Hikari yawned as she stretched, already wearing her purple ninja gi, walking past the ninja's room.

A series of groans and thuds and alarm clock ringings reached her ears, and she doubled back and looked through the doorway in time to see Lloyd sitting up and shooting a green energy sphere, blowing up the alarm clock.

"Is it Wednesday already?" Lloyd moaned groggily, rubbing his head tiredly. He was still in his pajamas.

Hikari couldn't help but giggle at this. "Glad to see you're using your powers maturely," she said, emphasizing the last word.

Lloyd looked up at Hikari's voice, his face turning the faintest shade of pink. "Oh! Hikari. Hey," he said, his voice sounding oddly squeaky. Hikari leaned against the doorframe. "Hey," she said back casually, though inside a storm of butterflies were insisting they bust their way out. "Guys, did you forget there's a sunrise exercise today?"

"No," Jay moaned, "I hate sunrise exercise."

Sensei Wu walked through the open door. "Good morning! Morning, morning! It's a new day. Up, up!"

Zane looked totally fine, while the other guys looked as though they were zombies (in terms of being awake. In terms of looks they were perfectly fine, and some of the ninja's not-so-secret fans thought they looked more than fine, if you know what she means). "Before we start out with our sunrise exercise, the dragon made another mess outside. It looks like a... two person job." And then he slammed the door again.

Hikari looked at the ninja. They all suddenly claimed they heard an SOS call or that they hadn't heard Sensei.

Lloyd glared. "You might've been able to dump chores on me when I was a kid," he accused them, "but I'm grown up now! That's not fair!"

The ninja paused in the doorway, and Hikari added, crossing her arms and arching her eyebrow, "Plus, Sensei said it was a two-person job. And I don't know about you guys, but if Lloyd skives off too, you're leaving me to deal with the whole mess."

Kai sighed and turned back with the others, looking guilty. Lloyd smothered a grin and whispered in her ear from behind, "You might not be a kid anymore but you can still charm people to your advantage. And I think the fact you're still pretty cute helps."

Hikari turned red, and Lloyd froze as he realized what he said, before clearing his throat and straightened up. "Um.. anyway..."

"You're right, Lloyd. We need to settle this like men. With a round of rock, paper clamp!" Kai said, sounding very cheerful at the end, almost like a child, and Hikari casually crawled underneath one of the beds. "Seeing as I'm automatically a candidate for this job, I'm exempt from this," she said, starting to shake with laughter.

"On three. One, two, three!" Presumably Lloyd lost anyway, because they heard a slap of the hands and a cheering sound from Jay, and a groan from Lloyd.

"Paper beats rock!" Jay gloated as Hikari came back out, still smiling but no longer in danger of having a laughing fit.

Lloyd grumbled again. "How does paper beat rock?" he asked, sounding annoyed as Hikari stood next to him, and putting an arm around her shoulder and pouting at her. "Well... looks like we're on pooper scooper duty," he said, sounding vexed.

Hikari giggled slightly, making his scowl fade. "Well, when you put it like that..."

I see you're getting chummy with Lloyd again.

Hikari's smile faded at these words from Nariko. Oh great. You. Shouldn't you be off being an annoying shadow in that arena or something?

I'm hurt! I just wanted to notice that you two are getting along very well! Maybe... maybe you two want to be MORE than just friends?

Hikari felt sure that her face had turned the shade of a fire engine.

Shut up before I punch you into oblivion. I'm much stronger than I was before. Bug off!

"Hikari?"

Hikari snapped out of her thoughts to see Lloyd waving a hand in her face. "You okay there? You just kinda.. zoned out, for a moment there."

Just remember. Light is darkness's enemy, and YOU are the dark side of the four elements. Lloyd is not your friend.

Hikari's face turned more stony. She's wrong, she thought to herself, Lloyd's the best friend I've ever had. "Yeah," she said aloud, "I'm fine- just thinking. C'mon, we're still on pooper scooper duty."

Lloyd smirked and punched her on the shoulder with his free hand. "Gee, thanks for reminding me."

