Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“My mom’s been missing for over a week now!! I haven’t heard from her since she called me to tell me she made it to the ancient temple!! She could have gotten trapped, or gotten cursed, or something! We need to go after her and save her!” Lloyd exclaimed, growing antsier each day he hadn’t heard back from his mother who had set out on a very dangerous solo mission to….. Some sort of temple…. 

“If you wish for us to embark on a rescue mission, let me know the location she is most likely to be at. We may set out as early as this evening.” Zane replied, opening a big GPS map on the computer and readying himself to enter in her supposed location and plan a route for them to embark on.

Lloyd actually had no clue where she went. He knew that it was some sort of temple… but which temple, he wasn’t so sure…

“I… I actually don’t know..” Lloyd muttered, trying to rack his brain for even the slightest inkling of a recollection as to where she might have mentioned where she was going.

“YOU DON’T KNOW???” Jay cried, a fellow mama’s boy feeling concerned about Lloyd's fears.

“Calm down, Jay. There are only so many temples in Ninjago.” Kai rolled his eyes and moved over to man the computer.

Typing in ‘ancient temple’ into Ninjoogle Maps, “Oh.” was all Kai could whimper out upon seeing dozens and dozens of pins pop up on the screen.

“I guess we’ll have to go through every single temple.” Cole shrugged, taking the mouse and clicking on the closest red pin.

Rolling her eyes, Pixal snatched the mouse out of his hands before Cole could begin making plans to pop in for a visit.

Nya chimed in, “No we don’t. We can just go into her room and look for clues! She must have a map in there with a big red ‘X’, or a big old scroll that has the instructions on how to get there!” pointing up towards the monastery above their large hangar garage.

“Hmmmm. I don’t like the idea of ransacking my mom’s room… But if it’s what we need to do to find her…” Lloyd groaned.

“Let’s go look. If we don’t find anything that can assist us in our search, we may have to resort to Cole’s… creative… idea.” Pixal reasoned, returning her eyes to the screen in contemplation.

Piling into the elevator and making their way back up to the monastery, the ninja began strategizing on how to most effectively search for clues in Misako’s room.

“Try not to make a huge mess, guys.” Lloyd pouted, tapping his foot impatiently and looking up at the ceiling.

“Don’t worry, we won’t.” Jay grinned, determined to help his friend in his search for his beloved mother.

“Don’t set anything on fire, Kai.” Nya taunted, poking one of the many spikes in his hair.

“That was ONE. TIME.” Kai huffed, crossing his arms angrily.

“Just be careful. Knowing Misako, she could have all sorts of ancient mystical objects laying around her room.” Cole lamented, being wary of any curses or hexes that the ninja might inadvertently unleash.

“Look for any type of scrolls, or parchments. But handle them with care.” Zane added, warning the others to be mindful of the artifacts that may or may not be found in her room.

“My mom has this big filing cabinet filled with her personal Ninjagoan history archive. She told me that my dad and Master Wu helped her put it together a long time ago. We could look through that.” 

“Then we shall start there.” Pixal beamed, happy to search through an already organized collection of information.

Once in the room with the filing cabinet in the corner of her room cracked open, Pixal began manually scanning over the rows of files and picking out any file that was likely to contain information pertaining to temples of any sort.

Cole, Lloyd and Zane began diligently reading through Pixal’s selection of files, hoping to find any maps, travel courses, or papers that had been recently marked. Meanwhile, Nya, Jay and Kai were carding through the entire cabinet, top-to-bottom for anything that may have slipped past Pixal.

Pixal of course was overseeing the search, making sure that no stone was unturned, inspecting every inch of Misako’s room for clues to where she had ventured off to. Her eyes met a small brass key hanging off of a thumbtack pinned to the corkboard above Misako’s desk. Squinting her eyes at it in introspection, Pixal zoomed in on it and made a mental note of the key, hoping that along with Misako’s location, she would be able to know what the mysterious key opened. 

After an hour of searching, a discovery was made.

