He had long, extremely matted dirty blonde hair, and he wore nothing except old, patched up pants and what remained of green sneakers.

"Hi Vinny." Nelson walked over and gave him a caring hug. "You feeling better today?"

Vinny appeared exhausted, but he still smiled for the kid. "Yah, better than- *cough cough* .....yesterday." He looked up at the ninja who were in front of them. "Oh. It's a trade day? Sorry I didn't see you there. I'm just a bit out of it today..." he trailed off as his gaze met the box of food. "That's all for us?"

Nya nodded. "Yep! Take as many as you need!"

Vinny grabbed only a few things and began to head off. "Thank you again." He smiled tiredly. "Hey Nelson, can you come help me with something?"

Nelson looked back at the ninja group and waved goodbye before turning around and heading to help his friend.

Jay watched on slightly concerned. "Is it just me or does Vinny look kinda...?"

"Ya. He is." Lloyd spoke up. "He's been getting worse every day we come here. I think he's gonna... you know, sooner rather than later."

The rest of the gang peered at the ground. It's like they could all tell the kid was nearing his end, but none of them had the heart to say it out loud. Or by the looks of it, even think it. Witch was completely understandable. By the way Nelson hugged him and looked up at him, it was clear he deeply cared about him. But the subtle change in expression when he coughed, said he knew what was unfolding, but he refused to truly believe it. It was sad. The group of survivors was slowly being picked off. Jay asked if they knew what happened to the other two. Apparently, one of them was a kid named Dwayne. He was Clutch Powers' assistant, who was killed. The ninja didn't have the details on how though. The other was a young adult named Antonia. Who supposedly didn't make it through one particularly harsh winter. And now it looked like Vinny might be reuniting with them. But they tried not to think about it too much. Kai cleared his throat and put on a serious face.

"Well, we gave them what they wanted. It's their turn to hold up on their end of the deal." The fire ninja started marching away. All the others shook off their worries the best they could, and followed. Jay turned to Zane.
"So, who are we to be meeting for, um... 'their end of the deal' exactly?"

"Clutch Powers. He's the one that does the hunting."

The ex ninja's eyes went wide with excitement.
Jay stopped in his tracks.

"CLUTCH POWERS?! The famous explorer?! The one that wrote an entire book about survival?"

Zane nodded. "Correct. But he appears to be-"

"Well no wonder why you stayed alive for so long! You have THE Clutch Powers on your side!" Jay looked the most ecstatic he had been in a long time. Suddenly, a large clang of pots and pans erupted from one of the corridors. They all turned down the hall and opened the door to what looked like a break room turned into a kitchen. In the middle of the room stood the one and only Clutch Powers. He was trying to clean out a fish he had caught earlier that morning. Clutch looked up at the group standing in the doorway. Zane stared down at the dead fish on the makeshift cutting board, and down again at the mess of pots and pans on the floor.

"No offense, but I sense that your methods are inconvenient." Zane's voice sounded very monotone while saying it; a sign he wasn't happy with seeing a dead animal. Even if it was just a fish. If Zane was a human, Jay swore he would be a vegetarian.

Clutch glared at the nindroid, but relaxed the tension when he noticed Jay.

"Hey. New friend?"

Cole chuckled. "More like an old friend. We just found out he was alive yesterday. So we've been catching up!" Cole wrapped his massive arm around Jay's neck and pulled him closer. The blue ninja gave him a little shock to warn him that they hadn't gotten that far yet.

It was a- "let me go or I shock you harder" zap.
Clutch gave a tired chuckle; looking down at the fish.

"Must be nice to get back someone who you lost... huh?" his smile slowly diminished.

Jay wondered what was wrong with his hero. He looked pretty upset. Then he remembered. When the ninja were talking about the two people that had died, they had mentioned somebody named Dwayne. They said that he was an assistant of Clutch Powers. Maybe the reason he was acting so sad, was because he had lost his assistant. Clutch realized he was drifting off in his emotions and leaving the room in silence, so he cleared his throat and spoke up.

