Lloyd finally regained his freedom after some time and returned back to Ninjago City. The boy moved carefully and in the shadows between the streets so that no one and nothing would notice him.

Blond swore to himself, that from now on he would act carefully and prudently. He couldn't afford to get caught again and end up in jail.

Despite his fatigue, he once again looked around. Lloyd summoned his elemental dragon and rushed to the monastery, or rather its ruins.

The boy's jaw dropped at this sight. The house, he so loved and cherished had once again been razed to the ground. The dragon landed in the courtyard, and its rider jumped off its back and looked around the ruins. 

From the mighty temple. There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing.

Lloyd removed his hood and, with a heavy sigh, sat down on the ground, wanting to rest. It had been literally four days, since he rested, ate or drank. Until he amazed himself, that he was still alive.

His kimono was dirty, and his face looked terrible. His hair had lost its luster, and his eyes had darkened. His face still bore bruises, scars and traces of blood from his fight with Peacebreaker.

The green ninja hid his face in his hands before moving his hands to his hair and combing his fingers through it. Lloyd's mind was flooded with a wave of thoughts.

He had to honor Peacebreaker's agreement, still remembering her threat if he didn't.

 Peacebreaker, grabbed Lloyd's arm tightly and looked daggers at him. 

- You must keep your word to me. You are to bring your people to this hospital. If you don't and back out, or worse, disregard me. Then I swear by Deep Magic, that I will catch you, your people and loved ones and see to it that they die a cruel, painful death before your eyes. You understand.

Lloyd swallowed his saliva hard, but nodded with fear. The voice of corruption shook him hard.

- Great. Now.... Go and remember. Tonight at midnight, I'll see you on the outskirts of town. - She growled, letting go of him, smiling maniacally.

Lloyd shook his head, getting rid of that memory, which will nevertheless remain with him forever. He put his arms around his legs and hunched over looking dully at the ruins of the monastery.

The distracted boy didn't even hear the flutter of wings and the hard crash to the ground. Skylor's Dragon. The aforementioned girl and Saber, who arrived on the scene, looked with shock at Lloyd, who was sitting in the courtyard.

They looked at each other in silence, before walking up to him. Skylor, put her hand on his shoulder, making him flinch and jump up in fear.

- Relax! It's us.- said Skylor, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender.

- Skylor, Saber? What are you doing here?- he asked, looking dully at his friends.

- Honestly? I had a feeling, you were here. I don't know how, maybe some sixth sense.- Saber mused, tilting his head to the side.

- Jesus... what do you look like. What happened to you?- asked Skylor with concern. Saber nodded, flinching slightly. - Yeah. You look like shit, man.

Lloyd giggled, but it was impossible to sense even a shadow of humor in him. He shakily get up to his feet and shrugged off his pants.

- I had a minor setback, during the mission.- he said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

Saber and Skylor looked at each other worriedly, but immediately shrugged their shoulders. - And where are the ninjas and the others?

- They are at my restaurant. The monastery ... well, yeah. They are all fine and just waiting for you. The knights are also here, along with me. (Y/N)... she, temporarily is not herself. - said, hesitating Saber whether to tell about the corruption or not.

- I know, Saber... I had a chance to meet her. At that meeting. She joined this council and... the matter is worse than we think.- said Lloyd mysteriously.

- What do you mean?- asked a confused Skylor. Lloyd opened his mouth, trying to answer the question, but shook his head.

- I will explain to you later. Now, let's go to the others. They are worried as hell about me, aren't they?

- Well, and what do you think.- laughed Saber.

Skylor and Lloyd created their dragons and flew to Ninjago City to Skylor's restaurant. At the premises, the heroes were waiting for them. The ninjas regained their freedom unscathed and reunited with the others. However, the news of the corruption (Y/N) shocked them. For the life of them, they never expected that (Y/N), of all people, had changed sides.

