jay

Battle had never been his favourite hobby, let's be honest.

He's quick on his feet - as fast, maybe even faster than Astra or those really speedy Sons of Garmadon agents. It helps when you fight. His lightning is the fastest element - blink, and the blue bolts have streaked past. It's quite pretty, actually, if you're quick enough to see it. No one really is. Lightning and blood are two different things; but not polar opposites.

Blood can flow quickly. Right over your fingers and hands, but not as fast as his lightning. It's red, for starters, not blue. In the middle of fighting, blood and lightning run together in one big mess. People's eyes widen just a little when the lightning hits them. They glance down, scream like it will help, his nunchucks and katana deal a blow, and the blood starts pouring.

"Fritz, Lotus, get out of there. Titanium, blow-tronix and everyone take cover." Destroyer's order was sharp and quick, a warning that Jay heeded. Nearly tripping on his own feet, he scrambled to get away from the bloodied battlefield and took cover behind a lump of twisted metal that had once been a car.

One of Titanium's new inventions (that Jay had helped make), trotted into the space now clear of the SOG side. It looked like a dog, acted like a dog, but was definitely not a dog. The stomach space held a dangerous sleeping gas bomb that would explode once Titanium used his powers to crush the dog. That would set off a bang, blowing all the enemies off their feet and into a deep slumber. Hence the name, an animatronic that blew up.

Jay waited with bated breath to see the blow-tronix explode. The Legion soldiers were still confused as to why their opponents had retreated, but then, it was like a switch had flipped over in them. The soldiers retreated just as Titanium clenched his fist, the commander giving them all a lazy smile as she kicked the bomb back into their side, and the blow-tronix blew.

The blast slammed them all backwards, sending Jay flying back into a wall. His stomach flared out in pain and he gasped for air desperately before staggering to his feet. Pulling his gi up onto his nose, Jay stumbled as fast as he could away from the spreading sleeping gas. His earpiece was exploding with surprised yells from his team.

"Full retreat, now. Phantom is swinging by in an armoured car. One chance, folks, the Legion is getting reinforcements. The civilians will have to wait for now." Troya sighed, and Jay did too. He bit down on his lip to distract himself from the pain in his stomach, and forced his feet to move him out into the street. His katana had been lost somewhere in the failed blast, but his favourite nunchucks were still attached firmly to his belt.

Casting a disappointed look at the half-smoked building behind him, Jay kept listening out for the familiar, soft hum of top-tier SOG engines. Their mission had been simple. Jay, Charlie, Rema, and Pixal were supposed to clear a scummy area of Ninjago City where the less-respectable gangs, you could say, were trying to establish dominance. It wasn't Sons territory, but Wu wasn't taking care of his people in this area.

In fact, with the help of their scouts and recent intelligence, they had been able to form a map of Ninjago City and its outer suburbs to monitor where Wu held control. Not surprisingly, the first boundary considered the city centre, was definitely under his thumb. The further out it went, the less people were enamored with him. They were more occupied with staying alive since the amount of criminals and no-goods was increasing.

Jay perked up when he recognised the familiar sound of an armored car slowing. Seliel, in the driver's seat waved at him and the door slid open. Jay wasn't fully convinced she was old enough to drive, but then again, he didn't have a license, and he was training to fly a helicopter this week. Rema and Charlie were collapsed in the back row bleeding, a commonplace habit nowadays. Pixal was hunched over a slim laptop, barely acknowledging Jay when he limped in.

"Well. That sucked ass." Rema declared, prodding at something in her new metal arm with a wince. Nya had helped build it, and Jay had looked over the plans with her. It was incredibly complex but worked like a charm after a few tweaks, exactly like a real one.

"Seconded." Charlie groaned, burying his head in his hands. "How did they know about the blow-tronix? It's a horrible name by the way, it deserves something better."

"Hey! It's a fantastic name, thank you very much. And we have bigger problems to focus on. Like us losing." Jay grumbled. "A lot."