"No problem," Hikari teased back.

x

Lloyd groaned as he held the bag at arms' length, Hikari holding the shovel she'd used to clean up the poop at arms length as well. "Why do we always have to do the dirty work?" he muttered, darkly.

"Hey, having a pet dragon requires a lot of responsibility," Cole said, gesturing at the dragon casually. Jay looked at Lloyd in confusion. "Didn't either of your moms ever let you have a pet?"

Hikari dropped the shovel with a clang. Everyone looked at her, and was startled to see tears welling up in her eyes. She stared at Jay for a moment, before storming towards the dragon's four heads, wiping away tears as she went.

"What? What did I say wrong?" Jay asked, pleadingly, confused.

"I don't remember my mom," Lloyd said flatly, "she abandoned me when I was really young."

Kai blinked. "She just left? Who took care of you?" he asked, sounding concerned.

Lloyd sighed. "I spent my whole life at Darkley's Boarding School," he replied, "and it wasn't a lot of fun until I met Hikari."

"Speaking of which, what did I say wrong?" Jay interrupted again. "I don't get why she got so upset!

Lloyd glared at Jay slightly. "Jay, did you forget? Her mom died when she was little-"

"I do remember," Jay interrupted hotly, but Lloyd plowed on resiliently, his voice rising even louder, "and she still remembers it! She has nightmares about it still, and I don't think they're getting any better!"

Jay stared at Lloyd, aghast. "But I can't tell she-"

"No, you can't, because she hides it! She doesn't like worrying everyone! The only reason I know is because I know her too well! We've been friends for three years straight and see each other almost every day, of course I'm gonna be able to read her so easily!" Lloyd fumed slightly, and he would've dumped pooper-scooper duty on someone else and run off to comfort her, except Nya slid down the chain of the anchor.

"I have a mission for you!" she shouted. "It's the Museum of History! They've asked for you guys, something's REALLY strange has just happened."

"What?" Kai asked, sounding worried, and Nya pointed again. "You're gonna have to see it to believe it."

Hikari joined up with the others, and Lloyd handed over the bag to her as he started to follow the others. "Here, Nya, hold this-" and then ran off to join the others.

Nya stared after him in confusion. "Wait, what am I supposed to do with these?" she noticed Flame looking at her expectantly, and her face fell. "Oh."

x

"Hikari?"

Hikari didn't even look at Jay, didn't even stand NEAR him, but stayed near Lloyd.

Jay tried again. "Hikari, I'm really, REALLY sorry... heh, I guess that's why Cole calls me mouth of lightning..."

Nothing. Not her usual smile, not a small smile, not even a giggle. No reaction.

Jay groaned. "Man, I think I pissed Hikari off."

"Be glad she's not angry at you, but I'd make up with her as soon as you can," Kai advised.

Jay threw up his hands as they ran. "Well, I am, but she just doesn't even want to try-"

"She," Hikari said, still not looking at Jay, "does not appreciate being talked about as if she's not even there."

"Hikari, seriously, I'm sorry!" Jay shouted, frustrated, "I know I brushed on a sensitive topic, but I really didn't mean to!"

Hikari shot him a look, and Jay's mouth immediately clapped shut- not only because of the cold expression on her face, but because of the fact he was fairly certain he'd seen red in her eyes.

See? Jay insulted your mother's memory! I told you you couldn't trust your 'friends'.

Hikari took a deep breath to calm down. It wasn't on purpose, she reasoned with herself/Nariko, no, I think he really forgot...

She could practically hear Nariko's derisive laughter in her ear. Forgot?! That's most certainly a blow to your mother's memory, one of your so called 'friends' forgetting that his friend's mother died-

I haven't mentioned it since! Hikari thought furiously, I've barely said a word about it to anybody, anyone.. anyone would forget... anyone would forget the fact that I have nightmares!

Ahh, but... forget the fact that your parents died?

Hikari stopped talking to Nariko. Trying to calm herself down in her mind no longer worked, Nariko sensing any mental isolation the moment it happened and amplifying any negative emotions towards anything Hikari might have at the time, but that was the only way she COULD calm herself down, so at this point Hikari felt positively unfriendly towards Jay.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" the museum curator said, relieved.

