Nya, somehow, managed to teach me how to use the basics of Bounty's control panel. Well, she taught me how to use two buttons because everything else was way too complicated. So now I'm watching the monitor, waiting for something to light up. It's been hours since the sun had set but this is the job of a Ninja after all. I sneeze while I grab a tissue and blow my nose. Geez, I must've been in here for way too long, it's freezing. Suddenly, a red light appears on the screen, catching my eye. "Got you."

I quickly press the red button on the control panel and the intercom is activated. I speak into the microphone, "All Ninja on deck! One was spotted so prepare for interrogation asap!"

I let go of the button, not waiting for Nya to take control of the Bounty. We had to hurry or we could miss our chance entirely of figuring out where even one Fangblade could be. I jump down onto the Deck, running towards my siblings when Sensei suddenly stops me. I turn to him confused, and he shakes his head.

"Y/n. You will not be going with them. I need you here."

My eyes widen. "What!? But Sensei! We finally got a snake by themselves for once!"

The boys hear my outburst and turn to it, seeing Sensei and I together. The boys look at each other confused, walking over to us and Zane speaks up first. "Sensei, why isn't Y/n going with us?"

"I need to speak with her. We've been putting it off for far too long. We're going to talk about her true potential."

My eyes widen and we all stay silent. He was right. I've been avoiding it and well, I couldn't avoid it forever. We nod, knowing that there was no ignoring this. The four knew they couldn't argue with Sensei. So each one of them gives me a hug before walking over to the railing and jumping off.

Jay is the last one to hug and leave, leaving me alone with Sensei and I sigh. Sensei guides me to his room while making some small talk. "You've gotten taller. And, you're bangs are growing out."

I smile. "I guess so. I hadn't realized because of everything going on."

It goes on for a bit until we make it to the room, but when the door is opened. My eyes widen. A tea set is laid out ever so carefully and sitting down next to it is Garmadon.

I hold my head and I think back to a familiar scene.

Sensei sits me down and he goes to sit down next to his older brother. Garmadon sips on his tea before speaking. "Long before you even got your true potential, we knew about your being our father's friend. Well, we knew his friend would come back one day. We just didn't know when."

Sensei then adds on and pulls out a photo. "One day though, our father shows us a photo of you with him. It may be old but I still have it. Both of you are teenagers in this photo. I believe our father said you both were sixteen at the time so when you appeared again those years ago, I was surprised."

"Our father knew that when you... died, you would return and that he won't be there to greet you. He prepared us for your arrival and to help you guide you through a new world. We just didn't know what would happen when you would arrive. Of course, because of the bite, I wasn't here waiting, unlike my brother."

"We expected to be met with a teenager with some sort of scarring but when it was you that showed up. I was surprised but eventually, put the pieces together." Sensei then hands me the photo and I hesitantly look at the old faded photo. And there I am, wearing a short purple kimono, covered in pink flowers, standing next to the First Spinjitzu Master, otherwise known as Sann.

I start getting flashes of that time as I hold my head.

"Y/n! Let's go take a new thing called a pho-to-graph! To commemorate our friendship!"

"Hmm alright then! Sounds fun! So what is a pho-to-graph?"

"It's an instant portrait! It's amazing! Make sure to wear something nice for it too"

Words finally come out of my mouth and I drop the photo. "W-Why are you telling me this now?..."

"You finally unlocked your true potential. Soon, the rest will come as well," Sensei responds and drinks some tea.

"I-I... The rest? What else is there?..."

Garmadon sighs. "You also have a prophecy. One that intertwines greatly with Green Ninja's one. With Lloyd's future. For now, what we can say about your prophecy is that when he walked into your life is when yours started and-"

"Stop!"

"I know this is hard but-"

I interrupt Sensei as I hold my head tightly. "I-I can't handle any more! There's no way I can handle any more! I can't!"

While I go to stand up, my body feels wobbly and weak. My head is spinning, trying to keep it focused but I just get dizzier and dizzier. The room starts spinning and my body starts to sway.

The two quickly get up, looking at me in concern. "Y/n?"

The second they say my name, I collapse.