They all sat at a large table, in the farthest corner of the local, so as not to draw attention to themselves. Cole, Kai, Jay and Zane and anyway had to camouflage themselves, so as not to draw attention from the police or these new ninjas.

They had all ordered food, but it remained untouched. No one was in the mood to eat. Except for Axl and Cole, who devoured their noodles like animals.

Skylor, Lloyd and Saber joined them after about fifteen minutes. Lloyd, as soon as he smelled the pasta, began to drool. After all, he hadn't eaten in four days. He grabbed his dish and greedily began to devour it. 

- Carefully, honey, or you'll choke.- said Misako, in a motherly tone.

Lloyd only glanced at her, not listening. He devoured his pasta, like an animal.

- You better say it, Axl and Cole.- giggled Jay, glancing at the two strong team members.

They both froze in mid-eating, with noodles dangling from their mouths. They shrugged their shoulders, continuing to eat.

- How are you feeling, Lloyd. Didn't they do anything serious to you?- asked Kai with concern.

- And don't you see, idiot. He literally has blood on his face.- hissed Lance at him.

Kai looked at him angrily, but didn't speak. Lloyd smiled slightly, swallowing his food. He wiped his mouth and took a drink of water.

- Nothing serious happened. They didn't do anything to me. - He said quietly.

- You saw something. Did you hear what they said?- questioned Clay.

Macy poked him with her shoulder and shook her head disapprovingly.

Lloyd nodded, trying to form a very risky plan. - I saw. And not a little. The Council, as you know, stole the Golden Weapons from us. They work for some Crystal King. You won't guess, who belongs to it.

- Let me guess. (Y/N).- said Aaron, looking at his hands on the table.

- Yes, but not only her... The host, who organizes all this is...- said Lloyd, breaking off suddenly as he began to stare at the table.

- Well, spit it out! - cried Kai.

- Harumi.- said with seriousness. Jay burst into hysterical laughter, while the other ninjas looked at each other in shock.

- Who is Harumi? - asked a confused Jestro.

- She was Lloyd's ex.- said Kai, still in shock. Cole looked at the laughing Jay and poked him in the shoulder. The blue ninja momentarily stopped laughing and squealed in pain, rubbing his shoulder.

- I don't believe it. How the hell did she survive! After all, she...!- started Nya.

- Yes, I know, I know. It was a shock to me, too. And not any ex, Kai! We were not even together. - said Lloyd, blushing slightly at his brother's statement.

Kai only smiled cheekily, raising an eyebrow, not believing the blond's denial.

-  What do you mean? After all, you even...- began the brunet, when Cole blocked his mouth with his hand.

Lloyd at this point burned a blush and looked down, seeing the surprised looks of the team, directed at him.

- Enough! Let's get back on subject! Have you seen something else, are they planning something?- demanded Clay, saving Lloyd from further embarrassment.

The blond man thanked the knight in thought, sighing with relief. He calmed his raging heart and nodded, having already worked out a wicked plan.

- I heard, that the council is having some kind of special meeting on the outskirts of the city. It's probably some kind of exchange related to smuggling some special parts and weapons for their future army.

Ninja, Wu and Misako looked at each other believing the boy's words, while the knights were not convinced. Something is not right here.

- And where is this "meeting" supposed to take place?- asked Macy suspiciously.

- On the outskirts of the city, specifically in an abandoned building. In this ... psychiatric hospital.- explained the boy, trying to sound as credible as possible.

- And they discussed this plan in front of you, because...?- asked Clay suspiciously, watching the boy's face closely.

- Because...Harumi thought I wouldn't be able to escape them. They chained me to the column with Vengestone chains. She thought, I wouldn't be able to escape. - lied Lloyd, swallowing hard and looking Clay in the eyes.

- Okay. Maybe they would have been right, but apparently they overestimated the power of our Lloyd? - Jay said with a nervous smile.

They all nodded their heads in agreement, though hesitantly. They all muttered something under their breath, but believed Lloyd's words.