"We heard there was an emergency here?" Sensei Wu asked, as Hikari tried to ignore Jay- perhaps what she needed was some time away from the 'offending' thing and she'd calm down- and the curator nodded hastily. "Yes, come come, quickly, this way!"

They walked through a set of doors as the curator said, "The Stone Warrior exhibit opens to the public tonight, and this couldn't have come at a worse time!"

"What couldn't have come at a worse time?" Hikari asked, from where she was bringing up the rear.

"Ninjago City appreciates your help in destroying the Great Devourer sometime back, but it appears its toxic venom has seeped into the city sewer system, and has had the most- unusual aftereffects!"

The boys let out a groan, and even Hikari winced slightly, at the sour, sickly sweet, and bitter smell the venom gave off. The curator opened another door, to reveal hundreds of little stone statues with glowing green eyes jabbering loudly throughout the room.

"The toxicity in the venom somehow brought our merchandise to life! They're so unruly... I just didn't know who else to call!"

Hikari squinted at them, the fascinating thing about the situation almost obliterating how positively angry she felt. "Fascinating... they don't appear to be undead warriors or anything..."

Two of them leaped right into Zane and Hikari's hands. The one in Zane's hand sniggered and punched Zane, but Hikari's suddenly started cooing and nuzzling her hand, making Hikari stare at it as if it were a snake w.

The curator said something about containing the damage to the gift shop, but Hikari wandered straight into the midst of all of the mini stone warriors, and suddenly THEY started cooing, nuzzling her and mewling like a bunch of kittens.

Thoroughly bewildered, Hikari turned to her friends with this flummoxed expression on her face. "Um..."

"Hold still, Hikari," Kai said, and then the whole room turned into a smashing spree. The miniature Stone Warriors refused to stop protecting Hikari, so the ninja tried to swipe them off. One crawled right onto Hikari's face, and a pair of nunchucks shattered the stone away before the claws could puncture her eyes or something.

Hikari glanced down, knowing who it was. "Thank you, Jay," she said, feeling rather stiff and formal, as she found herself knee-deep in a sea of stone shards. The rest of the room seemed rather in turmoil, and Jay chuckled sheepishly. "Uh.. oops?"

Hikari stared at him. "Oops? Oops? We just pretty much demolished a small section of the museum and all you can say is 'oops?'" she asked him, sounding incredulous.

Jay rubbed his head. "Um... yeah?"

Hikari was silent for a minute, before surprising everyone, including herself, with the softest chuckle. "Okay then." She glanced up and looked around. "Hey, where's Sensei?"

The ninja looked around, as if just now realizing he was not in the room. "O-oh yeah..."

They poked their heads out into the hallway and looked around, before noticing a hint of the hat he always wore disappearing around the corner. Hikari's eyes widened. "Hey, where's he going?" she asked, and without any warning started to chase after him herself, the ninja all following, Lloyd only a step behind, before seeing him standing on top of a small pile of stone shards and a woman with gray hair and deep green eyes speaking with him.

"Ahem!" Jay cleared his throat, and everyone turned to look at the small group, "so, are we gonna get an introduction?" he asked, sheepishly.

Sensei Wu started a bit, as if he'd nearly forgotten. "Y-yes, eh, this is Misako. Lloyd's..." short pause. "... mother."

Everyone let out a loud gasp, Hikari's eyes widening, as Lloyd walked forward. "My... my mother?!" he looked shocked and stopped, still standing at the back of the group, and Misako's eyes lit up. "Lloyd?" she asked, softly, before approaching her son, slowly, as if afraid he were an apparition. "My little boy... you're so much bigger than I remember."

Lloyd's green eyes, the same as Misako's, clouded with anger as he looked away. "Yeah, well, it's been a long time," he said brusquely. Misako reached out slightly, a soft, worried smile on her face. "I... I didn't want us to meet like this. I have a reason why I've been away-"

"Yeah, well, I don't want to hear it," Lloyd said tersely, and turned on his heel and ran out of the room. Hikari's eyes widened. "L-Lloyd!" she chased right after him.

x

She found him sitting next to a huge hole in the floor, down one of the corridors, that was roped off. "Lloyd?" she asked, timidly.

