This chapter is a bit of a filler leading into the final arc of this story.

I still haven't seen all of Season 9, but (thanks, spoilers!) I do know most of the 'key events'. And it turned out that some of my ideas for this story are kinda similar to what actually happens in the show. Not all of them though (and I won't say which ones), and they won't be executed the same way, so it should still be spoiler-free if you haven't watched 'Hunted' yet.

——-

A messed-up Fairy Tale

"Oh, the poor boy." Edna stated dramatically. "Only one pair of trousers, and no more laundry detergent - he surely must be out of clean underwear by now..."

Although her voice was rather hoarse, the elderly woman had been talking almost non-stop for the past three hours, as if she was trying to make up for days without speaking (which, as Lloyd had learned, had indeed been the case for her).

"I really hope he gets enough vitamins; the way you've described this place, it doesn't sound like it provides the most nutritious food..."

She straightened up and addressed her husband. "Take a note, Ed. When we get home, we'll have to buy lots of fresh fruit and vegetables for the guys."

"Of course, my sugarplum." Ed nodded, taking out a small notepad.

Lloyd blinked. Huh? Hadn't it always been the other way round? What was going on here?

"Same goes for you, young man." Edna glanced at the boy who was munching a packet of Ninja Chips. "I know we're a bit short of fresh food right now ourselves, but once this nightmare is over, you're all coming over to our place for a nice healthy dinner. And this includes you too, sweetie."

Edna affectionately patted Skylor's head that was resting on her shoulder. Exhausted from the journey, the orange Ninja had fallen asleep against the motherly woman right in the middle of their conversation.

Equally fast asleep, Nya was curled up on the bench, her head on her mother's lap.

"I just hope we will still have a place to get home to..." Maya remarked, gently brushing her daughter's tousled hair with her hands. "If Garmadon keeps going like this, soon there won't be much of Ninjago left for him to rule."

While hiding away at the swamp, the Ninja's parents had tried to keep up with what was going on in the capital. They would regularly listen to the devastating news on the radio in the Walkers' jalopy.

Whereas the days were reasonably quiet, every night, the Emperor would send the Colossus on a rampage through Ninjago City, while the Sons of Garmadon were out in the streets on their bikes, vandalising flats, looting shops and simply terrorising the people, all under the pretext of looking for enemies of the Empire.

"What do you expect?" Lloyd muttered. "My father is the Master of Destruction, causing damage is what makes him stronger."

"And we have to put and end to that, not only for the sake of Ninjago but also to weaken him and help our friends." PIXAL claimed.

"You are right, PIX." Lloyd agreed. "We should return to the city as soon as possible."

"And we're coming with you." Maya added.

"But..."

"Lloyd, we want our boys back home as much as you do." Lou said. "You can't expect us to just sit around here and do nothing about it."

"I guess so..."

"I have already figured out where we're gonna hide." Misako told him. "The Museum, there's enough space for all of us."

"The Museum?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, the Ninjago Museum of History is the perfect place to set up our secret rebel base." PIXAL explained. "It has been closed for the last year. After all that has happened there, the city has not been able to find a new curator. And many people still believe that it is hunted. The probability of the Sons of Garmadon raiding that place is below 0.2%."

"And-" Misako grinned widely. "I have kept the keys."

"But how should we all get there?" Lloyd questioned. "There is not enough space on the Destiny's Shadow for the ten of us. And the jalopy would likely attract some unwanted attention."

"Some of the Vermillions' vehicles should still be somewhere around here." Ray remarked. "Sure, they haven't been used for a while..."

"Ah, leave that to us." Ed claimed, excitedly rubbing his hands. "We'll get those up and running in no time. Isn't that right, my dear?"

"Of course we will." Edna nodded. "But we're not going tonight; you've heard the news yourself, it is much safer for us in the city during the day. And right now, we should all get some sleep. These kids seriously need a break."

-

When Lloyd woke up the next morning, the blacksmith shop was empty with the exception of his mother who was sitting at the table, again looking at the map."

"Good morning, son." Misako kissed his forehead, and Lloyd happily accepted it. "Sit down."

"Where is everyone?" He wondered.

"Ed and Nya are out in the swamp with Ray, trying to get some of those Vermillion vehicles up and running again." Misako explained, pouring him a cup of coffee. "Lou, Maya and Edna are collecting some of the supplies that have been left here by the snakes. Lou has told us that they used to have a storeroom with tins and dried food for their prisoners that should still be in date. We will take as much as we can, also for the people of Ninjago City."

Lloyd chuckled. "Still no fresh vegs for Edna..."

"No, I don't think so." Misako joined it.

"PIXAL is outside trying to locate the falcon, she has lost connection to it when you went to the Dark Island. But the good news is that Skylor must be getting stronger, she was able to replicate Zane's power signature, even though it's been almost two days since you've accessed it."

"Maybe the Temple of Light has enhanced her and Nya's elements as well." Lloyd suggested.

"That might very well be." Misako smiled at her son. "I've waited here for you to wake up. We need to start gathering all our things and take them outside. As soon as everyone's back, we're good to go."

At this moment, loud noise came from outside – the clattering of the motor plus the rattling sound of chains moving over the soft ground.

"We're back." Nya called. "They're still working."

Lloyd and Misako rushed outside. In front of the building, the Water Ninja and her father had just parked two of the red (and slightly rusty) Invaders and Ed was just installing the jalopy's horn to one of the tanks.

"With this, Jay will find us anywhere in Ninjago, when he comes back." He stated matter-of-factly.

"He will." Nya smiled at the old man. "Now, let's start loading them and get going." And with these words, she rushed inside the house, past Lloyd.

When she returned, she was carrying a giant pile of swords and daggers of all sizes. "Wow, looks like we have enough weapons to supply all of Ninjago..." She remarked.

