"We need to think more positively," Lloyd said, earning bewildered looks from his friends that he waved off. "No, listen. I know our situation is dire, but remember what Kai said earlier?"

"Everything will be okay because we have each other?" Cole asked.

Lloyd blinked. "No. He said something like, 'There's no way we're going to get out of here by tomorrow,' or something." He leaned in. "I have a feeling he's wrong."

"He's always wrong," Cole nodded, liking the direction their conversation was heading. When it came to getting on his friend's nerves, he was always in.

Kai glared at him before looking at Lloyd. "You're just saying that because Nya is here now. It still doesn't mean we'll get to be free by tomorrow."

Lloyd shrugged. "Yeah but-"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"-it's a push in the right direction."

"Still doesn't mean anything though."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"But what if it does?" Lloyd asked him, a challenging glint in his eyes. Since they were out in the scorching sun, his eyes seemed a lighter grass green instead of his usual moss green.

"And what if it doesn't?" Kai challenged back.

"Ha ha ha ha-"

Sighing, the five turned their heads and looked at Pythor wanting to catch their attention by standing close to their table outside and laughing annoyingly.

"You good?" Kai asked the snake.

Pythor stopped his obnoxious laughter to give them a satisfied smile. "Yes." He slithered a bit closer to them, his hands resting on the wooden table. "It is... interesting to see you five here. Why are you here? Have you finally gone mad? If so, I will have all my boxes on my stupid-ninja bingo card filled out and win-"

Lloyd pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, taking a deep, calming breath. "You already know why we're here. Everyone does. Now, what do you want?"

"You're still no fun, Lloyd. I just wanted to come and see how you were, and this is the treatment I get in return?"

"Cut the act, Pythor," Kai said sharply.

"Yeah," Cole agreed sternly. "Leave us alone now. We don't want you here."

"Bullying?" The white snake tilted his head. "That's new. What's next, cyber-bullying? Oh wait, you don't even have phones anymore!" He started to laugh hysterically.

"You don't have a phone anymore either," Kai said.

Pythor stopped laughing and harshly turned to the Red Ninja. "Shut up!"

He pretended to glide away and turned back around the second the ninja thought he'd actually go away.

"Oh, and," Pythor smirked, "if you're wondering; yes, I got busted. By the new ninja who are so much better than you ever were."

"Are you trying to anger us, Pythor?" Cole asked. "Because if so, you can go away again. Your efforts are in vain."

"Are they?" Pythor wondered, sneaking a glance at a fuming Kai. "Because compared to the new ninja, you guys are a joke. A laughingstock. The blueprint that was forgotten in the dirt it was created in." He looked at Zane. "Isn't that right?"

"That's it," Kai mumbled before he stood up abruptly and pushed his sleeves up to his elbows. "We warned you, Pythor."

"Kai," Jay whispered, trying to hold on to the back of Kai's prison shirt to stop him from walking any further.

With one harsh push, Jay's hand was gone from his clothes again. "You like being the annoying rat, don't you."

"Rat?" Pythor's voice went from smug to angry.

Now Kai was the smug one. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and nodded, coming to stand right in front of his past enemy.

Pythor clenched his hands into fists and didn't even try to contain his emotions as he pushed Kai back, making him stumble into Jay's sitting body.

The four other immediately stood up, ready to take Pythor on for putting his hands on their brother.

"Watch it, sewer rat!" Cole seethed.

"Yeah," Jay stood next to him after making sure Kai was okay after his impact. "You filthy, dirty, disgusting, unwanted, obnoxious-" He ducked when something was thrown at his head, missing him by a few inches. "Hey!"

He walked over to the item and picked it up. "Is this... cake?"

The others stared at the solid brown triangle in Jay's hand before looking at the person who had thrown it at him. It was a skeleton, indifferent from any other skeleton from the past.

Pythor fist-bumped him before turning to the ninja. "You can yell at me, call me all of those things," he glared at Jay, "but there's one thing you can't deny. You have been replaced." He smiled. "You are no longer wanted or relevant. Your time is over. Get used to it."

After making sure the ninja heard him, Pythor broke out in loud laughter once again and continued to make himself heard while he glided back inside, leaving the guys alone outside.

The skeleton stared at them for a second before rushing inside when Pythor called after him.

It took a while for the five to calm down again. Well, Zane hadn't really been angered by Pythor's antics so the other four had to calm down.

It was quiet after that. Each ninja was sunken in their own thoughts, and light conversation was no longer an option for them.

"Ninja," a voice said from behind Lloyd, making him turn around and the others glance over at it.

Two prison guards were standing there, their hands on their harnesses.

"You have a visitor."

The ninja looked at each other and began to stand up, but one of the guards shook his head. "Only Garmadon."

"Only me?" Lloyd asked, sounding surprised. Why only him?

The guard nodded in response.

"Okay," the Green Ninja dragged out, confused. He looked at his friends while he stood up. The guards grabbed him by his elbows and led him away from the others and back inside.