Lloyd didn't even turn his head. Hikari had to wonder if their mannerisms were really so similar. "Lloyd, it's me, Hikari."

Still no response. Hikari sat next to him gingerly, her own legs dangling over the hole. She waited for him to say something, anything.

"... my mom's here," he said at last, gruffly.

"I know," Hikari said patiently, before sighing and looking down at her feet. "You're lucky, though."

Lloyd looked at her, confusion in his eyes. Hikari hesitated, before leaning into him a bit, tears welling in her own eyes. "Well... at least both of your parents are alive. Even if your dad is evil, Lloyd, and your mom left you, they're still there for you in real life. Mine, though... well, there's no way I'm going to bump into them randomly at a museum, or confront them, or anything," Hikari said, looking down, "they're just... not there."

Lloyd was quiet, before saying softly, in a voice much softer than his usual teasing tone, "Is that why you're mad at Jay?"

"No. I'm mad at Jay because he reminded me of the life I can never have. I can't ever be normal," Hikari said, letting out a bitter laugh that had never come from Hikari, that no one would've ever expected from Hikari. "I can't argue with my parents. I can't have a first pet. I can't ever get embarrassed by my parents or feel appreciative for them. I'm never going to be able to get guidance from them about a boyfriend, or be able to spend time with my dad, or even get to go shopping with my mom for clothes or something. I'll never get to do any of that," she said, her voice getting faster and thicker and more pained, "and I won't ever get to introduce them to my friends and have them like or hate them. I won't ever get to have them meet you, or Kai, or Zane, or Cole, or even Jay. I won't ever be able to go through growing up with my parents because they're not there anymore!"

Hikari's voice broke, and she stopped talking, her hands clenched into white, trembling fists on her lap as tears poured silently down her face. Probably weeks, possibly months of frustration and pain and worry poured out in those few crucial moments.

Lloyd found himself feeling incredibly sorry for Hikari. "So.. I guess if you found out your mom was still alive and ran into her..."

"I'd be ecstatic," Hikari said, more tears rolling down her face. "I would feel like it was Christmas."

Lloyd hesitated, and then reached an arm around her. "I'm sorry."

"For what? You did nothing wrong. No, this is all me, I'm just one big massive screwup," Hikari said hollowly, shaking her head. "I could've saved my parents, I could've- I could've-"

Lloyd's hand tightened on her arm as more tears spilled out over her face. "Don't say that." His voice sounded low, threatening... dangerous.

"Wha-" Hikari was yanked around so that her face was right up near Lloyd's, her sparkling silvery eyes wide as they met hard green. Lloyd looked fiercer than ever, and his eyes were practically glowing with fury. "Don't EVER say that. You are one of the best human beings on the planet. After all, you were willing to become my friend even when I wasn't. You're willing to forgive EVERYONE. You are amazing," he insisted.

Hikari felt her cheeks grow pink, but before she could say anything they heard the door behind them opening. "I'd be careful with that hole, you two- it doesn't have a bottom."

Both of them turned to see Misako walking towards them, and Hikari quickly wiped her face. Her eyes were still a little red, though.

"It's where I found the ancient stone warrior, son," Misako added, standing right behind the two as Lloyd looked at his mom. Her graying hair was in a braid as she looked at him patiently, and suddenly he felt angry. "Uh, son?!" he asked angrily, his arm still entwined with Hikari's, "You've been gone my whole life! And there's nothing you can say.

"Well, I'm going to talk anyway," Misako said patiently, as Hikari wiped her face again and turned around to face Misako a bit more, dragging Lloyd so he was half-facing her. "You want to know what I've been doing all of this time?" she asked, moving, and Hikari moved with her, forcing Lloyd to keep even halfway eye contact with his mother. "Long before Sensei Wu EVER knew who would be the Green or the Purple Ninja, I knew one of them would be you, and I knew you would eventually have to fight your father. I dropped you off at the boarding school so I could go learn everything I could about the prophecy, in hope of one day preventing the final battle of good and evil." She turned to finally face Lloyd head on, "All this time, son, I've been trying to save you and your father."