Hidden underneath the rows of files, at the very bottom of the filing cabinet laid a flat, wooden box. Hand-carved, and ancient-looking. No bigger than a shoebox, with a small lock sealing it shut. 

“Do ya think we oughta go through it? I don’t think it’s a bad idea.” Jay wondered, picking the box up and shaking it, hearing a heavy rattling against the inside of the box.

“Well, whatever’s in that box, My mom probably wanted it to stay hidden.” Lloyd remarked as he snatched the box out of Jay’s hands and held it up to examine it. 

“So that’s what the key opens!” Pixal exclaimed as a blue ray of light emanated from her eyes and into the keyhole, scanning the inside mechanism of the lock.

Running over to the corkboard above her desk, Pixal picked up the small key she had previously made a note of. Conjuring a hologram representing both the lock and the key, Pixal demonstrated to the ninja that the two were an exact match with a very smug expression on her face.

“Shall we open it?” Pixal asked, her circuits glowing bright with pride.

“I say we open it. Couldn’t hurt to look.” Kai shrugged, slightly curious to find out the contents hidden inside the small wooden box.

“I’m for it. Kinda curious to see what type of ancient secrets are in there. Might even lead us to her.” Nya agreed, raising her hand in favor of searching through the box.

“Come on guys, whatever she has in that box wasn’t meant to be seen. We gotta respect her privacy.” Cole pouted, 

“I believe Cole is right. It was hidden away, and is protected with a lock.” Zane nodded, trying to do what he believed was morally right.

Soon realizing the implications of the box’s hiding place accompanied by the added precaution to seal the box with a lock, Pixal changed her disposition and opposed opening the box as well. 

“We have three votes for, and three votes against, What do you say, Lloyd?” Kai asked as the others all looked at the green ninja for guidance.

“Well, if it might help us know where she is… Go ahead…” Lloyd conceded, granting them permission with some hesitance. “Who wants to open it?” Lloyd asked, hoping that they would suggest anyone but him. 

As an awkward silence fell upon the group, all eyes fell on the bravest, most selfless, fearless ninja. The metaphorical and literal rock of the team. The original leader of the group: Cole.

“Alright, I guess I have to do it.” Cole groaned, taking the key from Pixal’s hand and inserting it into the box.

Once turning the key and bracing for whatever ghosts or demons that may or may not jump out to get him, the hinged lid of the box popped open to reveal…

Chapter Text

A polaroid picture of young Lord Garmadon making a very endearing smile towards the camera. His inky black eyes full of joy, without a glimmer of evil in sight. In the photo, the sun shone on his scruffy brown hair as a delicate hand curled around his face from behind the camera.

“Awwww, it’s your dad! It’s just a bunch of old pictures your mom took of him.” Cole gushed, relieved that such an intense mystery had reached such a mundane conclusion.

Beaming with curiosity, Jay begged to flip through the box of photos. “Ooh, I wanna see more!!!”, the lightning ninja exclaimed with a big smile on his face at the surprisingly wholesome discovery.

“Okay, but just a couple. We have to get back to looking for clues.” Cole reminded Jay of why they were searching her room in the first place.

Moving onto the next photo revealed a notably shirtless young Garmadon with his back turned to the camera, showing off both the large purple Anacondrai tattoo that swirled around his tanned back and shoulders, trailing off onto one of his biceps, as well as the rippling muscles in his back that he was skillfully flexing.

“Whoaaaa, buddyyyy…” Kai pointed at the suggestive photo, unable to help himself from giggling at how much more risque the photo was compared to the previous one.

The photo after that was another shirtless Garmadon taken in the courtyard of the old monastery. Dripping with sweat as he wrapped his leg seductively around the bo staff he was presumably fighting with before the picture was snapped. A seductive look was spread across his face as he playfully stuck out his tongue to mime LICKING the bo staff. Not to mention the thick dusting of hair on his chest that tapered in the middle, but spread down into a thick happy trail. His pants sat so low on his hips that it borderlined indecent with the amount of hair that he was showing off to the camera.

