Nya's POV

"Nya, we really should take a break," Jay says from behind me. Ever since I've been better, I've been working nonstop on this machine. The blueprints took a while to figure out, and now we're in the process of actually building the machine. Since we don't have the luxury of being able to go to the store to find new parts, we had to pick everything up from Jay's parents' junkyard.

"In a couple of minutes," I dismiss his suggestion, tightening one of the bolts.

"You've said that for the past four hours," he sighs from behind me. I shrug, continuing my work.

"That's four hours closer to having it done then, isn't it?" I reply, switching to the other side of the machine. He follows me.

"But overworking yourself can exhaust you for when it's actually ready," he informs me. Once again, I shrug.

"But then we'll have PIXAL on our side, so it'll be worth it," I say, wiping some sweat off my brow.

Suddenly, I feel a pair of arms snake around my waist, my back pressed against my boyfriend's firm chest. The gentle prickle of his electricity touches every inch of my body, making me close my eyes and lose focus on the machine. His lips gently press against my neck before he nuzzles his head against it.

"Even Zane is taking a break, and he's a nindroid for goodness sake. We can handle being away from this for an hour or two," Jay tells me, his breath hot on my neck.

"Fine, we can take a break," I cave in. I set the wrench I was using down and spin around in his grip, so I'm now facing him.

"Let's get out of here. If I look at that machine for another minute, my head is gonna explode," Jay suggests, making a small laugh escape my lips.

"I couldn't agree more," I say, thankful for the fact that he got me to put down my tools. Taking his calloused hand in mine, the two of us leave the small room we had been working in. We walk through the hallway.

"It always feel so quiet around here now. It's unnerving," Jay shivers. "Kai's gone, and Lloyd and Cole are gone most of the time. Even though Wu, Garmadon, and Misako are here, they're awfully quiet. Zane prefers to work in silence, and even though I can talk to a wall for hours, I've been trying to refrain so people can focus more, but hey, things will get back to normal soon, they always do."

"What if this time is different though?" I ponder.

"I...I don't like thinking like that, because if this is going to be the destruction of Ninjago as we know it, I'd, selfishly, rather be blissfully ignorant that it's the end than know," he admits, running his free hand through his hair.

The two of us walk into the small room Jay and I added onto the Bounty for me to sleep in. There's not much, just a small bed, a mirror, and a small closet, but even that is a luxury on this ship considering all of the boys have to share a room. I close the door behind us.

"Well, if Ninjago is going to be destroyed, there's no one else who I'd rather be beside," I tell him, facing him now. I look up and into his eyes before my eyes trail down to his lips. My words put a smile on his lips. I reach up, wrapping my arms around the nape of his neck.

"I feel the same way," he reassures me. Standing on my tiptoes, I press my lips against his, sending a shock through me. It makes me slightly gasp before continuing to kiss him. I run my hands through the bottom of his auburn hair, feeling it's softness in between my fingertips.

The two of us move to sit on the bed mid kiss. Our lips stay connected the entire time. The attraction between us is strong. My body aches for his, wanting to be as close as possible. My hands run up his arms, feeling the curvature and firmness of his biceps and deltoids.

We continue this for several minutes, our lips fervently pressing against each other's. I end up on his lap, my legs wrapped around his back as he sits up. One of his hands is squeezing my thigh while the other is on my waist. I have one hand tangled in his hair and the other gripping his muscular shoulder.

"Hey gu..." at the sound of another voice, Jay and I pull apart. I quickly get off his lap.

"Looks like you two were having fun," Cole chuckles, taking a bite of the chips in his hand and leaning against the doorframe. Lloyd stands next to him, looking significantly uncomfortable.

"Haven't you two heard of knocking?" my boyfriend groans, wrapping an arm around me.

"Zane said you two were probably in here napping, so we came to wake you up, but that's definitely not what was happening," Lloyd says, folding his arms.

"Oh come on, you say that like we were doing something bad," Jay stands up, walking over and taking some of Cole's chips. "Besides, at least you weren't the one who walked in on Kai when he was..."

"Jay, don't finish that sentence," I say sternly, already feeling my nose scrunch up. I stand up, and the four of walk back to the common room. When we get there, both Zane and Garmadon are waiting for us.

"How was your nap?" Zane asks us, politely.

