" Nelson?"

" Yeah?"

" Would you hurry it up?!"

Nelson looked at his girlfriend and sighed. " Mia have you even READ this list?"

Mia blinked. " What list?"

Nelson gave her a deadpan look. * The one containing the things we need to get."

" We don't need a list! I remember everything we need!"

" But the others also needed stuff."

Mia blinked. " Wat."

Nelson sighed and took the list out.

" We need,

Eggs (1x)

Milk ( 2x)

Ice cream ( 3x)

Tea ( 50x)-"

" FIFTY PACKS OF TEA?!" Mia shrieked.

Nelson sighed. " Unfortunately."

" Why does Master Wu even need that much?"

Nelson shrugged. " I dunno."

Mia shook her head. " Carry on."

" Gummy bears ( 4x)

Gummy worms ( 4x)

Hair gel ( 3x)-"

Mia groaned. " Of course. Kai wants his hair gel. What else?*

" Cat food.... ( 573947x)...?"

Nelson adjusted the list in his hand and squinted at the absurd number. "Cat food... 573,947 packs?!"

Mia's jaw dropped. "That can’t be right."

Nelson turned the paper to show her. "See for yourself."

Mia snatched it, scanning the list before groaning loudly. "Blackie! Why do you need this much food?!"

Blackie, lounging lazily on the edge of the cart, yawned dramatically. "I'm a growing boy, obviously."

"You're not even growing," Mia snapped, waving the list at him. "You’re just dramatic."

Blackie stretched out a paw, casually flicking the list. "You could always reduce it to half, but don’t come crying to me when I stage a hunger strike."

Nelson stared at the cat, then at Mia. "Does he... always talk like this?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mia muttered. She crumpled the list slightly in frustration. "And he’s not staging any hunger strikes. We're getting one bag. One."

Blackie sat up, narrowing his eyes. "One? Are you trying to starve me? What if the world ends tomorrow? What if the store runs out?!"

Mia leaned forward, her face inches from Blackie’s. "If the world ends tomorrow, the last thing I’m worrying about is your snacks!"

Nelson cleared his throat, holding up the list again. "Can we focus, please? There’s still a lot left to get."

Mia groaned and started walking toward the frozen section. "Fine. Let’s just get this over with."

Nelson followed her, muttering under his breath, "Why do I feel like I always get dragged into these messes?"

Blackie, perched regally on the cart, flicked his tail. "Because you're Mia’s boyfriend. It’s your job to suffer with her."

"Hey!" Mia shot him a glare, but Blackie ignored her completely.

Nelson tried to hide a grin as he read the next item. "Okay, so after tea and cat food, we need... gummy bears, gummy worms, and ice cream. Three times."

Mia nodded. "That’s for me."

Nelson blinked. "All of it?"

"Yes," Mia said without hesitation.

Blackie smirked. "She’s stress-eating. You’d better stock up."

"Don’t encourage him!" Mia hissed at the cat before grabbing Nelson’s arm. "Let’s hurry up. The faster we finish, the faster I can eat my ice cream and forget this nightmare."

Nelson chuckled, steering the cart toward the frozen section. "You know, this might actually be kind of fun if you weren’t yelling every five seconds."

Mia crossed her arms. "I’m not yelling every five seconds."

Nelson raised an eyebrow. "Fifty packs of tea?"

Mia opened her mouth to argue but quickly shut it again. "...Fine. Point taken."

Blackie purred smugly. "I’m glad someone here keeps track of the chaos."

As they turned the corner, they nearly ran into an employee stocking shelves. The worker eyed their cart, then glanced at the list in Nelson’s hand. "Uh... need help finding anything?"

Mia handed him the crumpled list without hesitation. "Yes. Do you have a lifetime supply of cat food? Asking for a friend."

Blackie snorted. "Rude."

The worker blinked, clearly confused, but nodded slowly. "I’ll, uh... see what we have in the back."

As he disappeared, Nelson leaned closer to Mia and whispered, "Do you think he noticed the talking cat?"

Mia shook her head. "Honestly? I think he just gave up trying to understand."

"Smart move," Blackie said, licking his paw.

Nelson sighed. "This is going to be a long day."

As they waited for the employee to return, Nelson glanced down at the list again. He frowned as he scanned the next few items.

"Strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream, jelly..." Nelson muttered, then paused. His brow furrowed as he squinted at the next item. "Shampoo. Forty-five packs of shampoo."

Mia blinked and leaned over his shoulder to look. "Forty-five?!"

Nelson nodded slowly. "Yeah. Forty-five."

Mia groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why do the boys need that much shampoo?"