Ray blushed. "While you were away, I... was trying to be useful."

"More like he was trying to distract himself from worrying about you." Maya claimed. She, Edna, and Lou were just coming up the slope towards the others, each of them carrying bags with supplies. "Your father doesn't like talking about his feelings, he rather puts them into actions."

"Now I know where Kai got that from." Nya dropped the weapons to hug her father. "I was worried about you too."

When she pulled back, she waved at PIXAL and Skylor who were scrambling down the small hill behind the blacksmith shop.

"PIX, Sky." She shouted. "We got them to work."

"Yes, we have heard that already." The Samurai stated. "This is why we have returned."

"And? Have you found it?" Nya asked.

"I have. The falcon is at the park, near the Titanium Zane monument." PIXAL informed her friend. "Without Zane around, it has not been able to recharge for about a week and it went into enegy-saving mode. I should be able to charge it from my power source but I cannot do it remotely."

"The park isn't too far from the museum. We can get it on the way." Nya promised.

-

Having split up for the journey – Lloyd, Nya, Ray and Maya taking the Destiny's Shadow, Lou, Misako and PIXAL (who wanted to collect the falcon and visit the statue on their way) going in one of the tanks, and Ed, Edna and Skylor (who had outright refused to go back into the sewers) in the other – the team of ten reunited at the museum and started setting up the team's new – hopefully temporary – headquarters.

While Misako was giving a tour of the exhibition (or what was left of it) to the other parents, the Ninja and Samurai were looking at the electronic equipment in what used to be Dr Saunder's office.

"Ah, I've missed having one of these babies." Nya claimed as she was booting up one of the computers. She then turned to her friend. "PIX, do you still have my memory card?"

"Yes, of course." The Samurai replied. "I have given you my word to keep it safe."

"Great. Can you please give it to me?" The Water Ninja requested, her hands flying across the keyboard.

"Here you go." PIXAL removed the card from its slot at the back of her head and handed it to the human girl.
"Thank you." Nya inserted the card to the computer. "Before we left the city, when I went to deliver the fortune cookies to the Police Station, I logged into one of their computers and downloaded a couple of things onto my phone, including the access codes to the city's surveillance system."
"And you're only telling us now?" Skylor chided her friend.

"I-I just didn't want anyone to be mad at me for being reckless." Nya glanced over at Lloyd. "So I decided to wait until we would actually need these data and the risk I took couldn't be called an unnecessary one."

"It still was a huge risk." Lloyd muttered.

"But it was worth it." Nya pointed at the screen that was now showing a list of surveillance cameras. "We can now see what Garmadon and his people have exactly been doing these past few days – and nights."

"You are right. Knowing all their past moves does give us an important advantage." Lloyd admitted. "Thanks, Nya."

"You're welcome." She smiled. "PIXAL, can you identify a pattern in their actions to predict their next targets?"

"Working on it." The Nindroid confirmed.

"But don't forget what Wu and the Ninja have told me." Lloyd reminded his friends. "In order to help them, we have to weaken my father's influence, but not necessarily get into a battle against him yet. And Kai has asked me to let the people of Ninjago know that we are back and that all the Ninja -" He smiled at PIXAL. " - and our allies, of course – are fighting for them, but also that we need everyone to stand up and fight to bring our friends back and free Ninjago from my father."

"But for now, the Sons of Garmadon don't know yet that we're back in town." Skylor chimed in. "Shouldn't we use that to our advantage and surprise them with a first strike before we go public?"

The Element of Surprise.

Lloyd suddenly felt his chest tighten, overwhelmed by the memory of that – final – time that he and his father had fought side by side, against Chen and his army of Anacondrai wannabes. If only they could have found a different way to defeat them, one that would not have involved banishing the wise and kind Sensei Garmadon to the Cursed Realm...

"Lloyd?" It was the worried sound of PIXAL's voice that brought him back to the present. He blinked to find three pairs of eyes looking at him, concerned.

"I-I am fine..." He forced a weak smile. "Just... remembering my dad. The good times."

They had been so close back then, after arresting the cultists and even having gotten rid of Clouse.

Clouse...
That's it." He exclaimed.

"What?"

"Clouse... I mean Harumi. If we can take Garmadon's second-in-command, we should be able to weaken him without directly fighting him, right?"

"Uhm, yes." Nya looked confused. "But you should know yourself that getting to her could prove just as difficult as to Garmadon himself."

"Not necessarily." PIXAL said. "I have analysed the surveillance tapes. For the last three nights, the Quiet One has not been seen out in the streets with Garmadon or the bikers."

"Do you think she's got injured?" Lloyd could not hide his concern for the evil girl.

"I have no recording of it. But I have located her signature. She is currently here." PIXAL showed them on Misako's map they had put up at the office wall.

"The old palace." Nya muttered. "Really, what's the matter with these villains always returning to the scene of their crime?"

"I do not know, but this is her current location." PIXAL confirmed. "And she is on her own."

"PIX, do you already have a prediction where my father is going to strike next?" Lloyd enquired. "Not to fight them, but to avoid them..." He added.

"My model suggests that Garmadon and his people are most likely to cause destruction around the harbour tonight."

"That's far enough away from the palace." He stated. "If she's still alone tonight, we're gonna go get Harumi."

PIXAL chuckled. "In those Fairy Tales I have read, it is usually the noble knight who fights the evil dragon to rescue the beautiful princess..."

"But if we want to rescue the noble dragons and bring our handsome knights back home from the land far far away, then we need to fight the evil princess." Nya joined it.

Skylor sighed. "This is one messed-up fairy tale..."

Lloyd couldn't agree more. And he knew that, no matter what was to happen, for him there was gonna be no 'happily ever after' at the end.