"ANYWAY! Um. Your stuff is in the box over there." He motioned to a crate by the right wall. Nya thanked him while Kai whispered something to Zane.
As they left the hallway, a gust of freezing wind blew by.

"WE ARE NOT EATING THE FALCONS!" Zane erupted.
Kai laughed it off like a joke and ran ahead to avoid an ice blast from Zane. The team watched the two chase each other around like a cat and mouse from an old cartoon.

They watched over the tower for a few hours until Dareth woke up. When he did, the group said their goodbyes and headed back to their home.
-----

While they walked back down the street they all laughed and shoved ach other joking about how funny it was that Zane almost froze Kai solid. Jay found it the most amusing, considering that he hadn't seen what led up to Zane starting to gain a temper. The playful banter stopped however, halfway through the walk. One of the buildings crumbled as if someone had knocked a piece of rubble off of it. They weren't alone, someone was watching them... The group walked back-to-back and got into a fighting position. They were about to go crazy on whoever they thought was gonna sneak attack them. A blue, electrified laser beam from a blaster shot the ground in front of them. The former ninja's eyes went wide.

"Oh, no..." he whispered. "He found me...."

Ronin did an impressive jump and backflip out of a two-story window, and landed on the ground. The way he looked up at the group was menacing. Shadows cast over his eyes by his straw hat framed his face like a burglar mask. As he got up, his eyes locked on the lighting ninja.

"I knew it! So you were off playing with your little friends. I should have know you'd betray me the second you found out these good for nothings were alive!"

Jay was confused, and now he had a lot of questions.

"Ronin, I didn't betray you and.... Wait, are you implying you knew they were alive this whole time?!"

"Of course I knew they were alive. I saw them for the first time months ago sneaking around the edge of the city."

The blue ninja took a step back.

"But I thought you... All those things we did together? All the times I cried into you? The very fact that you saved my life, bared with me through all the pain and blood? All those things we've shared over the years, and you DON'T tell me that my friends... no. My FAMILY, was alive?!"

"Kid, I didn't tell you for the reason that we're in now. You would go running off with them and I'd never see you again!"

"Well, what would you care!?!?" Retaliated Kai. Lloyd immediately yelled at him for the rude intrusion on the conversation that was not his own.

Ronin snapped.

"I don't know why I would! If it wasn't for that stupid voice in my head continuously taking over, I wouldn't have picked him up and saved him in the first place!"

The group gasped. And Jay... Poor Jay fell to his knees in tears. Ronin immediately realized that he went WAY TOO FAR. He covered his mouth and began to walk over to the ninja; holding out his hand. The other ninja were already kneeling down by his side trying to comfort him.

The thief stopped himself from walking any closer.

"Buddy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say any of that, it wasn't true. I DID hear a voice that night telling me to help you, but I would have done it regardless, I promise... I care about you, I really do! That's why I didn't tell you anything about your friends! I was afraid if I did, you would leave me alone. I guess I had gotten so used to you being around, that I didn't want to lose you. When I realized you weren't coming home last night, I panicked. That's why I'm here. I wanted to see if you were ok, not break you apart from your family."

Jay stared up at the man, tears still running down his face. He put on a more serious look as he got up and hugged him. He apologized for running away without telling him where he was going.

"I understand you didn't have to save me that night, but you don't know how happy I am that you did."

Ronin gave the kid a hug back. Just then, Jay got an idea. It was perfect! He looked up and offered Ronin to come live at Borg Tower with his friends. That way, he could stay with his old teammates AND still stay with Ronin. The thief pulled back.

"Stay with you?! As in... abandoning our base? But all our stuff is back there. And what about Bernie? If you move here, you won't be able to see him."

Jay paused. He hadn't truly thought about the cons of this decision. He wanted to join his family again, but now Ronin was his family too. And truthfully, part of him was still conflicted about letting the ninja back in...

He sighed as he made a decision.

"Guys, I'm going back with Ronin for a few more days. I just need to figure out what I wanna do for a little while, ok?"

His teammates looked slightly saddened about his decision, but they also looked like they understood. They said their goodbyes and their hopes of seeing each other again. Jay promised he'd be back in a couple days. Before they knew it, him and Ronin were gone.

