A.N: You've asked for it, and here it is!!!  What did Rhea and Emily get up to while YN, Morro, Ava, and the rest of the ninja team were off risking their lives checking out the Dark Island?

Well, you're about to find out!  (Takes place between Chapters 21-25)

(I would highly recommend that you read The Forgotten Masters simply for context reasons, proper character introductions, and whatnot, but please feel free to do as you wish!) 

Rhea counts down under her breath as she watches Ava and the ninja team fly off on their dragons and out of sight.  "..Three..  Two..  One..  Aaand...  THEY'RE GONE!!!"  She lets out a wild whoop.  "FREEDOM!!!  THE PARENTAL CONTROL IS GONE AT LAST!!!"  She fist pumps.  "WE CAN DO WHATEVER WE WANT, EMILY!!!  DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!!"  She asks, shaking the girls' shoulders excitedly.

Emily gulps, then shakes her head, pretending not to know the young woman in front of her.

Rhea gives her a crazy grin.  "We can take control of this monastery, kid!  What do you say?  Just you and me, and CHAOS!!!"

Acronix looks terrified.  "Why are you in charge?!!"

"Because I'm older, and Ava trusts me!"

Emily snorts, shakes her head, and points to herself firmly.  

"What?  You think that you could do better, Em?"

Emily screeches and mimes flinging rock voles off of her, then smirks at Rhea.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!"

Acronix starts laughing, but closes his mouth when Rhea glares at him maliciously.

"Well, since you so nicely volunteered..."

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME?!!"

Rhea chuckles darkly and creeps towards him.  "Oh, you'll see."

"STAY AWAY FROM ME, WEIRDO!!!"  Acronix screams desperately.

"Grab him, Em!"

Emily nods and tackles the Time Twin to the ground.  He writhes frantically, but cannot escape the child's clutches, nor the rope that binds him.

"HELP MEEE!!!"

"There's no one here to hear you anymore."

Acronix hesitates, then yells out.  "MASTER WU!!!  SAVE MEEE!!!"

Master Wu pokes his head out of the monastery door, his teacup in hand.  Upon seeing Rhea, his eyes widen, and he quickly slips back inside, ignoring the childish screams emanating from Acronix's throat.

"CURSE YOU, OLD MAN!!!"

Rhea cackles.  "Oh, we are going to have some fun with him..."

"Holy Spinjitzu, what are you-Mmph!!"  Acronix's words die off as Rhea shoves a spoonful of salsa into his open mouth.

"What are you complaining about?  It's good stuff!"

"It is!  What do you call this miraculous substance?!!"

"You don't know what salsa is?!!  My friend, I have much to teach you about the modern world!"

-Cue a cute little montage of Rhea, Emily, and Acronix doing stuff-

https://youtu.be/qxIwSLOQJ8U

"-And this, Nix, is a beach ball."  Rhea says, hefting a rather large and cumbersome-looking striped ball over her head and at the Time Twin's face.  "Catch!"

Acronix takes it full in the face.

"What were you waiting for?!!  I said catch!"

Emily laughs and grabs the ball from underneath his fingers when he bends down to pick it up, then throws it to Rhea.

"I'm open!  Throw it over here!"  Acronix yells, as the two girls toss it back and forth to each other, grinning at him.  "Stop messing with me and throw it over here!!!"  

Emily jumps up and roundhouse-kicks it to him.

"Emily, if you're going to show off, you'd better do it right!"  Rhea front-flips and brings her fists down hard onto the ball, causing it to bounce several feet higher into the air before landing in front of Acronix, quivering.

He glances at it.  "Hmm..!"  He side sweeps it, then kicks it soccer-style over to Emily, who passes it to Rhea..

-An hour later-

Rhea comes up to them with an armful of paintbrushes and buckets of red and white paint, left over from when the monks were painting the monastery's murals.  "Follow me!"

The other two need no more urging, and they all march on over to Lloyd's room.

"Here's a lesson in color for you."  Rhea says, mixing together the two colors of paint.  "..Red and white make pink, which is exactly the color we'll be painting the little leprechauns' room!"  She cackles and dips in her own paintbrush, then flicks it at the wall.

Acronix sniggers gleefully and begins dabbing on layer after layer of embarrassingly pink paint, while Emily takes the more delicate approach of gently brushing the words: 'Sorry, Lloyd.  Rhea did this' when her friend isn't looking.

-After they're done-

Rhea distributes Lloyd's candy stash between the three of them, and they munch on it while considering their next move.

"Which target's..  Er, thing's, next, guys?"  Rhea asks.

"Do we want to check out that hot tub over there?"  Acronix asks, pointing at it.

"Oh, heck, yes!!!  Em, bring the snacks!"

Emily nods and walks inside, while Rhea and Acronix disperse to steal swimsuits from random rooms.

Rhea returns first, having stolen one of Nya's swimsuits, while Acronix snags one of Kai's flame-printed ones, bringing a bottle of lavender-scented bubble bath with him. 😏

"I knew I should've brought my own swimsuit with me today."  Rhea mutters.  "This doesn't suit me as well as my magnificent teal one."  She high-fives herself.  "YES!!!  Swimming pun!"

"QUICK!  Get in the water before Wu spots us!!!"  Acronix belly flops in, and Rhea cannonballs beside him.

"We're painting your nails after this, Nix."

Acronix shrugs good-naturedly.  "Sure, why not?"

While they wait for Emily to bring the food, the two elder ninja lapse into a casual discussion on world domination.

"So, have you decided on a mascot yet?"

Acronix scratches his head.  "A..  What?"

"A mascot.  You know, a symbol of your awesome evilness?"

"I don't know if I'm evil, per se.  I just like destroying things."

"Me too!"  Rhea claps her hands excitedly.

"..Now my brother, on the other hand, is pure evil.  He bribes me to do things with technology, my one true weakness.  He's always picking on me, putting me down.  But I'll show him that I can be just as menacing as him!!!"

"That's the spirit!  You go, dude!  Show him who's boss!  Take no prisoners!"  Rhea says encouragingly.  "You've got to prove to him that you can be just as good at being bad as he is!!!"  She claps him on the back.

"Thank you for listening to me."  Acronix smiles.

"Anytime!"  She pauses, then continues,  "-Like I was saying, you can't just conquer a city without having some sort of evil mascot.  Where'd the fun in that be?"

They do not notice the ninja approaching them as Acronix adds his own to the discussion.  "Hmm..  I see your point.  Perhaps one of those cursed rock voles?"

"Now you're getting it..!  Oh.  Hi, guys."  The pair look up at everyone guiltily, fully aware of how they must look in the eyes of everyone else.

This is not good.  Rhea thinks.  I hope they didn't overhear our conversation, or I am in sooo much more trouble than I probably realize...

And a nice little overlap to the story to finish it off.  I hope everyone enjoyed this!  UWU

Word count: 1122