NYA

After reconciling with the fact that Zane betrayed them, Nya decided to go back to the Power Plant. Jay's bike should still be there. She can use it to reconnect with P.I.X.A.L.. She needed to warn the team about Zane. And she needed to learn if they managed to find Jay despite Zane's betrayal.

She walked back. It took Nya way too long to make it back to the Power Plant. She didn't realize how far she travelled. Once there, she jumped onto Jay's bike. She pressed the ignition. It sputtered to life. She was now reconnected with the Bounty.

"P.I.X.A.L.! Are you there?"

"Nya," P.I.X.A.L. said through the speaker, "Thank the First Spinjitzu Master! I've lost contact with everyone. I didn't know how to proceed. I tried to send out a distress signal for Samurai X. But this Lightning is too overwhelming for me to do anything!"

"We need to drop the kid off to safety," Nya said.

"Once Samurai X arrives, he can take Timmy back to Ninjago City for us," P.I.X.A.L. said. Ugh, Samurai X. Nya still didn't like that stranger riding around in her suit. Nya pushed her petty anger aside to focus on the task at hand: save her boyfriend as well as all her other friends.

"Where did you lose contact with the others?" Nya said.

"Last I heard, The Dragon Clan ambushed Kai and Cole. I think Zane helped the Dragon Clan." Nya's heart broke at P.I.X.A.L.'s strained voice.

"Zane sabotaged me. He made me crash," Nya said, "But that's not him. Not the real him. I bet something happened to him while he was in Okuura with Lloyd. They must've messed with his programming. I'm sorry. We'll fix him."

Nya rested her hand on the speaker of the bike. She wished P.I.X.A.L. had a body she could hug. She needed comfort.

"Yes, we will fix him," she said softly.

"Pix... after this is over, can I help you build yourself a body?" Nya offered.

"Oh. That is very kind, Nya. But I am more helpful to the team in the system. A body would inhibit me."

"Think about it," Nya said, "And you're most helpful to the team when you're happy."

"O-okay," P.I.X.A.L. said. She sounded uncertain. Nya didn't think this topic would be uncomfortable for her. Nya made a note to pester P.I.X.A.L. to think about her happiness more. She did so much for the team. She deserved more love and attention. And she definitely deserved to be closer to Zane.

P.I.X.A.L. continued: "We have to find the rest of the ninja."

"Kai and Cole were likely taken to Okuura," Nya said, "Where did you lose contact with Lloyd?"

"I'll send coordinates to Jay's bike," P.I.X.A.L. said. A green dot began to flash on Nya's radar.

"Bring the Bounty there," Nya said. She revved the engine and took off.

When she arrived, she was relieved to see Lloyd was still there. He was attempting to fix his bike. But by the look on his face, it wasn't going well. He's not much of a mechanic.

Nya wondered if she should teach the other ninja basic mechanical skills. Just in case they needed to do maintenance on the machinery they relied on when Nya or Jay wasn't around. Add that to Nya's To-Do List...

"Nya!" Lloyd said, jumping to his feet, "I'm glad to see you. Zane-"

"Turned on us. Yeah, he took me out too," Nya said. Nya shut off the bike. She could see the Bounty soaring towards them. She swung her legs over the seat. Nya explained what she knew about Kai and Cole.

"This is a mess," he said, pushing a stray piece of blonde hair out of his face, "The Dragon Clan played us. They're smart."

"We need to regroup and plan our next attack!" Nya said, pointing to the Bounty.

"Attack?" Lloyd said.

"Yes! I'm tired of losing friends to those jerks," Nya said.

"We can't attack," Lloyd said, "They planned this. They planned everything. Zane is proof of that. He was very patient in taking us out. But they separated us, Nya. They took Kai and Cole, but not us. They did that on purpose. And they know we're going to do anything to save our friends."

"They are expecting an attack," Nya said. Lloyd nodded.

"So we go stealth?"

"Maybe," Lloyd said, "But they would expect that too."

"So what? We do nothing?" Nya said, feeling anger build up in her. She would not still idly by. It would drive her insane.

"I was thinking we attempt to be a little more clever," Lloyd said.

"Go on," Nya demanded.

Lloyd looked up at the Bounty.

"Let's bring P.I.X.A.L. into this discussion," Lloyd said. They boarded the Bounty. Timmy was on the deck, outputting Lightning. It always went towards Okuura.

Wait, does that mean Jay was never at the Power Plant! It was too soon for the Dragon Clan to return to Okuura. Those jerks! Jay wasn't even there! She was going to flood that village for good measure!