~

Eventually, the Ninjas return from their mission, trying to figure out the next course of action. "So even the snakes think he's crazy. Well isn't that ironic," Jay says as he laughs.

Zane adds on. "Even so, we need to figure out a plan to get at least one Fangblade. We just need for Pythor to slip up."

"But we can't even find one!" Kai bursts out.

"Then the next snake we manage to interrogate, we'll have Y/n and she'll know what to do. She does have the longest time of being a ninja so I'm sure she has more experience," Cole adds on.

They all keep on talking as Nya walks up to them with a concerned face. "Guys we have a situation."

The four look at each other in concern before Kai speaks up. "What's going on?"

"Y/n collapsed."

Their eyes widen.

~

"How is she doing?" Cole asks as Kai paces the floor back and forth.

"She's been running a fever since she collapse. Must be all the stress she's endured over these last few months." She sighs. "Why haven't we noticed that she's only a kid dealing with so much stress? It's having a bad effect on her now!" Nya shouts in frustration and places a fresh wet towel on my forehead. She counties to mutter under her breath and stressing out.

"She always has been the strong one in our group. I guess it was only a matter of time before something like this would happen. Can't believe it took us so long to figure it out though."

Zane scans my body and looks at Cole. "Luckily she will be fine in a few days- Wait, I take that back." He scans once more. "She's healing at an accelerated rate. This might be her power trying to get her back to normal."

Lloyd holds my hand tightly with one hand and uses the other to stuff candy into his mouth, trying to calm his nerves. When he found out Y/n collapsed, he was the first to be by her side, trying to see if she was alright. He wanted to be there for someone who was always there for him. "A-At least her powers are healing her meaning she'll be better soon right?"

Jay smiles and pats his head. "Hopefully she will but she's gonna need a lot of rest. Only time will tell." He turns to everyone. "What are we supposed to do about the Fangblades though? We don't even know where one is, much less have a map, unlike Pythor."

"Who cares about the Fangblades?! Y/n is sick! And we let it happen! All of this ninja stuff is robbing her of her childhood! She hasn't been a kid in who knows how long?!" Kai snaps.

Everyone stays silent. He was right. No one remembers the last time I actually got to act like a child. Instead, she acted like an adult. She was robbed of hers in her old life, and none of them wanted hers to be robbed again.

Jay turns to the red ninja. "Let's talk about this with Sensei Wu then."

I slowly wake up, my vision getting used to the bright lights. Their conversation about the Fangblades and I is the only thing I hear, but I can't exactly make out what they're saying. One thing is clear though. They need to get one of those blades.

They need to go on a mission to get them now... or it's never going to happen.

I struggle to get up, letting the wet towel slides off of my forehead. "G-Go on the mission... T-This might b-be the one chance t-to get the F-Fangblade..." I manage to cough out.

Everyone turns to me, not expecting that I would wake up all of sudden. "But-"

I quickly interrupt Zane. "Do it! I-I'll be fine... N-Ninjago needs us and w-we can't fail them because I'm sick! I-I don't care whatever issue you all are g-going through because of me but the future of e-everyone depends on us."

My stomach starts making noises and I quickly grab the nearest trashcan before vomiting.

Ugh... I feel awful...

"Ew," Lloyd says before eating more candy. He then helps me lay down, being ever so careful and making sure he doesn't hurt me.

They know I'm right. Ninjago can't wait for a ninja to get better from a cold. But, they don't want to leave me alone either. Kai looks at me seriously. "Fine. We'll go on the mission. But we can't leave you here alone. Something could happen if you're left alone and we can't take you with us because you would only slow us down. This is an all-hands-on-deck type of mission, even Nya is going. We need someone to stay with you and it can't be Lloyd. He's a kid after all."

"Hey!"

Finally, Sensei Wu and Garmadon walk in with freshly made tea and soup in their hands. They place the items down on a table next to my bed. Sensei pulls up a chair next to me while pouring some tea into a cup. "I'll stay with Y/n and Lloyd. My old bones are not what they used to be. I can only move for so long before collapsing."

Nya smirks. "Well Sensei, Lloyd is gonna have to take care of her then because I've made room for you on the Mech. So you don't have to worry about overworking your old bones."