The ninja were speechless as Cole flipped over to the next one. Once revealed, his jaw was sent plummeting to the ground as his eyes were greeted to the sight of young Lord Garmadon laying on his stomach at some sort of beach. Wearing NOTHING BUT A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES as he gave a cheeky grin towards the camera.

“Is that…” Nya balked, as dumbfounded as the others at what they were seeing.

“Affirmative.” Zane confirmed with a wide-eyed expression.

“What? What is it?” Lloyd exclaimed, hoping that the photo shown wasn’t as embarrassing as the previous two… 

“It’s your dad. But… but… he’s…” Cole stammered, unable to string words together at the sight of young Lord Garmadon’s nudes. Sure all the ‘bits’ were hidden, but the photo was naughty enough to elicit that strong of a reaction from the ninja.

“IT’S HIS BUTT!!!” Jay screamed, eyes as wide as saucers as he looked at the unfathomable image in front of him.

“Okay, you can put that away now.” Lloyd interjected, not wanting to know any more about the photo that the others were looking at that apparently featured his father’s butt.

“Let me just go through them. It seems that some of us aren’t mature enough to view these.” Zane sneered, taking the box out of sight from Jay and Kai as he sat in the corner and mentally prepared to look at more half-naked images of his friend’s dad.

“Everyone else go back to whatever you were doing.” Pixal ordered, feeling a bit guilty at the fact that it was her fault that such private pictures had been released.

Soon flipping off the ‘emotion’ switch in his system, Zane began seeing eyefuls of both Misako and Garmadon. Mostly Garmadon. But sometimes both at once. Zane went through the photos with no visible reaction, yet wanted to scream on the inside.

The next photo was that of a younger Misako with the same lovesick smile as Garmadon’s plastered on her face. She was laying on the same beach as Garmadon, wearing nothing but a hat and a pair of glasses. Preserving a bit of her modesty by matching his pose and laying on her stomach to hide her own ‘bits’ as he had done. Even though her cleavage and backside were on full display to the camera. Zane blinked and moved onto the next one. 

The next photo was rather tame compared to the others, but still just as scandalous. It was a candid shot of Garmadon and Misako (fully clothed, luckily) at some sort of fancy party. Both were standing close together in snazzy outfits. Her face was turned away from the camera, but the woman in the photo with mahogany hair pinned up in an elegant updo who Garmadon was intimately clinging onto was undoubtedly her. Garmadon’s striking side profile was on full display as he appeared to be whispering something into her ear.

There were other people in the background of the photo. Most likely to be members of the Elemental Alliance, judging from the style of Garmadon and Misako’s attire matching trends popular during and shortly after the days of Serpentine wars. But it was simply too blurry to tell exactly who else was attending this party.

But the only actual saucy part of the photo was the fact that Misako held a cocktail in her hand, and Garmadon a cigarette in his. Smoking indoors obviously hadn’t been widely prohibited yet, but Zane never knew Garmadon to smoke, or Misako to drink. Yet, the two people in the picture were obviously the same Garmadon or Misako that Zane knew. 

The photo after that was clearly taken after the previous one. And it verified Zane’s speculations that the woman beside Garmadon was in fact Misako. She had turned to face Garmadon and was captured pressing a messy kiss against the smug smile Garmadon had made after whispering into her ear in the previous photo. Tugging at his collar with one hand as her drink carelessly spilled out of the other, Garmadon’s hands still kept their tight grip around Misako’s waist, pulling her body against his as his eyes were shut in bliss. 

The idea of Garmadon and Misako of all people being young and reckless baffled Zane as he could never imagine Garmadon without his menacing sternness, or Misako without her gentle and responsible demeanor. But the Misako and Garmadon that Zane saw in all the photos were obviously different people from the Misako and Garmadon that Zane had come to know in his time as a ninja. But like the saying goes: time changes everyone.

The photo after that was what the others would refer to as a ‘selfie’, of Garmadon laying down in bed with Misako’s head on his chest. The two were naked, again. But the blanket that barely covered them luckily prevented Zane from seeing any parts of them that he definitely shouldn’t have seen. Although Zane’s eyes had seen way too much skin to call the photos modest.