"Sheesh, it really went that bad?" Seliel whistled from the driver's seat, turning the corner dangerously. Everyone yelped when they tumbled to the left side of the car. Jay thought he heard a bullet plink! off the side of the car. "Sorry, sorry, random assassin."

Charlie peered out the window and rolled his eyes. "Second rate, that one. They're from the Ghosts and can barely aim a banana let alone a gun."

"I hate this. I hate the Quiet One. They had a giant freaking magnet to try and suck my arm off. How did they know?" Rema cried exasperatedly. "You don't just carry around a super-sized magnet on a truck because your prey has a metal arm!"

"Maybe it's the fashion nowadays," Jay remarked, and Rema promptly hit him on the side of his head. "Alright, yeah, I'm sick of the Quiet One too."

"Wish I could just—" Charlie mimed strangling someone, and Jay shook his head. "It's damn annoying."

"Unfortunately, we cannot simply ask every Sons of Garmadon if they are the spy. It would invoke distrust, unease, and chaos," Pixal replied in a cheerier tone than the words demanded. "That would then dissolve into the Sons either breaking up or turning into some sort of a civil war."

"All because of one mole?" Rema arched her brow and yawned. "This elemental business is exhausting."

"Distrust is easily sown. The less we keep this spy business outta the people's hands, the easier it'll be to find 'em. Get 'em out quick," Selile snatched something out of thin air and the car nearly severed into a lamppost.

"Seliel, would you please concentrate on driving and keep your eyes on the road?" Pixal said dryly. "I may be an android, but I am not so easily put back together as a three year-old's jigsaw puzzle."

"Yeah, yeah, alright then—"

"SELIEL—"

"Right! I'm lookin' at the road, I'm lookin'," drawled Phantom. "Jeepers. Ya'd think my driving is killing you."

"Yeah, well, it just might." Jay grumbled, sinking further into the back seat.

o o o

"This is ridiculous."

"No shit, Sherlock," Astra laughed sadistically. "We're losing. Losing."

"Like I said, it's ridiculous. We need a better plan than—than running into battle and hoping that our plan hasn't been leaked!" exclaimed Arsyn loudly. When Astra rolled her eyes and gestured to her father, Arsyn turned to the Lord pleadingly. "Just look at the stats."

Garmadon lowered his aviator sunglasses and barely glanced at the screen. "I'll do it if Lloyd gets rid of the kilt and beanie."

Lloyd deflated visibly from across the War Room table and pulled his beanie even further down. "No. Not unless you teach me how to undo it."

"Undo what?" Jay said cluelessly. When Astra, Charlie, Cole, Pixal, and Zane all sniggered and covered their faces, he knew something was definitely up, and they knew. "What'd he do?"

"If I tell them all, will you teach me how to get rid of it?"

"Fine, fine."

Lloyd glanced around the room nervously, then slowly peeled off the green woolen beanie. Jay choked on thin air, unlocked his phone, snapped a picture and then cracked completely.

He didn't even have the words, only the wheeze to laugh so hard his chest hurt. Jay slipped down into his chair and clutched his chest, the mental image frozen in his brain. Even when Lloyd had finished showering and his hair was still wet, he'd had the beanie on. When he was training, he had the beanie on. When he fought, the beanie was somehow on top of his mask. He reined in his laughter once the shock wore off - he could still feel a little bad for Lloyd and find it funny. "Wait, how?"

"Shapeshifting." Astra said simply. "It went very well, as you can see."

Lloyd looked desperately to the Lord, cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "You said you would."

"I know," Garmadon said, and then did not divulge the necessary information. Astra threw an empty coffee up at his head, which he caught in one hand and placed on the desk. "You imagined drawing it, right? Visualise undrawing them or erasing them or whatever."

Jay saved the picture of Lloyd on his phone for future blackmailing and returned his attention to watching Lloyd struggle with the instructions. The blonde's face had gone very red until finally, the ears and the tail disappeared. The change was so sudden Jay had blinked and they were gone.

