One team or two? Ninjago book one of three

A New Plan | Chapter Five

Cole's Pov

After Kai and Nya's little argument we finally decided one of us should return to the group, see what information they had. Kai had met with some people who had seen the SOG, but they were no help. Kai had become more determined to prove that we were more powerful than the other ninja. I knew he always had a thirst for power, ever since the whole green ninja thing, and then Chen's island... It was clear he was power hungry. I felt a lot of guilt for the way I treated Jay, and what I said about Zane. I was so tired of doing these missions without any reward, I snapped. I didn't want money, or fame. All I asked was that after all these months, was some sort of win. I wanted to find these victims, take down the Sons of Garmadon.

Kai had convinced me to fly my dragon back to our old base, and spy on the others. Kai stayed behind to think of a team name, while Nya read through some police claims. I thought it was stupid to need a team name right now, innocent people were being held hostage. It was childish, spending these last three days with Kai, I really missed the others. I missed the calming presence Zane had, he balanced out the crazy. Speaking of crazy, I even missed Jay. I always joked about him talking too much and being a nuisance, but deep down he was my brother. I was the oldest in the group, if you don't count Zane, I'm not even sure how old the guy is! But I thought of all the ninja as my little siblings, sure I had a crush on Nya for a little bit... But I really just craved some kind of affection. I regretted my decision, but it was too late.

Zane's Pov

To say last night went bad is an understatement. Lloyd was not receptive to Jay's plan, and took his fears out on him. Of course, Jay didn't respond in the most responsible way. He said some things that probably only made things worse. Both were so distraught I couldn't get either to come eat dinner, meaning I left their food at the door and ate all by myself. If I hadn't had Pixal it would've been awful. "Aw Zane, dinner with me wasn't that bad was it?" She teased, making my processors flutter. "Of course not, I enjoy dinners with you" I reassured. "It's just dinners used to be loud and eventful, typically ending in a food fight! But since Sensei's departure we've all separated, the thing he always said not to do" I explained sadly. "Zane you know people grieve differently, it'll all work out in the end, trust me" She said with a smile.

I knocked on Jay's door, expecting him to be messing with some new invention. "Come in!" his muffled voice yelled. 'Must be a really big project' I thought, walking into his room. I was shocked to see him lying on his bed, tons of parchment surrounding him. "New invention?" I asked, moving some papers to sit beside him. "Actually It's a new plan!" He exclaimed, showing me a scroll. These papers were a plan to get the golden mech. "I do not understand?" I said, my eyes scanning the paper for anything I missed. "Exactly! We're going to tell Lloyd we're recovering his mech, but really we're giving him our powers!" He exclaimed, bouncing on the bed. "That just might work, but there's one flaw" I observed. He looked up at me, grabbing the scroll from my hands. "What did I miss?" He asked, looking over the paper frantically. "I'm pretty sure the mech was destroyed" I explained, the flaw was tiny. But we all knew a tiny crack could shatter an entire window. "You're right, but I'm pretty sure Lloyd won't remember, he was busy fighting his over-father" He replied, setting the paper down. "His Over-Father? I'm not familiar with that name" I admitted, even as a nindroid I wasn't fully equipped with all the terms. "His father was being possessed by the overlord" He explained briefly. I chuckled, standing up. "Let's go inform Lloyd"

"The mech?" Lloyd asked suspiciously. "Yes the mech! If we can't get you the golden powers, we get you the next best thing!" Jay lied, surprisingly good. "Zane?" Lloyd asked, looking for my approval. "I think this is a wise decision" I convinced, it was true. "Okay, we'll leave at dawn" Lloyd caved, a grin spreading across Jay's face.