Blackie, still perched on the cart, chimed in. "Have you seen their hair? Kai alone probably uses half a bottle every time he washes it."

Nelson nodded in agreement. "And don’t forget Lloyd’s hair. That’s probably at least ten packs right there."

Mia threw her hands in the air. "What are they doing, bathing in the stuff?!"

"Possibly," Blackie said with a smug flick of his tail. "Or maybe they’re planning to start a shampoo empire. Who knows?"

Nelson shook his head and scribbled a note next to the shampoo entry. "I’m splitting this into multiple trips. There’s no way we’re carrying forty-five packs of shampoo today."

Mia crossed her arms. "You’d better, or I’m dumping all of it on Kai’s bed."

Nelson smirked. "Pretty sure he’d just thank you for it."

"Don’t tempt me," Mia muttered darkly.

Just then, the employee returned, holding a massive bag of cat food. "This was the biggest one we had in the back," he said, struggling to lift it onto the cart.

Mia stared at the bag. "That’s... not even close to 573,947 packs."

The employee gave her a bewildered look. "Ma’am, no one needs that much cat food."

Blackie narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me. I beg to differ."

The employee froze, looking around wildly. "Did... Did that cat just talk?"

Nelson stepped in quickly, patting the guy on the shoulder. "Nope! You must be imagining things. Thanks for your help!"

As the employee walked away, muttering under his breath, Mia glared at Blackie. "Can you please stop freaking people out?"

Blackie yawned. "Not my fault humans are so jumpy."

Nelson snorted and steered the cart toward the produce section. "Let’s just grab the strawberries and blueberries. I don’t think I can handle another public meltdown."

Mia followed, shaking her head. "I still can’t believe forty-five packs of shampoo. What are they doing, hosting a spa day?"

Nelson chuckled. "Honestly? Knowing Kai, probably."

Blackie smirked. "Or maybe Lloyd’s finally trying to compete with Kai’s hair game."

Mia rolled her eyes. "If I didn’t love them all so much, I’d quit this team."

Nelson glanced at her with a grin. "But you do love them."

Mia groaned but didn’t deny it. "Let’s just get the whipped cream before I change my mind."

While Mia carefully analyzed the whipped cream options, holding up two cans and muttering to herself about "maximum fluffiness," Nelson peered down at the list again. His jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Perfume. Five thousand seven hundred and ninety-three packs," he read aloud, his voice flat with disbelief.

Mia barely looked up from her whipped cream dilemma. "What, are they opening a beauty salon now?"

Nelson rubbed his temples and kept going. "Toothpaste. Five thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine packs." He sighed. "Great. Now they’re planning on having the freshest teeth in Ninjago."

Blackie, perched smugly on the edge of the cart, quipped, "With all the sugar you lot eat, it’s probably necessary."

But then Nelson froze, his eyes widening as he reached the next item on the list. He slowly read it out loud. "Cologne... for Master Wu." His voice cracked. "Fifty-eight billion, three hundred and forty-eight million, eight hundred and forty-three thousand... packs."

Mia dropped both cans of whipped cream and spun around. "WHAT?!"

Nelson held up the list, his face pale. "It’s right here! Fifty-eight billion packs of cologne for Master Wu!"

Mia snatched the list and stared at it, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "Why does Master Wu need that much cologne?!"

Blackie flicked his tail and said dryly, "Maybe he’s preparing to perfume all of Ninjago."

Nelson shook his head. "No. This has to be a mistake. Maybe someone added a few extra zeros."

Mia squinted at the list. "A few?! Nelson, this isn’t just a typo. This is a catastrophe! If we even attempt to buy that much, we’ll need every cargo ship in the city!"

Nelson buried his face in his hands. "I knew this was a bad idea. Why didn’t I just pretend I was busy today?"

Mia groaned and stuffed the list into her pocket. "That’s it. We’re not buying that cologne. Master Wu can meditate his way to smelling better for all I care."

Nelson hesitated. "You sure? I mean, he might—"

"NO," Mia said firmly. "I’m drawing the line here. Fifty-eight billion packs of cologne is not happening."

Blackie chuckled. "I’d pay to see you explain that to Master Wu."

Mia glared at him. "Keep it up, Blackie, and I’ll spray you with cologne."

The cat raised an eyebrow. "Bring it on, human. I’d smell fabulous."

Nelson groaned and grabbed Mia’s hand. "Come on, let’s just pay for the whipped cream and leave before this list drives us insane."

As they headed for the checkout, Mia muttered under her breath, "Next time, someone else is doing the shopping. I’m never looking at another list again."