"Thank Gods," Lloyd muttered, sighing in exhaustion.

"You won't be thanking them when you see this." Arsyn's grim words snapped their attention to the screen, where several charts and numbers were lit up in red. That probably wasn't good. "Stats show that there's a seventy percent difference between our battle outcomes in the last few weeks. Our prediction calculators are thrown off and we've had to take into account, well, losing."

"Here, and here," Astra pointed to two numbers and frowned deeply, "The first is our casualties. The second is the battles gone wrong. Both are way higher after we found out the news of the mole, so we need to find the Quiet One. And find them now."

"Over eighty percent of our tactics have been predicted in-battle, over eighty five percent of our routes are being ambushed regularly. We still have some of them open, but I don't know for how long," Arsyn shook his head, "I agree with Rea. Better now than never."

"There's also the intelligence from our scouts near the desert that we need to take into account. It looks like the Serpentine, the real ones, aren't as chummy-chummy as they seem. Everything we've uncovered hints towards civil war between the four tribes, but that's as far as we've got." Arsyn added, bringing up a grainy image of blue snakes.

"Get a squadron on it to monitor everything. I want bugs, cameras, and all the possible spies we can get in there. They've stopped their search for the Fangblades for this, so I'm not taking any risks." the Lord ordered. "Back to the spy."

"Alright, let's get the facts out. We have a spy on the inside, they're operating and carrying out information nearly all the time. If the spy continues like this, there's a chance that all our strategies will have to be re-evaluated and our ranks turned inside out for the spy. The most effective way to find the spy would be to—"

"Spy?" said a vaguely familiar voice. "There's a spy?"

"Evan? What are you doing here?" Zane stood up suddenly, and moved to close the door on his younger brother, but Evan stood steadfast in the doorway.

"There's a spy?" Evan repeated again, shooting his blue-eyed gaze at Arsyn. She nodded once, looking as if she instantly regretted it when ice began to form around Zane's feet.

"You shouldn't concern yourself with this, Evan. There is no need—"

"I think I know who the spy is," Evan insisted, and Jay's stomach twisted. How had a kid (granted, they were pretty much all kids) figured this out? "I'm eighty percent sure, at least."

"Spit it out." Garmadon snapped, when everyone glanced at him.

"Ronin," Evan said softly, "The spy is Ronin."

o o o

It was raining. Jay didn't mind rain. Sometimes it mixed with lightning well and beautifully dangerous storms were created, but rain was like a background noise his busy mind could focus on. He'd found, recently, that it was good to concentrate on it. He forced his heart to stop beating so fast, listen to the rush of the rain, count the droplets on the car window.

"You're sure?" Zane paced back and forth around the common room, so frequently Jay was worried he'd wear holes in the wood. "Ronin."

"That doesn't explain how he got in before. Y'know, the weeks before we let him back in." Charlie countered defensively. "How would he have gotten access?"

"Ed said something about him infiltrating a bunch of bases for information. I think it could be this one." Evan shook his head, and joined his brother's pacing. "And when Alissa and I first met him, he was saying something about getting information somewhere. Or to someone. He had a file on his back that said S — O — G. That stands for Sons of Garmadon, doesn't it?"

"It does," Astra said carefully. Jay could tell the cogs in her brain were spinning, and he was pretty sure they had enough evidence. Ronin trying to sneak off with an SOG file on his back? Check. Ronin infiltrating bases for information? Check. Ronin being an ex-SOG agent who would know how this all worked, had insane fighting skills, and was one of the literal best? Check, check, check.

"We should still check the systems to see if a foreign agent has gotten in. Security codes and phrases and things like that are switched nearly every day." Charlie continued his defense for Ronin eagerly, though his words were losing less force as he realised the proof was stacking up. Jay's hands were fiddling with scraps of wire that he kept shocking, just so they had something to do. Something else to focus on so his heart or head didn't explode instantly with all this.

"I can do it." Zane volunteered, already getting out his laptop.