Hikari looked at Lloyd, who finally made eye contact with his mother. Misako looked heartened, and continued, "Long before time had a name, Ninjago was created by the First Spinjitzu Master."

"Yeah, yeah," Lloyd interrupted, making Hikari arch her eyebrow as she looked at him, "we've heard the story a hundred times."

Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was true that they'd heard the story before. Misako glanced at Lloyd sidelong as Sensei Wu and the other ninja quietly entered, "But you've only heard half of it."

Hikari sat up straight now, leaning forward a bit. Misako continued, "In Ninjago, there has always been a thin balance between good and evil. So you know about how the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, but what if I were to tell you in order for there to be light, there must be shadow- and within shadow, there is darkness."

Lloyd squeezed Hikari's hand. "The First Spinjitzu Master knew, that not all darkness was evil, of course, and he set out to conquer both sides of both elements- and he succeeded. However, he was not the only one who could control darkness in Ninjago. The blackest of darkness, an ancient, evil spirit resided there as well, a spirit called the Overlord."

Zane looked to Sensei Wu, "Did you know about this, Sensei?"

Sensei Wu shook his head slightly. "I'd hoped that if I kept it secret, that name would never be spoke again."

"The balance was at stake," Misako continued, quietly, "and their battle could've gone on for eternity- darkness being used against darkness as well as the light, and the darkness struggling to release itself- each side powerful, neither could truly conquer the other. Until the Overlord created his indestructible warriors- the Stone Army. The Spinjitzu Master did what he could, but he knew he would soon be defeated. So instead of losing the war, he divided Ninjago into the Ninjago we know today, and the Dark Island. And lucky for us, since then, there has been no trace of the Overlord, or his Stone Army- until my recent discovery."

Kai blinked slowly, the scar on his face shrinking slightly as he frowned. "So that's why the battle has yet to be decided... it was never finished!"

"But where IS this Dark Island? I've never heard of it," Cole said, extending his hands.

Misako shrugged slightly. "Disappeared, I presume. But the legend states that so long as the balance between good and evil remains even, the Overlord shall remain trapped from this world. I have always feared your father's ambition would lead to a shift in the balance... that is why he must be stopped," she said.

"We have each felt the power of the First Spinjitzu Master," Sensei Wu spoke up, "passed on to us in the form of the Elemental Weapons. But now, that power has been inherited by the Green and Purple Ninja, which is why only Lloyd and Hikari can defeat the ultimate evil. Or else all of Ninjago will fall prey to its darkness."

"Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Misako said softly, looking at Lloyd. More similarities seemed to jump out at Lloyd- the way their faces crinkled up when they smiled, the chin, the shape of the eyes. "But faced with saving you and the world, I had no other choice."

Lloyd sat there, before he simply nodded. Then he looked at his mother hopefully. "Have you discovered a way to stop me from facing my father?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, not yet," Misako apologized, "but I have reason to believe there's still hope."

Hikari suddenly let out a gasp as a horrible thought occurred to her, and everyone looked at her. "Oh... guys, I just remembered, remember what just happened in the gift shop? If the Great Devourer's venom can bring NORMAL, miniature stone warriors to life... what about the huge, indestructible one that Misako just found?" she asked, in a small voice.

Lloyd's eyes widened. "Oh... we never thought about that!" he exclaimed, "that's right... mom?"

Misako had a fleeting look of happiness on her face, as she frowned. "That... that's correct. Unfortunately, I think your theory is correct- if the Great Devourer's venom can truly bring small stone warriors to life, it can almost certainly bring the Stone Warrior I found back to life."

As if on cue, the Stone Warrior smashed through the doorway, drawing exclamations from everybody. "AGH!" Jay yelled, which pretty much summed the situation up. Hikari bit her lip, and then went towards it slowly. "H-hey... well, not little guy... big guy?"

