Lloyd's breath caught in his throat as a hand caught his wrist. He looked up and saw the Princess. He grabbed her wrist as she started to pull him back up. Lloyd used the ledge to hoist himself back up onto the roof.

"Thank you, Princess." He said and sat down, catching his breath.

"I should be thanking you, if it weren't you...well, I don't want to think about why that thug was after me." She shivered and got quieter towards the end. Lloyd stood up.

"My guess, is he was sent to scare your family or maybe use you to bargain for the mask." Lloyd replied even though none of that was true. The Sons of Garmadon shouldn't have gone after her at all. The fact that they did really pissed him off. He had gotten an ok look at the one who attacked the Princess, so he was sure he'd recognize whoever it was. His main concern was if this person was following orders or if they did this on their own. That would surely decide who Lloyd would yell at later or kill, depending on how he was feeling.

"You really think so?" The Princess asked, fear written in her face. Lloyd nodded.

"I think they'll do anything to get the mask." Lloyd admitted and that wasn't a lie. He really didn't care what he would have to do to get that goddamn mask. If ended up kidnapping the Princess, then so be it. "So what are you doing outside of the Palace?" He asked. The Princess grabbed the bag she had been carrying and opened it, revealing that it was full of food.

"I'm helping the poor." She gave him a sad smile. "I can't do much trapped behind the Palace walls, so being able to bring them the leftover food makes me feel like I'm doing something." She explains her reasoning for doing this. Lloyd nodded.

"That's really nice that you sneak out to help those in need." He commented and that brought a smile to her face. "It's dangerous for you to do so." He added and her face fell. "But you've got a bodyguard for the night so I don't seem the harm in helping you." Her smile returned.

"The Princess is gone!" A voice shouted from the Palace. Lloyd and the Princess both looked over towards that direction. They could see Hutchins standing on her balcony, shouting at the guards.

"They can't know I snuck out." She passed him a sweatshirt she had pulled from a clothes line. "Will you disguise yourself? Please?" Lloyd nodded and put the sweatshirt on without any hesitation.

"At least we have the excuse that you were attacked by the Sons of Garmadon." Lloyd reminded her. She smiled at him and they made their way down from the roof. They continued through different alleyways until they reached what was considered the poorer part of the city. "How often do you come out here?" Lloyd asked.

"As often as I can." She replied. Lloyd looked around at all the people. There were so many, more than he imagined there would be. "A majority of those here are here because of the past attacks on the city. From the Overlord to the Great Devourer." The Princess explained. Lloyd thought back to those battles. The city was devastated after the Great Devourer but the Overlord didn't destroy much that day. Well not enough that he had thought about it. The Great Devourer however has taken down multiple buildings. The Princess passed out some food as they walked. Eventually they came to a stop and she set the bag down. A few children came running over and she gladly handed them as much food as they wanted.

"Here, let me help." Lloyd offered and grabbed some food to hand out. The children swarmed the Princess, they all called her by her first name. They must get excited every time she visited with food. Thought none of them seemed to acknowledge she was the Princess, or maybe they just didn't care.

"Don't worry there's more than enough for everyone, as always." The Princess smiled at the children. Once the bag was empty, she rolled up the bag and they continued to walk. Lloyd had rather not be out here with the Princess right now, but he would put up with her, better to keep her happy, so he can stay in the Palace. He had planned to set up some blast zap tonight, not keep an eye on her. He'd still have time to do it later so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

"From what I've observed so far it doesn't sound like you enjoy being a princess." Lloyd stated. The Princess stopped walking for a moment and gave a little sigh.

"To be honest it's not all that fun being a princess, sure it has its perks but I have a destiny, a duty that I have to fulfill." She explained. "That part...well it isn't fun. There are rules that prevent me from having the freedom I so wish to have."

"You wouldn't believe me but I understand how you feel." Lloyd admitted to her. She stopped and faced him.