Just when he thought he was spared from the sight of anything actually explicit, Zane flipped to the next photo and saw Misako lying on a bed with… bite marks…? All over her neck and chest. Her breasts fully exposed and also littered with bite marks left by Garmadon. Looking lower in the picture, he saw Garmadon’s rather… large… appendage penetrating her as her legs were spread wide open. And one of Garmadon’s equally rather large hands was wrapped around her thigh.

The photo after that was just more sex. And the one after that. And the one after that, for about FIFTY or so onwards. Garmadon’s face buried in between her legs. Garmadon’s face buried in Misako’s chest. Some were pictures of Garmadon laying on the bed with his hand wrapped around his manhood, some had Misako’s hand wrapped around it. Even more featured Misako herself wrapped around, or on top of his manhood. And in so many different positions that it made Zane’s head spin.

A couple of the pictures stunned him (more than the others already had). Noticing that instead of Garmadon’s usual tan skin tone that Zane saw much, much more than he needed to, his arms and legs (among other things) were obsidian-black. And sharp fangs jutted out of his mouth. Long horns poked out from his dark hair and Zane saw a bright glimmer of red in the young Lord Garmadon’s eyes. And Zane wasn’t even going to think about speculating on what exactly the round swell at the base of his length was… 

But Garmadon was only dark like that after being banished to the underworld…

But… where did the horns come from? And Garmadon’s fangs were never that long… And are those… WINGS?!?!

Of course, Zane was aware of the fact that Garmadon wasn’t human in the slightest, possessing both Dragon and Oni heritage… but Zane would rather not dwell on whatever otherworldly condition had befallen the young Lord Garmadon, so he simply moved on to the next photo.

If Zane’s face wasn’t frozen from his emotion switch being turned off, he would be cringing harder than he had ever cringed before. Maybe even screaming, too. He’d have to ask Pixal to delete the saucy memories from his head if he ever wanted to look at either Misako, Garmadon, and even Lloyd with a straight face ever again.

No, not ask Pixal to delete them. REQUIRE her to delete them if he wanted to keep his sanity.

In between the photos were some letters that Garmadon had written to Misako from years and years ago. Scanning over the first letter, he was exposed to the filthiest, smuttiest, dirtiest, most lustful love letter that he ever thought could possibly be written.

Folding it back up and putting it beside him on the stack of filth from inside that small box that he had accumulated on the nightstand, Zane sighed and picked up the next one. Even worse than the last. With it being filled with nothing but Garmadon’s graphic description of the fantasies he possessed in regards to the process of making love as hard as he could to his wife.

By around the fifth letter, Zane had mentally checked out. Not wanting to process any of the words written in any of the many following letters unless the words he read were “ancient” or "temple". 

To no one’s surprise, none of those words were included whatsoever. It had also seemed that the other ninja searching in the background were similarly at a loss. Although, Zane was sure that dying of boredom while carding through dusty old files was at least a thousand times better than flipping through nasty letters and nude photos of your friend’s parents. 

The only letter of real interest that Zane came across was the very letter that cemented Garmadon and Misako’s relationship. The letter that he had stolen from his brother and passed off as his own. 

It was obviously quite different compared to the previous letters Zane had read through, but not just in the letter’s content. The handwriting was vastly different than what Zane had analyzed before. The handwriting was a soft, gentle, elegant cursive that the nindroid found quite impressive compared to the previously-scanned rough scribbling induced by passions that ran wilder than Zane ever thought possible. 

It was filled with such a moving, tender display of emotions that if Zane hadn’t turned off his emotion switch, he might have begun to blush at how sincerely Garmadon (well, Wu. Seeing as HE was the one who had actually written the letter…) had poured out his heart to Misako. 

Scanning over the letter, Zane was silently astonished that Master Wu of all people could compose such an impassioned letter. 