"I don't trust that man." Kai snarled. His fists caught ablaze when he did. Nya pointed it out. Her brother yelled "Not AGAIN!" as he failed his hands to extinguish it. "Why does it do that?!"

Cole shrugged. "My powers have been acting up too. The other day when I got mad, I stomped my foot and fixture opened up underneath me. I almost fell in!"

Before another word could be said,
an extremely loud roar shook the street out of nowhere. Wings beating could be heard coming their direction. Lloyd ordered all of them to run to the nearest stable building. In this case, it was the police station. The team dodged into the entrance and locked the door behind them. They stepped slowly away from the doorway, trying to keep as quiet as possible. A gigantic dragon landed in the middle of the street outside. It sniffed the area the group was standing in, like a wolf on a trail looking for prey. It stood up and locked eyes on the police station. The group scattered around looking for a place to hide from its line of sight. The beast peered in through the cracked glass doors. They all held their breath.

Silence. Nothing could be heard but the sound of the beast's growl-like breath. It pulled back and let out a massive screech before flying off. Cole lowered his hands from his mouth.

"What was that!?" he said still stuck in a whisper. "I've never seen a wyvern like that before!"

Zane stood up looking greatly concerned. "That is because that creature was not a wyvern. It had 4 legs and the wings were placed on its back. Wyverns front legs ARE their wings. I have never seen anything like that since..." his expression said he realized something that he wasn't sure what to make of. The nindroid went into super speed panic mode as he unlocked the door and darted to where it was standing. Zane knelt down and examined the spot like the true detective he was.

"Unbelievable..." he whispered.

Lloyd walked over. "What did you find bud?"

The ninja all gathered around him to hear what he had to say.

The nindroid turned to all of them with an urgent expression.

"That dragon was an elemental creation. The only way for that to be so is if..."

Lloyd was hit with the realization. "An elemental master created it."

Zane nodded. Everyone looked at each other in shock. Who could have made it? Maybe Skylor or the others were still alive somewhere!? They had no clue. But if the dragon was here, whoever it was couldn't be that far away.
-------

The old monastery stood still in ruin. An almost serene sight. Everything was quiet, the plants overgrew the rubble; giving it a new life. But the silence was interrupted by a figure wrapped in a black, tattered cloak walked into the courtyard. They held a stopwatch, and appeared to be fixated on its ticking. Winds began to pick up, and dark clouds began to form overhead. The figure gazed into the storm in anticipation. Lightning began to crackle together, forming the shape of an infinity symbol. A flash of light beamed down a second figure before the vortex imploded in on itself. As everything returned to normal, the person that fell from the vortex held his head as he stood up. The cloaked figure watched on with a sinister smile.
"Brother."

They both unmasked themselves.

"Krux?! Is that you? Why do you look so... old?"

Krux shook his head. "Acronix. You have been in that time vortex for years. And while you were absent, some galactical monstrosity decimated this world. You have no idea how hard it was to keep myself alive and busy while I was waiting for you."

Acronix looked puzzled. "Well, wasn't exactly expecting to blink into the apocalypse today, but I suppose you have a convoluted plan as always."

Krux face palmed. He questioned why he even bothered with him sometimes.

"Come now. If you want to live, I suggest you follow me to our base."

A roar rang out from the air. The elemental dragon landed, nuzzling Krux.

The time twin asked for the report. Tick, (the name of the dragon) gave a little growl before returning to inside Krux.
"There seems to be fun little game about to start... He smelled elemental powers!"

Acronix tilted his head. "Wu and the others live?"

The man chuckled in a sinister manner. "That's the lovely thing about this time, brother. Wu has passed on. And no one has heard from the others in a century! What Tick smelled was an excess of power. Meaning the new hosts are still maturing."

Acronix still seemed slow to catch on.

His brother sighed.

"The fact that their power seems to be at an all time high and overflowing, means they are all adolescents. Not yet mature enough to handle their powers growing within them. Don't you get it?!... The only ones that even stand a chance of stopping us...

ARE CHILDREN!"

Acronix immediately understood. And together they maniacally laughed into the darkening sky.