"No, I believe you. You're the Green Ninja after all. Your destiny was decided the moment you were born." The Princess agreed with him. "We both have role to fulfill, me as the Princess who stays in the palace and you the hero who watches over the city I will someday rule." Lloyd wanted to laugh at the hero part. He may have the title of hero but he wasn't one or at least he wouldn't be much longer. He would soon show them that he was the best villain Ninjago would ever face.

"We've never been given a choice about our lives." Lloyd sighed and then turned to look at the Princess. "If you were given the choice to live a normal life, would you take it?"

"In a heartbeat." She answered instantly. He would keep that in mind, should she survive the attack tomorrow, maybe, just maybe he could convince her to join him. She would make a great pawn to this game of his.

"Me too." He whispered. A commotion nearby caught their attention. A small group from the Sons of Garmadon were ganging up on some people. This didn't surprise Lloyd, he let them run rampant as long as they didn't jeopardize his mission. Pestering the people of the city seemed to entertain them and keep them out of trouble. The Princess with a determined look, started to walk over to them but Lloyd stopped her. She turned around surprised that he had done so.

"We should go, it's not safe for you here." He explained and nodded towards the few gang members. "The Sons of Garmadon attacked you once already, let's not give them another chance." He advised her. The Princess looked ready to argue with him.

"But those people need help." She claimed. She wasn't wrong, those people could use help but he also couldn't let them see the Princess. If she got hurt or worse, him and the ninja would be thrown out of the palace quicker than they could blink.

"Look at them," he gestured towards them. "They're just the thugs of the group, those people will be fine." Lloyd lied. He had no idea what their intentions were, whether they were looking to steal or were or for blood. He never bothered to keep track of what they did, he didn't care.

"You're right, they're probably just following orders, the person who gives them is the one I fear." She quietly mumbled the last part. So she feared him? That was interesting to know, since no one outside of the gang knew of his existence as the leader.

"That makes sense," He reassured her. "I mean whoever it is, is threatening your family." This could change his plan of getting her to join him. He'd have to somehow get her to see that she didn't need to fear him even though she really should. Bright headlights blinded them and Lloyd instinctively pulled the Princess behind him. "Or Samurai X can take care of them." He mumbled. Samurai X was a nuisance, one he would take care of eventually. Lloyd had a plan for what to do with them because he knew exactly who they were. Samurai X jumped out from their car and landed in front of the Sons of Garmadon members.

"Back away from them." They demanded while pulling out their sword aiming at the Sons of Garmadon. The thugs looked scared.

"Oh shit!" One shouted. They all took off running, leaving those they were tormenting alone. Lloyd wanted to face palm. Those guys were a part of the Sons of Garmadon and they were scared of Samurai X? He knew they were dedicated to his cause but sometimes they were useless when it came to fighting.

"Do you know who samurai x is?" The Princess asked him after said person left. Lloyd shook his head.

"I wish I did, Princess." He lied. "I'd want to thank them for helping when we could not." No one needed to know that he knew Samurai X's identity. And the only reason he knew was because he accidentally stumbled upon them without their helmet on. At the time Lloyd had promised to keep their secret but eventually the others would figure it out.

"Rumi is fine, by the way. You don't have to call me Princess when it's just us." Harumi approves with a smile. Lloyd smiled back, it seemed the Princess was finally starting to trust him more, which would work to his advantage should he need it.

"Alright then, Rumi." Lloyd responded.

"Lloyd, I didn't know if I should say this earlier, but your voice sounds familiar." Rumi admitted quietly. Lloyd gave her a confused look and she continued. "We've never met before today though, but someone I spoke with their voice sounds just like yours."

"As far as I know, we haven't." Lloyd confirmed her belief. He knew for a fact that they had never met before and he didn't recognize her voice. "Maybe there's someone who has similar voice to me." He suggested.

"Maybe." She agreed. After a moment of silence, Lloyd sighed and looked around.