…Through every encounter, you’ve made me feel so appreciated and special. Every second I spend with you only makes me anticipate the next wide smile you’ll bring to me, as well as each flutter you’ll bring to my heart. As I fight against the fearsome Serpentine, I keep thoughts only of you onto the battlefield. I fight not only to protect all of Ninjago, but to protect you…

Such chaste musings were a welcome change as Zane continued to scan through the lengthy letter. Speeding through the words and reading more sappy sentiments about her hands that he relishes holding in his, and lips that he’s always longed to kiss and other declarations of love that although weren’t as carnal as the rest of the letters, were just as moving. 

…Never in all my years have I laid my eyes upon such an incomparable beauty. Nothing across all of Ninjago could outshine you, my sweet Misako. Thus, the reason I penned this letter. To ask you to be mine. Because my heart aches every moment that I’m not beside you. Because I love you.

-GARMADON.

After folding back the letter that started it all, Zane began to wonder how in the world Misako had managed to handle not just one, but BOTH sons of the First Spinjitzu Master pining over her. And flipping to the next photo in the now-dwindling stack, Zane asked himself how in all of Ninjago she and Garmadon only had ONE child together with all the intercourse they were obviously participating in. Which Zane had seen more proof than he needed to in the form of Misako’s hidden polaroids.

Such a photo that triggered Zane’s inquiry as to how Misako had only once found herself carrying Garmadon’s child was that of a visibly pregnant Misako smiling and holding up a camera to a full-length mirror, wearing what appeared to be one of Garmadon’s robes. The two-sizes-too-big robe engulfed her and made her look strikingly tiny compared to her husband who was standing behind her with his arms reaching around, cradling her belly as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

And such a picture was a very, VERY welcome relief from all of the explicit photos the nindroid had come across.  

“Lloyd. You’re in this one.” Zane stated in a monotone voice as he held out the picture for him to view.

“Oh no.” Lloyd prepared for the impending embarrassing baby photo, but instead, his eyes met with a surprisingly heartwarming moment between his parents that he had never known about.

“Oh, that’s… sweet…” Lloyd smiled, looking at his father’s hands that held both him and his mother so protectively. As a chorus of “Awwwww”s was made by the other ninja upon seeing the photo.

Blinking and preparing himself to return going through the rest of the photos in the box as fast as he could, Zane was silently glad to be nearing the end of the stack. Though he was expecting to find more images of young Lord Garmadon in the pictures, Zane now saw the silver fox known as Sensei Garmadon…

Wondering why in all of Ninjago Zane had volunteered to put himself through this, he begrudgingly flipped through more photos…

Sure, seeing naked pictures of Misako make Zane want to fold in on himself like one of the ninja’s many compact mechs. But she was rarely the focal point of such photos. What really made Zane want to run out of the room screaming was seeing every square inch of his former sensei. Over and over again. 

He had fought beside Garmadon against the Anacondrai Cultists on Chen’s Island. And he had seen the grand stone carving of Sensei Garmadon that was made to memorialize him after he had sacrificed himself to the Cursed Realm for the good of all Ninjago. But Zane had actually only had very few encounters with Sensei Garmadon. 

Of course there was the time that he and the ninja visited his monastery in order to escape from the legion of evil nindroids sent after them by The Overlord, but Zane had offered to sit outside and guard the Technoblades that Sensei Garmadon had prohibited in his monastery due to his newly invoked vow of peace. After that, Sensei Garmadon had accompanied Lloyd in hiding to protect him from the Overlord in his desperate mission to extract Lloyd’s precious Golden Power. And after that, Zane had sacrificed himself to the Overlord for the good of all Ninjago. 

Leaving the very few moments Zane had shared with the reformed Sensei sandwiched between the final battle that led to the dark lord’s purification, to when Garmadon had also sacrificed himself. But for the majority of the time that Garmadon had lived an honorable life, Zane had been taken and locked up in the noodle dungeons of Chen’s island. 

He and Garmadon were kind of the same in a way… both had made the choice to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of all of Ninjago. Leaving behind their loved ones who had felt the heavy burden of grief in the aftermath of their sacrifices. Not that the thought brought any comfort to the nindroid…

Thinking about the heavy grief that he along with the ninja had endured in the wake of Garmadon’s loss, Zane recalled how brokenhearted Misako was in the months that followed. She was, of course, proud that her husband had chosen to sacrifice himself to the Cursed Realm in order to repay his debt to Ninjago. He had saved everyone from the clutches of Master Chen and his army of evil Anacondrai. But at a grave cost. A cost that left a Garmadon-sized hole in the hearts of those he was closest to. Especially his wife.