The Stone Warrior stopped brandishing its swords, and looked at her, as everyone froze and stared and dared to hope against hope that she could properly distract it. "Hello there..." Hikari said softly, her mouth dryer than the Sea of Sand.

The Stone Warrior paused, before kneeling down (cracking the floor) and letting Hikari pet it.

"Kai, you go handle it," Cole whispered.

"Me? Uh, okay," Kai whispered back, pulling on his hood slowly to avoid attracting the thing's attention. As far as they could tell, the huge statue's attention seemed riveted on Hikari.

Kai charged and drew his sword, before leaping into the air and striking, right on the neck of the warrior.

The warrior roared and struck Kai back, and Hikari had to leap backwards to avoid the huge hand closing in on her like a construction crane. "Ahh!" she cried, as shards of Kai's sword scattered all over the floor. Kai shook his head a little. "Wow. In my minds' eye I saw that playing out entirely differently." Hikari couldn't help but giggle a bit at the comment, and completely missed Lloyd's slight pout.

The Stone Warrior grabbed Kai, making him yelp as it dangled him upside down. "The Overlord created his Stone Army from an indestructible material found only on the Dark Island!" Misako shouted, and Kai groaned as his face started turning red. "Oh, right, how did I forget thAAAAAAAAA-!" The Stone Warrior flicked Kai over his shoulder almost contemptuously, and Kai did three flips before smashing into a vase.

"Lloyd, Hikari, use your powers!" Sensei Wu ordered, and Lloyd and Hikari both stepped forward. Sparks of energy formed into a sphere in each of their hands, but Lloyd's formed into a glowing, bright green sphere, while Hikari's turned into a darker, purple blob. Both blasted the Stone Warrior back and left a mixture of green and purple fire blazing there in the doorway. Everyone cheered a bit, but it was cut off as the Stone Warrior loomed through the fire, looking even more ominous than before.

"How are we supposed to destroy this thing?" Cole asked, stepping backwards.

Misako shook her head. "You can't."

The Stone Warrior stomped on the fire, extinguishing it and leaving plumes of smoke flooding the doorway. All three ninja threw on their hoods and charged. The shurikens Zane threw merely bounced off of the Stone Warrior's indestructible body, the Stone Warrior sent Cole flying, and he nearly stepped on Jay before Jay curled himself up into a little ball and rebounded off of the Stone Warrior. "Wh-whoa, easy there big guy!" he squeaked, terror in every line of his face. "Uh, this just as an aside, you really need to lose a few pounds!" he let out a high pitched giggle, and then a yelp as the Stone Warrior swiped at him. Apparently that really irked the Stone Warrior. Huh.

Jay slid backwards and nearly fell into the bottomless pit, but Hikari caught his hand and yanked him away from it. "Oh man," she groaned, "at least the little ones could be smashed pretty easily!"

The next minute, all seven of them were hurled out of the room/hallway, and smashed into the walls harshly. "Ugh, this is going to be MUCH harder than a bunch of bobble-heads, fellas," Cole groaned as he sat up.

Jay approached the room and said, in a very high-pitched voice, "Well, then it's a good thing we're in a museum?"

Misako blinked, "Why's that?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Because we're all about to become HISTORY!" Jay screamed in terror as he started to flee, "RUN!"

Everyone ran away from the huge warrior, down a hallway. Lloyd shut the door, but the warrior just smashed right through it. Lloyd glanced over his shoulder as he sprinted along with Hikari. "The guy's got a pair of sneakers on him! PICK UP THE PACE! GO GO GO!"

Everyone ran even faster now, fueled by sheer terror. They reached the main part of the museum, and fled up a flight of stairs, but the Stone Warrior kept pursuing them. "This guy's persistent, isn't he?!" Hikari screeched as they ran, and Kai agreed, "He's pretty fast for a big guy!"

They rushed through a set of two doors and shut them. One of the swords smashed through, making Zane and Cole start back in shock as they all backed away. The glowing, sickly green eyes of the Warrior peered through the hole as it roared furiously, before ramming the door again.