Sensei's face brightens up but quickly turns to disappointment. "Seems like I'm going then. But Lloyd and Y/n-"

Garmadon interrupts him by taking the teacup from his younger brother and helps me drink it. "I'll stay with the children and take care of them. Do not worry about us. Worry about the mission first."

The second Lloyd decides to pay attention, he realizes he's not going on the mission with them. "Wait, why can't I go?! I'm the prophesied Green Ninja! I can do it! If Y/n can't do it then I need to go help!"

"That's exactly why you can't go. This is not your fight Lloyd," His father says, taking away the candy from him. "And stop eating so much of this, it's bad for you."

Kai sighs and turns to everyone. "Then I guess we're going to get those Fangblades. Make sure she gets better alright?"

Garmadon nods and starts feeding me some soup.

I stop the evil overlord for a moment, "Get home safe guys. And good luck really."

They smile at me before heading off.

~

After finally making a plan, everyone is on Deck, getting ready to embark on their mission: Get the Fangblades while Pythor is away getting the last one.

"It's quite strange not seeing Y/n go with us on a mission," Zane says as he is hit with the realization that she's not joining them.

Jay sighs, agreeing with the nindroid. "I think this is the first time we've gone on a mission without her. She's always been there with us... It's a bit sad though."

"Then we gotta get this mission right for her and show her how far we've come. We're gonna come home with either all of them or none," Cole expresses with determination.

Sensei Wu looks at everyone, gripping onto his staff tightly. "We've come this far for a reason. We must get those Fangblades now. We will not let those snakes release the Great Devourer."

They nod before the old man climbs onto the Mech's extra seat. But, Kai turns to him. "Sensei... We've been thinking about having Y/n retire from being a ninja."

Cole then adds in. "The way her life is going down... She's not going to get a normal childhood. Who's childhood is filled with this?"

"I hate to admit it but they've got a point. When was the last time she actually got to go play some sort of games?" Jay continues.

Finally Zane. "Even I have to agree. She got sick because of all this stress after all."

Sensei Wu looks at them then turns to Nya, expecting her to say something as well. She simply just turns her head away from him. "I won't allow that. You see, I asked her long ago if she would like to learn the ways of the ninja or if she would enjoy just being a kid. She chose to be a ninja. She chose not to have a regular childhood because this is what makes her happy. She had choices and chose this. You all will not take away her choices unless she chooses to do that by herself."

They stay silent before sighing. They can't argue with him so they decided to drop it for now.

Uncomfortable silence is left though.

Eventually, a beep is released from Nya's headset. She clicks on it and turns to everyone "We're over the mountain. Let's head down."

"We got this guys!" Cole shouts out and they all jump off the Deck and towards the Mountain of a Million Steps.

~

Over the last few hours, the father and son duo change me from my room to the Bridge so they're able to watch the Monitor and me at the same time. Luckily, I was able to eat and drink everything before they moved me but unluckily for me, I was still hungry. So Lloyd steps out to go get me some more food from the kitchen. I look at the older Garmadon, realizing he's not that bad. He may be a bad guy but he's not a bad person.

"You know... I hope you stick around..."

He smiles softly. "If only I were different, child. But evil runs through my veins and I'm bound to it, unfortunately. I'm just happy my son isn't going down this path."

"But-"

He interrupts me before walking over to the control panel and he takes out a hard drive. He turns to me with a smile, "Sorry about this."

My eyes widen in realization.

Garmadon presses a bunch of random buttons on the control panels as files begin transferring to it.

"Don't do this to your son! You barely got him back, don't lose him now..." I manage to say to him.

He shakes his head and the computer speaks, "Transferring files."

Crash!

Garmadon and I look over to the source of the sound, spotting the one and only Lloyd.

Thanks, Destiny.

The blonde gasps. "You're stealing?"

"Lloyd-"

"Dad, my friends are risking their lives to save Ninjago, and you go behind their backs to gain an advantage?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it. Ever since the Devourer bit me, evil runs through my blood."

"You left me for so long. Where did you go?"

"Son, there are places in this world void of any good. Places you shouldn't go to.

"Is that where Sensei found you?"