"I think it's time we get you back to the Palace." He said. "They are out looking for you after all."

"I agree." Hutchins spoke and the two of them jumped. He walked over to the Princess. "Do you understand how dangerous it is for you to be out here, Your Highness?" He asked her. Princess Harumi started to stutter, trying to find an answer.

"She was kidnapped by a son of garmadon." Lloyd quickly defended her. "I rescued her and we hid until I thought it was safe. Samurai x just scared off the rest of them." He hoped Hutchins would believe him, for the most part it was the truth. "We were about to head back as you just heard."

"I see, then you have my gratitude for keeping her safe. However I must insist she return with me at once." He thanked Lloyd but turned back to the Princess. "Your parents are very worried, Your Highness." Harumi nodded.

"I understand." She said. "I'll see you back at the palace, Lloyd." A hopeful smile on her face as she turned to follow after Hutchins, leaving him standing there. Lloyd felt that Hutchins didn't really trust him and he was right not to but he needed him to. He's saved someone from the Royal Family twice and that still wasn't enough in his eyes. It wouldn't matter after tomorrow night, however. Lloyd took off the sweatshirt he was wearing and started to make his way back to the palace.

Lloyd decided to take watch outside by himself for the rest of the night, giving Nya and Kai a chance to rest. At least that's what he told the others. His real intentions were to contact Mr. E, to make sure everything was on schedule, that Sons of Garmadon were ready for the fight. In twelve hours the attack would commence, the mask was only hours away at this point. Lloyd climbed up on to the roof of the Palace, he knew no one would find him or hear him.

"I want everything ready to go an hour before the attack." Lloyd instructed. "If anything goes wrong tonight, everything I've worked for will be lost. This is the mask we won't get a second chance to steal." Lloyd continued. "Have Ultra Violet remind everyone that if this goes wrong, there will be extreme consequences. Do not fail me, I'd hate to have to replace you." He finished explains. "Also another thing, someone attacked the Princess tonight, find out who it is and bring them to me." After Lloyd said that, he cut the transmission and sat down. The sun was beginning to rise which meant the others would be up soon. That left Lloyd with a limited amount of time to set up the blast zap. There was a map of all the secret passages in the Palace, that he had found a few years ago. It was in an old temple that was filled with old artifacts about the Oni. Because of it he map however, he knew the perfect place to set the blast zap and where to stand in the palace so he wouldn't get hurt by the blast.

Lloyd had hid the blast zap just outside the wall of the Palace. He waited until no guards were around and quickly climbed over the wall, grabbing the two bags of blast zap. He then climbed back over just as quickly. With what little shadows he had, Lloyd snuck through the Palace garden to the secret passage under a rock. He would be able to place most of the blast zap here, the rest he would put elsewhere to make it easier for the Sons of Garmadon could get in from all sides. It took him about an hour but Lloyd had finally set up all the blast zaps. For the final touch he pulled out a robotic snake and placed it down.

"You know what to do, my friend." He whispered and activated it. The snake slithered away, deep into the tunnels where it would lay dormant until Lloyd activated it. It's one purpose; detonate the blast zap. He hurried out of the passage and moved the rock back into place. No one would ever see the attack coming. He would finally start to get his revenge tonight.

"Morning, Lloyd." A voice called over the comms, drawing him from his thoughts.

"Good morning, Nya." He answered.

"Wanna join us for some sparring before breakfast?" She asked. He could hear someone shouting in the background, it was most likely Kai, though he couldn't hear what he was saying.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a moment." Lloyd answered and started to walk over there. It wasn't too far from the garden so he took his time. The Palace of Secrets was such a beautiful place, he hated that he would have to ruin but there was always the chance of rebuilding it. As long as the Temple of Resurrection did not get destroyed he didn't care what would have to be rebuilt. After all his father and him would need a place to live and the palace would be perfect. Lloyd reached the training yard and realized he was the first one there. He sat down in the middle of the area and began to meditate. Though he seemed calm, he was extremely nervous but did not want to have any chance of showing it. He knew if he did this for even just a moment he would be calm all day. Lloyd wasn't alone for much longer as he sensed someone walking up from behind, they were attempting to be quiet but he could still hear them. He quickly pulled out his sword and blocked the incoming attack.