"It was great. Thanks for asking," Jay says, completely playing along.

"Now, Cole and I can tell you guys what we saw today when we were out on the streets," Lloyd starts, looking over at Cole to start talking.

"After I gave Seliel the cake, we waited and saw that they got three captives from the warehouse they went into," Cole explains. "However, I noticed something special about their restraints. They were vengestone handcuffs. I could tell from the shade of the metal and their appearances."

"So that means..."

"They're rounding up elemental masters, yes," Lloyd finishes for me. "Cole and I think that the wild goose chase for us is being used to distract the people, lower the guard of the other elemental masters, and occupy us so we can't stop whatever they're doing."

"You are suggesting there is something much larger at play?" Zane clarifies. Cole nods.

"Definitely, and we were about to try to save them, but then we realized that we don't want them to know that we know. We want their guard to be as low as possible," Cole explains.

"Why do they want other elemental masters?" Jay asks.

"I don't know," Lloyd answers honestly. I look over at Garmadon, and he is contemplatively looking down at his hands.

"Whatever it is, there's no way it's good," Garmadon announces, standing up. "While we cannot control what they do, we can control our reaction to it. We need to hurry our progress. Cole, were you able to get Seliel to our side?"

"She's very stubborn, but I'm working on it," he admits.

"How is the machine doing?"

"We're fairly far in, but it's such an intricate machine that it would typically take months to build," I inform him. He sighs.

"Let's hope that Kai is having more luck than we are."

---

Kai's POV

"Why do we need disguises?" Skylor asks, looking at the clothes, sunglasses, and baseball cap I put in front of her in our hotel room. She has her arms crossed as she wears her ninja gi. I'm standing across from her in black jeans, a red t shirt, sunglasses, and a red baseball cap.

"Because if anyone sees us, it'll cause a lot of commotion, and we won't be able to get anything done," I tell her. She raises an eyebrow.

"Where did you get the clothes?"

"Your bag," I answer honestly.

"Why did you look through my bag?" she glares at me.

"I had to find some subtle clothes. Now, go change. Mega Monster Amusement Park is only a fifteen minute drive from here," I tell her. She picks up the clothes.

"What exactly is this place we're going to?"

"It's an amusement park, so there's machines we can ride on and stuff, and there's restaurants and games and stuff. I've only been there once on a mission, but Jay and Nya swear by it," I explain. "I can show you pictures if you want."

"No, it's alright. I'm good with surprises," she tells me, turning around and walking into the bathroom adjacent to our room with two twin beds. This is the first hotel we've stayed in since the storm in an attempt to keep a low profile. While this one is only a bit nicer than the other, it's significantly more packed due to its closeness to the amusement park. We had to sneak around in order to get into the room.

I browse through my phone that she didn't take away, probably due to her lack of knowledge of this realm. I look at my teammates social medias, but there are no more posts since the last time I checked. I can't risk texting them in case Skylor finds out, which is taxing on me. Ever since Master Wu found me by my father's grave and introduced me to the rest of the guys, I haven't been without them. They're like my family, with my actual sister now with us, and it hurts to be away from them.

"Are we going to head out now or what?" I put my phone in my pocket, and when I look up, my jaw drops. I'm well aware that she's very attractive, but her outfit makes it pop out even more. Her black leggings hug her muscular thighs and calves. Her orange, cropped tank top show off her toned arms and accentuates her figure.

"Um....yeah, yeah we will," I pull myself out of my gaze, readjusting the baseball cap on my head.

"This place better be epic."

"Oh trust me, you'll have fun."

---

"Wow," Skylor says to herself, looking at the parts of the rides that stick out above the top of the gate. She parks the car in the lot next to the amusement park.

"Remember we need to keep a low profile. No powers," I tell her.

"I know I know," she gets out of the car. I do too, and the two of us meet up in front of it. We walk towards the entrance together. As we wait in line together, we carry a light quiet banner, my comments earning several eye rolls, but they're accompanied with smiles. When we reach the front of the line, we're met with a woman, appearing in her mid forties. She seems bored out of her mind, her head resting in one of her hands.

"How many?"

"Two one-day tickets please," the woman doesn't look up during the whole transaction, quickly taking my money. Once it's done, the two of us walk right through the gates. Due to it being a Thursday, there isn't a large crowd, which is good for us.