He sighs. "You know how I've always wanted those Golden Weapons, well, this place allowed me the power to possess them."

"But why didn't you take me with you?!" Lloyd pleads with him. He just wanted a parent to be in his life for once.

"Every boy has a choice to grow up to be whoever they want to be. But I never had that choice. Because I was bitten, evil runs through my veins. But you still have a choice. You don't need to be like me, Lloyd. Your uncle has a plan for you, and even though it may be to stop me one day, we have to follow our own destiny. Plus, you finally have a friend who cares about you so much. So choose to stay with them than follow me down this path. And after I help the ninja stop Pythor, I'll need to leave again."

Lloyd glares at him. "Then why don't you just leave now!?"

"Lloyd-"

"No, really! Go back to whatever evil place you came from!"

"Enough you two!"

The two eyes widen and turn to me, seeing me standing up with an angry expression on my face.

"Tsk do you know how ridiculous this is?! Can't you see two are family and you barely got each other bacK?! Stop taking it for granted!"

Suddenly, the screen lights up and Nya's voice can be heard. "All right, Operation Stealth was a total bust. We're gonna need reinforcements. Anyone there?"

Crap.

Garmadon goes to respond but Lloyd stops him causing the father to move away. "We don't want your help, and we don't need you here! Maybe it would've been better if you hadn't come at all!"

Garmadon's eyes widen and sighs. He doesn't want to argue anymore with him. "If...if that's the way you feel."

And with that, he leaves.

This family situation is really way too complicated...

Lloyd tries to press a few buttons, figuring out which one leads to communicating with them but nothing seems to be working. "I'm trying to help, Nya! Just hold on."

I barely manage to walk over to the control panel and lightly push Lloyd out the way. I press the button and barely managed to spew out, "We're coming," to them before the transmission gets cut off and I collapse on my knees, coughing.

"Y/n! You-"

"Go get changed. We're going to go save them," I say wiping away some saliva before pulling myself up. We have to go save them or else we might lose them to that monster.

He's hesitant but decides to listen. I stare at the monitor screen before sneezing.

"Ew."

"Hey!'

~

During the unsuccessful raid on the fortress, Nya keeps on trying to contact us while fighting off snakes, but it's proving a lot more difficult than expected. "Y/n, Lloyd, can you hear me? Ugh, I'm not getting anything!"

Sensei Wu shakes his head and hits a snake back. "Forget them. We need to fight back. Ninja, show them what you've learned!"

The boys smirk before fighting off the snakes with their new and improved skills. Each one takes down a snake gracefully, one after another. Eventually, they spot the other three Fangblades, unguarded.

"Look, the Fangblades!" Kai shouts out.

Cole smiles. "I'll let you have the honors."

"Oh, no. After you."

Cole smiles and runs towards them but a trap is set off and a chain wraps around his arm, snaring him in his current location. "Aah! It's a trap!" He tries to warn the others but it's too late.

A large mechanism is heard and a cage quickly forms around all of them. Chains shoot out from the bars, grabbing their arms and pulling them to the wall of the cage.

"Gah! No!" Nya shouts out in frustration, trying to remove the chains from her mech but it's no use. They're trapped there.

Suddenly, a familiar, purple snake slithers in with the last Fangblade in his hand as his snake army laugh.

"Come, come, can this get any better? Seriously, they fell right into my trap." He looks down at them, staring at them with amusement but realizes a certain ninja isn't there. "Where's the girl?!"

Kai glares at him. "Tsk we'll never tell!"

The two glared at each other before Pythor turns away. "Hmpf and here I was ready to make her return the favor for what she did to my fang. I suppose next time then."

"I think that's just a you problem then buddy," Jay says mutters, not realizing he said it a little bit too loud.

The second Pythor hears it, he slams his staff onto the cage, spooking the ninja. "I will not be disrespected by another ninja! When I finally get my hands on her, you all are next. After all, she's bound to come to save her family."

~

While I wait for Lloyd to change, I wait for another transmission to come through and my anxiety is building up. Are they okay?! Are they hurt?! What is happening to them?! When I get my hands on Pythor, I'm gonna-

I start sneezing and I quickly blow into my tissue. "Destiny sucks."