Nya realized that Timmy's Lightning should've tipped them off that Jay wasn't at the Power Plant. But at the time, she was so anxious to see him again that she didn't notice.

Nya and Lloyd went to the bridge.

"What's the plan, Lloyd?" Nya asked.

"Right. Plan." Lloyd paced back and forth. He didn't have a plan. The Dragon Clan was smart. They were methodical and careful. And the ninja knew very little about them. They were formidable. But compared to some of the villains they've faced in the past, they weren't that bad.

"I need time to think," Lloyd said, "Can we reconvene in an hour?"

Nya begrudgingly agreed. She didn't have any projects to work on. And she didn't want to start a new one. So Nya trained on the deck of the Bounty.

Timmy talked at her while she did her exercises. And the entire time, Timmy chatted about how he was worried about Jay. This kid must love Jay. That makes sense. Jay risked his life to save him... Multiple times. Nya wondered if Jay knew how much impact he had on others. When he was in a bad headspace, he became blind to his own worth. But this kid was living proof that he was vital. Jay was the reason Timmy was alive to talk about how much he loved Jay.

It seemed like ten hours later when Lloyd and Nya got together to talk about their plan. Timmy was watching them from the deck. Nya tore her eyes from the boy and focused on Lloyd. He was staring at the screen in the bridge.

"Well?" Nya said.

"This is a tricky situation. P.I.X.A.L. sent out a signal to Samurai X. I was thinking we wait for him. Then-"

"Wait!? No! We can't wait! I can't wait!" Nya said. Lloyd blinked helplessly at her.

"So what then?"

"You know where they are keeping Jay," Nya said, "That's probably where Cole and Kai are too. If P.I.X.A.L. and I can distract the Dragon Clan, you can sneak in and save them. "

"They'd have to know I talked to Jay. How do we know they haven't moved them to a different place," Lloyd said.

"If we keep thinking like that, we'll be in circles all night," P.I.X.A.L. said. Lloyd chewed on his lip. He needed to lead this fragmented team. But he didn't know how to stand against The Dragon Clan. Nya could read Lloyd's mind. He believed that any move he made, The Dragon Clan would predict it. And then he'd lose the few friends he had left.

Nya had to step up and help Lloyd.

"Unless anyone has a better plan than mine, we should-"

"Oh!" P.I.X.A.L. suddenly exclaimed.

"What is it?" Lloyd said.

"The overcharge of Lightning has ceased," P.I.X.A.L. said, "That was quite sudden. I expected it to taper out."

"At least we know Jay's at full strength now," Lloyd said.

"So any objections to my plan?" Nya said, getting impatient.

"I have a plan," a small voice said. Timmy pulled himself up the ladder onto the bridge.

He pointed at the horizon.

"A storm is rolling in. An electrical storm. At this wind speed, it should be here by late afternoon tomorrow."

"He's right," P.I.X.A.L. said sounding equally impressed and surprised.

"So what's your plan?" Nya asked.

"The Dragon Clan tricked us by making us think they had Mister Blue Ninja. That caused desperation as you tried to get him back. You split up, you got careless, and you paid the consequences for that. Why not use that same tactic against them? If we could convince them that we have the Master of Lightning, even if we don't-"

"We can draw away their numbers while we actually rescue Jay and the others," Lloyd finished Timmy's thought.

"Exactly. We could use that electrical storm to our advantage," Timmy said.

"I'm sure Nya and I could create something that can convert the lightning of the storm into a controlled output. Something that looks like a person using their power," P.I.X.A.L. said.

"Then we dress him in blue and we have our very own Jay decoy," Lloyd said.

"For this to work, we'd have to wait until the storm arrives. They'd already have dragons if we did that," Nya said.

"So?" Timmy said. Nya bit her tongue. She didn't want to yell profanities at a child.

"So dragons!" Nya said as calmly as she could.

"Temporary dragons," Timmy corrected, "Every dragon they create will turn back. That's what happened to me. And they don't know how to control the dragons either. From what I heard, you needed to be an Elemental Master to control the dragons."

Lloyd nodded In agreement. Nya hated the idea of waiting longer to save her friends. At least she'd have a project to work on while she waited: a decoy Jay.

"Let's do it," Lloyd said. He was set on Timmy's idea. And he was the leader. Nya wasn't sold.

So be it. As long as it saved Jay and her friends, Nya didn't care about the logistics of the plan.