"Well, Ms. Skylor, where do you want to go first?" I ask, gesturing to the entire park. She looks around, mesmerized by all of the lights and machines.

"What's that?" she asks, gesturing over to one of the ring toss games.

"You have to try to land the ring around the bottle. If you get one, you get a small prize. If you get two, you get a medium, and a large for three," I tell her. "I can win you something, if you want."

"You couldn't even if you tried," she tells me, a little smirk on her face.

"I'm a ninja. We have finesse. Watch me," I tell her quietly, making her laugh. The two of us walk over to the booth manned by someone in a monster costume.

"Can I have three rings, please?" I ask. The monster nods, taking my money in exchange for the rings. I curl the first one around my fingers, releasing it at the end of my throw. I completely miss all of the bottles. Grumbling, I grab another one, but it bounces off the edge of one of the bottles. Finally, I take the last one, focusing on having a balance of strength and accuracy. It lands in between two bottles. I throw my hands up in the air. "Come on!"

Skylor laughs. "Can I have a try?" I hand the monster some more money, and he gives her the three rings. Effortlessly, she lands all three rings around the marked bottle that's the "instant win" due to it's difficulty. I stand there, shocked

"Good job, you can choose a prize," the monster instructs her. She looks up, scanning the assortment of stuffed animals.

"Can I have that one please?" she points to the red teddy bear. The monster takes it down and hands it to her. "Here you go, I won you something," she tells me victoriously, a smile on her face.

"Touché."

---

"That haunted house wasn't scary at all," Skylor tells me matter of factly. The two of us walk out of the ride, the red stuffed bear tucked under my arm.

"It was a lot scarier when there were actual Serpentine in there, trust me," I tell her. She cocks an eyebrow.

"Serpentine?"

"An ancient race of snake people. Wait, 5 different races of snake people. Lloyd let them out, he was going through an evil phase before he joined the team, and then they tried to resurrect a giant snake. It worked, but then we stopped it," I explain to her. She looks at me, disbelievingly.

"There's no way that's real."

"You remember that display at the museum, don't you? That was of us destroying it. Why would I lie to you about something this trivial?"

She thinks about it. "You wouldn't."

"Now, let's go on something that'll scare you," impulsively, I grab her hand and start pulling her forward. She jogs slightly to catch up with me. The two of us walk in sync, her hand in mine. Neither of us make an attempt to break it up.

She looks over at me, a teasing smile on her face. "Nothing scares me."

"Oh you can't be too sure about that. You've never been on a roller coaster before," I tell her.

"What's a roller coaster?"

"You'll have to wait and see," I tell her, a little smirk on my face. She looks at me, conflict on her face. She quickly covers it up, masking it with an eye roll. "Hey, you were the one who said you like surprises!" I remind her.

"You're right, you're right. I surrender," she puts her free hand in the air, making both of us laugh. We walk into the line of the roller coaster, and Skylor looks at it as we move up in line.

"Still not scared?" I ask her teasingly.

"Nope, and at least I can land a ring around a bottle," she teases, lightly punching my arm.

"And Sir Bearington thanks you for that," I take the bear, holding him out in my arms for Skylor. She smiles, shaking his little plush hand. A large smile spreads across her beautiful face,

"It was my honor," she laughs, her nose scrunching up and her eyes squinting in happiness.

"How many in your party?" the worker at the front interrupts the moment.

"Two," I answer in a purposely deeper voice to try to disguise my own. The man raises an eyebrow.

"You don't need to talk deep to impress your girlfriend here. It seems like she already likes you," he leans in to tell me, putting a smile on my face.

"She's not my girlfriend yet," I answer honestly, still making my voice a bit deeper.

"I don't see any point in waiting. There's obvious chemistry there," he tells me before glancing over his shoulder. "You two can go in the front. I can hold the bear for you," he offers.

"Thank you," I hand him Sir Bearington.

"Oh, and Kai, you're my daughter's favorite ninja," he tells me, making my eyes widen.

"I...uh..."

"I'm not going to tell anyone. That's one of Mara's girls, right? She doesn't seem evil."

"She's not. I'm...I'm trying to help her," I admit as she goes to stand over near the front of the cart. She stares at it, glaring.

"She needs it. Ninjago needs it. Now, go ride this roller coaster," I give him a grateful smile before rushing over to Skylor.