- So, do you happen to know the date of this meeting?- asked Zane.

- It is supposed to take place today... but I don't know when.- replied Lloyd, again lying.

- The most likely time for such a trade, is usually in the evening. Between 23.00- 00.00.- said Zane matter-of-factly.

- You're right. This way no one will suspect anything. They will not be conspicuous.- agreed Cole.

- Great! We can plan an ambush on them!- suggested Macy with a smile.

- Yeah, they will not expect it. - agreed Nya.

- You guys are right. We will plan an ambush, catch the council, lock them in the Cryptarium and save (Y/N)!- exclaimed Aaron with a smile.

- Yes, even if they have our weapons, there are still more of us. We will defeat them effortlessly. - said Saber.

- Good. Lloyd, go get cleaned up. The rest, on the other hand, we will plan an ambush. - Zane said.

Lloyd nodded, smiling slightly. Skylor gave him a key to her apartment, which was on the second floor of the building. The boy dressed in his usual casual clothes and threw his kimono into the washing machine and turned on the laundry. Himself, after a warm shower, at least for a while lay down on the living room couch and was immediately consumed by sleep.

After about half an hour, the others entered the apartment to also rest. Skylor was good enough, to let them stay for a while. Flying back and forth to Knighton would have been too cumbersome. 

When they saw Lloyd, peacefully sleeping with a slight smile on his face, they smiled. The ninjas and knights had already planned an attack on the Crystal King's council, which was to take place at midnight. Axl took the green ninja in his arms and moved him to Skylor's bedroom, covering him with an orange quilt.

The blond immediately curled up into a ball and wrapped himself in the quilt to keep him warm. Axl smiled slightly at his peaceful state and left the room.

In the living room, which was connected to the kitchen, ninjas and knights like teenagers sat on the couch and cheered Jay and Kai on the game, they were playing on the console. Wu, Misako watched them with a smile on their lips while sipping tea.

= In the Vengestone warehouse=

The Council of the Crystal King sat in the meeting room and listened carefully to Peacebreaker's plan for their next move.

- That's why I say, that this hospital on the outskirts of the city, will be an ideal place to store weapons. And, when the army is formed, the construction of barracks for Vengestone warriors can be taken care of.

Peacebreaker, saying all this, stood at the blackboard and wrote down some things with a marker.

- Yes. This hospital is huge. It's just right for a barracks for monsters, and it's away from human influence. - Pythor agreed.

- What, you say, even makes sense. No one will shoot at it. - voiced his opinion to Vangelis.

Harumi watched Peacebreaker's every move carefully. She didn't know what to say and whether to trust Peacebreaker's word. She suspects, that she has something to do with Lloyd's escape.

- The army will wake up to life any minute. We have to be prepared for that. After all, these are werewolves made of crystal, encased in a Vengestone shell. - Aspheera said.

- Exactly. For the first two days they will be unrestrained and will not listen to us. I there want to live and not die from their jaws.- the Mechanic shuddered.

- You guys are right. But tell me, Peacebreaker, why? Why exactly on the outskirts of the city?- asked Harumi.

- Because no one will shoot at it, as our comrade Vangelis already said. It will remain in the shadows and no one will pay attention to it. - explained Peacebreaker, looking exasperatedly at her.

- Just for that? Or is it for something else?- she continued with a smile.

- I want to do well, for our common mission. God, grow up Harumi. I won't save you, when you are attacked by those monsters. I prefer to live and the others probably do too.

- Yes. - they all answered together.

Harumi looked around at everyone, before her gaze fell on Peacebreaker, who was looking at her with satisfaction. She knew full well, that she had to agree to it anyway. The girl sighed defeatedly.

- Very well. Let it be, as Peacebreaker suggested. Only we need to carefully inspect this hospital, under the influence of defects and whether there is someone... residing there or whatever. That's the procedure.- she said in a bored tone.

Peacebreaker smiled with satisfaction.

- I promise you, will not regret this decision.