"This thing is unstoppable!" Cole complained, as it rammed the doors again, Zane remarking, "Indestructible, to be precise."

"That door ain't gonna hold him forever," Kai said, worriedly, and Jay looked at the others while panting. "Then let's settle this like men! With rock, paper, clamp! Loser has to face him, so the rest can escape!"

Everyone put their hands in, and Lloyd and Hikari tried to join.. but...

"Not you, Chosen Ones," Jay joked slightly, before turning back to the others.

Hikari's eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at Lloyd. Judging by his expression, he'd had the same idea, and the both of them chorused loudly, "WAIT!"

All the ninja turned to look at them as Lloyd said, looking at Hikari excitedly, "That's it!"

"What's.. it?" Sensei Wu asked, and Hikari looked at the ninja. "If you guys can keep that thing busy, I think we know how to stop him!" she said, and her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

Kai and Zane looked to Cole automatically, who said, after a moments' hesitation, "I say we give the kids a shot!"

Jay glared at Cole, "You're just saying that 'cause you're too afraid to face him!"

The Stone Warrior rammed the doors again, and Jay said, a bit tight-lipped now, "I say we give the kids a shot."

Lloyd and Hikari ran to a corner of the room, opened the vent, and crawled through.

"Ow, Lloyd, that's my hand-!"

"Ow! Hikari, I think you just kicked me!"

"Oh, sorry! Didn't mean- LLOYD, stop leaning on my leg, that hurts!"

"Sorry!"

After a minute of fumbling through the darkness, they made it back to the room. Hikari grabbed a huge roll of wallpaper from the corner, and Lloyd had grabbed some of the paint near the door as well.

"We have to hurry, I don't think the ninja can hold them for too long!"

They worked together, pasting the paper down and painting over it, while Hikari tore away the ropes that blocked off the sinkhole. If you didn't look too closely, the work they did was quite good, actually.

"Done!" Lloyd announced, stepping away from the hole.

Hikari bit her lip and looked up. "Not a moment too soon, I think he's here!"

As if the thing had just been waiting, a huge feral roar sounded as it broke through the doorway again, Misako a few feet in front of it. Misako sprinted over to Lloyd and Hikari, and Lloyd yelled up to the Stone Warrior as it charged, "Hey, loser!"

Hikari couldn't repress a slight smirk as she chorused with Lloyd, "PAPER BEATS ROCK!"

And as the Stone Warrior swung its sword, Hikari wrapped her arm around Lloyd's neck, and Lloyd grabbed both her and his mother, as they leapt sideways. The Stone Warrior's charge and momentum was too much, and it momentarily stood before the wallpaper gave way, and it plummeted back into the hole.

Lloyd and Hikari let out a sigh of relief as Misako gasped. "Of course.. the bottomless pit!"

Misako wrapped her arms around Lloyd, Hikari stepping back to give the two a moment, and after a moment he returned the hug. "I am so proud of you," she whispered softly, "I feel like the balance has brought us together."

Sensei Wu stepped forward, making Hikari jump a bit. "Stay with us. Help us fight the good fight."

"If that's okay with my son," and Misako looked at Lloyd. Lloyd grinned at his mother. "Hey- the more, the merrier."

She beamed at him before the two of them hugged again.

Hikari walked over to Jay, who tensed as she approached.

And then she bopped him on the head and made him yelp. "You owe me candy," she told him firmly, before grinning and yanking him into a hug. "And I forgive you, I guess."

Jay chuckled nervously as she let him go, completely oblivious to the shadow that had fallen across Lloyd's face... and ignoring the fact that inside her, Nariko had a smirk on her face, and she had no clue why.

A/N: Oh holy Spinjitzu Master this chapter was so long! It actually took me this long to write -_- and playing Cookie Clicker didn't help.

Responses to commenters!

Fanfiction:

For once... none.

Quotev:

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DarkTeddyXX: I'm glad you are (wiggles eyebrows)

cookiecat567: Haha, I guess.

Wattpad: Also none.

Less comments on my last update. Huh.

Welp, have a nice day!

x.X. A.L. X.x