"Why'd you stay over there for so long?" she asks, curiously.

"He realized who I am, but he said he wouldn't tell," I tell the truth. Instead of being distrustful, she nods.

"That's good," as the words leave her lips, the little gate opens for us to get into the cart. Both of us get in and fasten ourselves.

"Ready?" I ask. As she looks over at me, the cart jerks forward, starting its way up the track. She jumps in surprise, wrapping both her arms around my arm.

"Maybe this was a bad idea..." she starts, and before she can finish, the cart goes on one of its descents. She screams, gripping tightly on my arm, and I start laughing. We continue on the track, and she doesn't let go. When we near the loop-de-loop, her eyes widen.

"There's no way..." as we travel up the curve towards the top, she wraps her arms around me, gripping onto me as if she'll fall without me. I wrap my arm around her to make her feel more secure. We don't move from that position until the cart comes to a complete stop.

She looks over at me, her eyes wide. "Let's do that again."

---

"This is kettle corn. It's like pop corn. Have you had pop corn?" I ask her, handing her her own small bag.

"No, but I'm excited to try it," she admits, taking the bag from me. Skeptically, she takes a piece and puts it in her mouth. "This...this is really good."

"I know right. I can't believe you've never had it before," I take several pieces and eat them.

"Well, I never really got to choose what I ate," she admits before her eyes light up. "Open your mouth."

"What?"

"Open your mouth. Trust me," she instructs me. I open up my mouth, and she attempts to lob a piece of popcorn into my mouth. It hits my nose and bounces off. "One more time," the second time, she lands it.

"I can totally get it first time," I say. She raises her eyebrow, but opens her mouth nonetheless. When I try, I accidentally pelt her in the eye. "Oh shi...."

"Oh, it's on," when I don't expect it, she throws a pice of popcorn straight at my forehead. I laugh, retaliating with a handful at her. The throws it back at me, and the two of us start our popcorn fight. We pelt each other with popcorn, laughing to the point where I nearly choke on popcorn. Once the fight is over, the two of us just look at each other. The smile on Skylor's face fades.

"What is it?" I ask her, concerned.

"Why couldn't things have been different?" she asks, looking me in the eyes. "Why couldn't we have just been two normal teenagers born into normal lives? Why do we have to be enemies? I don't hate you, Kai."

"I don't hate you either, Skylor," I tell her, sighing. "You're the smartest, funniest, strongest, most beautiful girl I know. You're absolutely stunning."

My words cause her to look down, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I...I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

She grabs a hold of my hand, looking up at me guiltily. "Before I left, Mother, she told me something. I've been trying to suppress it, but I can't any longer."

"Skylor, you're scaring me," I tell her, anxiety rising up in my chest.

"My mother, she's not only trying to capture you and your team."

"What do you..."

"She's capturing all of the elemental masters," she tells me, but I can tell there's more.

"Why would she..."

"She wants to crush all chance of opposition. Instead of leaving you all with your powers though, she's found a way to transfer them into her stone warriors," she tells me, guilt throughout her voice.

She doesn't even have to say it before I know what's going to happen. My throat starts to close up. "How many of your sisters know what she's planning to do?"

"None, to my knowledge."

A heavy silence lingers in the air. "Without our powers protecting us, she's going to kill us," I verbalize what I knew once she said we were losing our powers. Mara can't kill us because if we die, our powers die with us, and that would throw off the balance of the realm. Without our powers though, she can kill us without a second thought.

"I'm not going to let her kill you, I promise. I'll make a deal with her, somehow, maybe I can convince her that you can be useful," she reassures me, but the weight is still heavy on my chest.

"If my team dies, I die," I answer, no hesitation in my voice. "You can't agree with this."

"I don't," she admits. "But she made it clear to me that if I step out of line, I'm going to end up just like the rest of the elemental masters."

"What if you just never go back to the city?" I ask her. "We can stay off the map and..."

"We can't, Kai. I'm sorry," she tells me, empathetically. "We're going to make this time out of the city worth it though. I'll go with you wherever you want to go."

"I...I just want to go home."

A/N Sorry if there's typos I didn't proofread the chapter

I have to go now so I'm going to super speed run the A/N

Thoughts on the chapter

Thank you so much for reading and sticking around. I'm hoping to speed up updates