"And here I thought you might be sleeping." Kai laughed. He backed off and Lloyd put his weapon away. "I'm always shocked at how quick your reflexes are."

"What would you have done if I wasn't that fast?" Lloyd asked.

"I wouldn't have hurt you, if that's what you're implying." Kai answered. "What do you say we spar though? First two here, might as well." Lloyd stood up.

"I'm surprised you're even awake, Kai." Lloyd joked and Kai laughed.

"If it were any other day I'd still be in bed, but we promised the Royal family we'd protect them and I can't do that if I'm asleep." Kai explained. He had definitely changed the most since Lloyd met him. At first Lloyd saw him as a selfish prick but Kai had definitely matured and understood what it meant to truly be a ninja. Though that didn't lessen Lloyd's anger towards him and the others. He never did learn to fully like them, he more or less put up with them still. Though Nya was a different story, she was truly like a sister to him. She had been the only one to like him and treat him like a person from the start.

"You're right about that." Lloyd got in a fighting stance. "Ready?" Kai nodded. They began to swing their weapons at each other, but not strong enough that they could injure the other. Lloyd never used to spar with the ninja often, he liked to train by himself but he realized he would end up fighting them once they figured out who he was. This was the perfect way to make sure he knew how each one fought. Of course one would think that would work in the ninja's favor as well but Lloyd was careful to keep most of his techniques to himself. The ninja didn't know to do that.

"So," Kai started. "You and the Princess were caught outside the Palace last night." He raised his eyebrows at Lloyd with a smirk. Lloyd rolled rolled his eyes. Of course his first thought was that him and the Princess went on a date.

"It wasn't like that." Lloyd answered. "I heard a noise come from the Princess' room. I found her room ransacked and her missing. When I looked out the window I saw her getting attacked by someone. That person ended up being from Sons of Garmadon." He explained. He didn't need any of them thinking he had a crush on the Princess.

"Oh, so you definitely don't like her then?" Kai questioned as he dove to the side out of Lloyd's range.

"No, I don't."

"That's not what it looked like yesterday." A new voice said and Lloyd turned around just in time to block Nya's sword. What was with everyone trying to surprise attack him. The others were trailing behind her. "I saw how you looked at her during the speech."

"I'd rather keep this professional, we are trying to protect her family." Lloyd stated and went back to sparring with Kai. "Whatever you saw, you must've imagined."

"I'm just messing with you," Nya joked and ruffled his hair. That was something she had done since he was only ten and she had told she would continue to do it, regardless of how old he got. "Besides I think she likes you."

"Even if I did like her, it wouldn't work, she's royalty and I'm a ninja." Lloyd stopped for a moment and looked at Nya. "I doubt she'd even be allowed to date someone like me."

"You won't know until you ask her." Nya pointed out with a wink as Lloyd was knocked on to his back. He looked up and saw Kai standing there smugly.

"I win."

"Let's have a rematch."

Lloyd walked by the throne room and overheard the Royal family speaking. He stopped and hid behind the wall. He had been on his way to talk to Harumi about last night but it seemed she was already talking with her parents.

"Harumi, we are grateful the Green Ninja saved your life last night but you should've come straight home after that. You can't just go around with some ninja!" The Emperor scolded her. Lloyd winced a little. Some ninja, he thought, I'm the Green Ninja.

"But he isn't just some ninja!" Harumi argued back. "He's the ninja that saved my life."

"Regardless, as the Princess of Ninjago you have a role to play. We all do. Please do not forget that yours means you stay in the Palace." The Emperor continued to reprimand her. Lloyd realized Harumi wasn't lying when she said she had a role to live up to as well.