"I've got it," Pixal interrupted quickly, shaking her head. "I've been familiarising myself with the systems lately, so I should be able to find it."

Jay shrugged and wiggled his fingers so tiny blue shocks sparked off, like a one-colour, one-man fireworks show. Maybe he could convince the others to help him make elemental fireworks.

"That's strange," Pixal frowned, hunching over the screen with bad posture his mother would've tutted at. "There's a really complex web guard across this breach on the cafeteria log. The hole should eventually lead...to the main database."

"Finding and destroying an entry point should have only taken a few seconds," Zane copied Pixal's frown, "I suppose Ronin really is as good as he seems."

"Uh, yeah, for a guy in a desert," Jay chuckled to himself. "His hat kinda looks like Princi—Wu's, but, like, dipped in ketchup."

"Remember the time you squirted ketchup on Zane's leg at the water park?" Kai cackled to himself at the memory.

"I'm sorry, he what?" Astra looked way more interested in the conversation now, like Jay's nervous reaction was more intriguing than them literally discovering the spy. With the help of a freaking fourteen year old.

"Yeah, that was when Zane found out—"

"I've got it!" Pixal said excitedly, turning the laptop around for everyone to cluster around it. Something about it seemed off, but it was probably how neat Pixal's desktop was compared to his (which was totally organised like all of her neat folders). "I've traced the signal back to coordinates in the Sea of Sand. Is that familiar to you, Evan?"

The younger Julien seemed much more comfortable talking to Zane or Pixal out of any of them - Zane was his brother, after all, and Pixal had been the only one to side with Evan at the theme park. Evan didn't seem to want to talk to Jay but he was fine with tha. It was probably because his whole android database remembered Jay calling him a mini Zane in a backpack. Either that, or his really bad puns.

"Yeah, it is. That looks to be near where one of our camps were," Jay shot out more harmless sparks from his finger anxiously as Evan confirmed the location. Breathe. Think of the lightning storm.

"It is settled, then. We must make sure Ronin does not remain at HQ for longer than necessary." Pixal announced firmly, shutting her laptop lid. "I do not wish to lose any longer. When he is gone, I think I will finally be able to relax."

"Ditto," Kai agreed, mouth full of banana, "In less words."

o o o

It was a lightning storm, outside.

The Master's supermarket was lit up in all kinds of neon light that added to the blue streaks from the sky, pinks and yellows that fell across Nya's face and made it somehow look even more ethereal.

"Staring is such an exciting hobby, Jay." Cole grinned, having noticed Jay's gaze. Jay shoved his best friend into a puddle and shot a zap of benign lightning at him.

"Why am I here?" Ronin demanded, jabbing his finger at Cole sitting in a puddle. "I don't see why little boys fighting concerns me."

"I will not let you harm my friends, and the people who have taken us in, Ronin." Pixal was practically seething at this point (an angry Pixal was someone you did not want to see).

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Pixal held up a plastic evidence bag, her green eyes shining in triumph as Ronin, a normally unflappable man, began to stutter.

"How — what the hell is that?"

"Some of our evidence. We have collected enough of it to analyse and conclude that you are the spy, Ronin." Pixal said cooly. "I think we both know what that means."

"Charlie, Charlie, you can't let her do that. Remember the time I stole your grandfather's plans for you from Domu?" Ronin hastily backed away, walking into a wall.

"I'm sorry, Ronin, but the evidence is stacked against you. I appreciate what you did for me, I really do. And I thought you could be trusted again, yet here we are," Charlie's voice was barely loud enough to hear. "I wish you the best, and I know Grandpapa Karlof would have too."

"Troya," Ronin's fighting spirit had come back stronger when he addressed the senior agent, "You know me. Why would I risk my place here, again, after last time. I'm not stupid."