Lloyd looked around as he was thinking about who could have been there to visit him. The guard had said it was 'a' visitor, so a singular person. Was it Skylor? Dareth? His mother? Was his mother even allowed to visit him?

When they neared the door that Lloyd and the others had walked into a few days prior to meet Skylor and Dareth and ignored it, Lloyd's eyes widened.

They were leading him away from the visiting room.

Lloyd chose to keep his mouth closed and expect the unexpected. He wanted to see where they needed to take him to.

After walking down multiple hallways, they stood in front a steel door. Lloyd recognized it in an instance because that was the same room he had been in a handful of times.

The investigation room.

With a heavy sigh, he let himself get taken inside. He and the others had already been through all of the investigation stuff during and after their court hearing and sentencing.

The inside was lit by a dim light coming from the ceiling. One of the guards closed and locked the door once everyone was inside.

There was another person in there though, standing on the other side of the desk, back turned to the door.

Lloyd had to take a few seconds to recognize the person and then take a few more seconds to realize he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.

"Nya?"

The person turned around, revealing a pair of brown eyes and a confident smile. "Hello, Lloyd."

Lloyd's entire mood shifted from apprehensive to elated. His feet moved on their own accord and brought him into the arms of the big sister he'd lost a year ago. While not being blood-related, the two still held a strong brother-sister bond that they both cherished deeply.

"Nya!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly, his hands wrapped around her shoulders while hers were around his torso. "How- How... How?!"

Chuckling, Nya let go of him and looked up at him. Although he was only a few inches taller than her, she still needed to lift her eyes to properly talk to him.

"That's a lot of words you have there," she said sarcastically, making him smile brightly. He didn't even have any time to play offended.

"Okay, let me try again," he cleared his throat. "How are we here and able to talk right now?"

"Oh," Nya smiled, "they're on our side." She pointed at the two guards at the door. "That's Howard," she pointed at the one on the left and then at the one on the right, "and his name's Steve."

Lloyd gave her a questioning look, which made her elaborate further.

"Long story short: they're good guards instead of bad ones. And I might have blackmailed them too."

"Of course you have," Lloyd chuckled. He expected her to laugh with him but stopped when the corners of her mouth fell. "What's wrong?"

Heaving a heavy sigh, Nya leaned against the table, her eyes showcasing uncertainty with a hint of unease. "You're probably aware of the fact that I'm not just here for fun."

Lloyd nodded. He leaned his back against the wall, his arms crossed.

"Well, I am here to break you guys out-"

"Nya..." Lloyd said unsurely, looking up at the ceiling for possible security cameras that could record them talking.

She already knew what he was about to say so she beat him to it. "No, there aren't any cameras, Lloyd. And Howard and Steve already know the plan."

"The plan?"

"We'll get to that in a bit," she promised. "Anyway. While I am here for getting you as well as me out, that's not the only reason I've come."

Lloyd waited for her to continue with a heavy feeling weighing down on his chest. He had a suspicion that whatever Nya was about to say would be more than serious, because if Nya herself was hesitating, it had to be bad.

Nya nibbled on her lower lip, trying to find the right words. "Something's going on, Lloyd."

"If this is about Aspheera, I know. She's somewhere out there trying to-"

"No." Nya flit her eyes back to him. "I mean yes, she's out there somewhere and we haven't been able to find her. But that's not all, Lloyd. The Mechanic has been seen robbing a coal factory. Remember Vangelis?"

Lloyd nodded.

"Yeah, he escaped Shintaro's prison or whatever form of prison they have." She saw Lloyd stiffen but continued. "And remember the truckloads of vengestone we found before the whole Wojira thing went down?"

Lloyd nodded hesitantly.

"We found more suspicious amounts of vengestone, Lloyd. But this time in an underground train system. A train track that leads to a wall, to be more specific."

Now that at least one of the others knew about the situation they were facing, Nya felt like a weight was taken off her shoulders.

Lloyd, on the other hand, immediately began to connect some dots in his head. "Aspheera. Vangelis. The Mechanic." He looked at Nya, gauging her reaction. "Do you think... they are... somehow connected?"

"I don't know." Nya blew out her cheeks, the gears in her head spinning too fast. "I don't know but I've thought about it. And as much as I hate to say it, there is a possibility that there might be something bigger going on. It can't be a coincidence that three of our past enemies are on free feet at the same timespan."

The Green Ninja rubbed his chin. "Nothing's certain?"

Nya shook her head.

"Okay, what do we know about the vengestone."

"Also nothing. There were a few robot spiders attacking me and Pix when we went down to look for it though."

Lloyd sighed, knowing he and the others would have to get into ninja mode right after escaping. Speaking of escaping, he shot Nya a slight smirk.

"Didn't you say something about getting us out?"

Nya smiled back. "Well, I do have a solid plan, I think. But you and the guys need to do as I say. So here's what you're gonna do..."