"You can't let anything interfere, even your heart." The Empress softly explained.

"I am sorry. I have dishonored our name. If I may be excused." Harumi finally spoke as she quickly walked out into the hall. She paused as she saw Lloyd and opened her mouth to say something but stopped. He eyes darted to behind him and then she continued to walk away. Lloyd turned around and saw Hutchins approaching.

"You must keep your distance from her." He coldly stated. "We can't have any feelings developing between the two of you."

"I plan to keep this strictly professional." Lloyd responded. "I know my place. I'm just a ninja." He told Hutchins exactly what he wanted to hear.

"There's something off about you, Green Ninja." Hutchins commented as he walked around Lloyd.

"I can assure you there isn't, Mr. Hutchins." This wasn't the time for him to start to get suspicious of Lloyd. Though everything had been set for tonight it still would be better if he remained in the palace.

"Maybe not right now, but last night when I found you two, you didn't seem all there. I'll be keeping an eye on you." Hutchins concluded and walked into the throne room as Nya walked over.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"I get the feeling he doesn't trust me all that much." Lloyd told her. She ruffled his hair and then pulled him along with her.

"Well that's stupid, I mean after the countless times you've saved Ninjago with us why wouldn't he trust you." She laughed and Lloyd shrugged.

"He said I seemed off to him." He explained. "Whatever that's supposed to mean."

"I wouldn't take it to heart, he doesn't know you like we do." Nya told him. "Besides you seem normal to me."

"Yeah I guess, so did you need me for something?" He asked and she nodded as they continued down the hall. Lloyd wasn't even sure where they were going , he was just mindlessly following her.

"We're going over the plan for protecting the palace tonight." Nya started. "Just the basics of who's going to be where. Kai and I can probably team up again outside. Last night gave me time to pester him." She joked and Lloyd laughed. Even though she was the younger sister, Nya seemed to pester Kai more than he pestered her.

"Just make sure you're keeping an eye out for trouble while doing that." He reminded her and she rolled her eyes.

"It's as if you don't me that well, I can pester him while I keep watch." She smiled. They both laughed.

The ninja were back to patrolling around the palace. Nya and Kai we're outside the front, Cole was on the roof and Jay and Zane were with the mask. Lloyd was just walking through the halls. He was on his way to join Zane and Jay. He kept checking the time because the attack would be commencing soon. A sudden static picked up on the comms as one of them tried to speak.

"Guys I was snooping…found…zap!" Cole spoke over the comms. He was cutting in and out but if Lloyd was guessing correctly, it sounded like Cole had found the hidden blast zap. This wad be bad, he'd have to set it off now or the ninja would have the chance to take it down and get rid of it. There were ten minutes before the attack was supposed to start but it would have to do. If Mr. E followed his instructions, then the Sons of Garmadon were outside the Palace waiting for the first explosion to go off.

"What was that Cole?" Jay asked as Lloyd frantically ran for a place to hide just for a moment. He needed to activate the snake and tell it to detonate the blast zap. Cole could be taking the blast zap down as he sat there.

"The palace is going to explode! We need to evacuate it!" Cole shouted, his voice coming in clearly over the comms. If his voice was coming clearly then he must have left the secret passage, that was a good sign.

"We need to get to the Royal Family now!" Kai shouted as well. They were outside the palace, Lloyd knew they wouldn't make it to them in time. He pulled back his sleeve revealing a device on his wrist. He pressed a button on it, activating the snake. In just seconds the palace would explode. Lloyd then pressed a different button.

"Mr. E, Ultra Violet, the blast zap was discovered, I am setting them off now, be ready." Lloyd quickly instructed and cut the transmission, not even giving them a chance to respond. The Palace shook as several explosions went off, many screams could be heard nearby. Lloyd smirked and came out of hiding, the attack had begun.