"If you were smart, you never would have betrayed us. I can barely stand a traitor once, and I'll admit, you've been useful. You're good, Ronin, but our losses are still growing. You picked a fight with us the second you decided the Sons of Garmadon weren't worth your time. Now you aren't worth ours. Get out." Jay whistled softly under his breath at Cassie's harsh words. It was true that Ronin had been a lot of help, strangely eager for a man of his nature to prove himself. It sorta made sense now, that he was just trying to get on their good side.

What if there's more? Jay's mind suddenly panicked, and his breathing quickened, What if he's not the only one. What if I didn't do my profile checks well enough. What if Nya or my parents die because I messed up? What if everyone dies because I messed up? Wu wins, and it's because of stupid Jay Walker?

The feeling that he was going to die, the one that had risen inside of him and clawed itself way into his chest from the forest fire, was back. It came back with every one of these stupid little moments where he couldn't breath, move, or think beyond his dooming predictions. Were his legs folding in? They were. The floor was wet, his eyes closed, and his heart was beating really, really fast.

"Jay, Jay!" someone was saying. "Jay, are you okay?"

Do I look okay? he tried to say, but the words never came out. They got lost in his throat and all that emerged was a hoarse, strangled sound as he opened his eyes and found Nya staring at him.

"Jay, do you need some help, or to be alone?"

"Help," he managed to croak out. "My chest—it feels like caving in."

"He's having a panic attack," Astra said shortly, dragging Jay over to a bench where he started to feel a little better. "How many this week?"

"Anxiety attack? How do you know?" Jay wheezed out.

"Anxiety attacks and panic attacks aren't the same thing. I used to get them, a long time ago, when I was younger. How many, Walker?"

"Uh, tw—two, I think on Tuesday. Three on Wednesday, five, maybe, yesterday? This is the fourth today." It helped, to try and focus on something else, but it also kind of sucked remembering how vulnerable and how cowardly he'd felt then.

"Anxiety attacks are triggered by certain things, right? So, if someone, for example, went near the woods or something, could they have a panic attack then?" Nya said nervously. "I'm asking for a friend."

"I mean, yeah, maybe. I'm not the best person to ask about this, though. I can give you the contact for one of our therapists or psychologists if your friend wants to see them." Astra said, looking over her shoulder to glare at Ronin. "Can you hang on a few more minutes, Walker? As soon as he's gone we can get you some help. I thought they were getting better. You lied, huh?"

Jay ignored the last part defensively, "I'll be fine."

"I can stay with him," Nya volunteered, much to his surprise. "If he wants me too."

"Yeah—I mean, yes, that'd be cool. Sure."

"Didn't ask," and Astra was back to normal, rolling her eyes as walked over to the confrontation.

Their voices had grown louder, the arguing more violent and brutish. It wasn't a nice thing to hear. Ronin had finally snapped from his mercenary-I'm-so-level-headed guise, and was full on yelling without hesitation.

"You must be stone cold, fuckin' crazy to think that I'm the spy. I've been helping you, 'aven't I? Is no one gonna vouch for me?" Ronin spat at the ground, his red hat dripping water from the thunderous rain. "Mark my words, you'll need me one day. Just see how much it takes to get me back."

And with that, the former agent only known as Ronin stalked away. A flash of lightning outlined his ship, REX taking off into the storm. Jay watched, his stomach churning with worry, two kinds, with two reasons now. A monetary sense of relief washed over him, dulling the pain for just a second. When he looked at Nya's stormy-blue eyes, he knew she felt the same,

The spy was gone. The Quiet One was no more.

—

A/N: how did this chapter turn into nearly 4k words i can't keep doing this to myself (we're only 16k words away from 100k words, so at this rate, that's like 4-6 chapters uhhhh). Anyways, we have jay this chapter! And we're throwing ronin out, like, as fast as he came! (actually he's been there for a bit but yk).

This chapter's song is 'shit' by bo burnham because why not i like it.

This chapter's Q is: what's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you at school?

My A: dude i don't even remember, i think i erased all my memories of being at school. Probably school photos cause i always look like ass for them no matter what i do.

-dommie out