Pixal was kind of like Zane’s wife… There hadn’t been anything official written up, but their levels of compatibility were stronger than any human contract that could ever be written up. And plus. General consensus around Ninjago was that literally giving someone half of your heart meant at least a thousand times more than offering someone a simple ring. Not that Zane was bragging or anything. Not at all… 

Although, Zane wasn't there to witness Pixal’s heartbreak in the moments that she had been hit with his loss. But he was sure that if it was enough to keep her from attending his memorial service, then her grief must have been significant. 

Zane, of course, had come back. Stronger than before with a body constructed of solid titanium. Garmadon had come back too. Although, he had returned arguably worse than anyone could have imagined. Zane wasn’t sure if Misako had spent any time with Garmadon in the aftermath of his resurrection and subsequent assistance to the ninja in fighting off the Oni invasion. After Garmadon had joined in the Tornado of Creation, he wandered off down the steps of the Monastery to who knows where.

It had actually been a suspicious amount of time since the ninja had heard from Garmadon that Zane might consider beginning to look into his whereabouts… And Misako’s, for a matter of fact as well… The monastery had been her primary residence for a while. But her occasional long absences without much explanation seemed odd. For even if he and the ninja had no clue where she was, Lloyd was often heard talking with her over the phone. He might want to look into her whereabouts as well… but that was a subject to delve into another day…

It wouldn’t surprise the nindroid if after carding through images of Sensei Garmadon, that he would soon see more pictures of Misako being intimate with Garmadon in a form more monstrous than he could ever imagine…

But back to the task at hand of looking at Sensei Garmadon’s nudes :/

Zane could only hope that the rest of the photos in the stack contained less nudity than the previous pictures. 

It’s not like it would make already having seen full-frontal nudity of Garmadon any better though, Zane thought as he looked down at a picture of what looked like Garmadon underneath Misako as she pressed a hand down onto the middle of his bare chest as he laid down in… Hiroshi’s Labyrinth? 

Zane hadn’t seen any farther down than his navel, but by the familiarly pleasured look on Sensei Garmadon’s face, it was safe to say that Zane knew exactly what was going on in the photo. Looking beyond into the background of the photo, Zane saw the lush jungle and stunning waterfall that his internal database had identified as the legendary jewel of the maze. The fabled oasis that was hidden away in the deepest part of the largest, most dense jungle in all of Ninjago. 

And they were fucking right in front of it. 

The next dozen or so photos were of the two in various positions around the oasis. Some of Misako bent over a nearby rock, her back arching as Garmadon pressed himself deep into her. Another of the two kissing underneath the waterfall that had been taken from afar. Most likely with the timer function that most modern cameras were equipped with nowadays.

Which meant nothing but bad news for Zane. 

More pictures of them were snapped in various sex positions underneath the waterfall. The two were kissing passionately and Misako had unfurled the long braid that she always wore, letting her dampened hair cascade down her back as Garmadon held her close underneath the water. The next couple of photos that were taken at the oasis were that of Misako’s fingers threading through Garmadon’s gray hair as he pressed his mouth against her sex. Buried in between her thighs, no one would ever be able to tell that the head being caressed so passionately was Garmadon’s. 

But unfortunately for Zane, he knew.

Flipping next, Zane saw a picture of Misako running her tongue up the side of Garmadon’s length. That was surprisingly approximately the same size as it had been in previous photos of her doing the same. Not that Zane needed to know, but now he knew, whether he wanted to or not…

After the pictures taken in Hiroshi’s Labyrinth, Zane found himself looking through pictures taken in Garmadon and Misako’s bedroom at his old monastery. Mostly just pictures taken of them kissing and candid pictures around their room in various states of undress. More pictures were of Garmadon’s large hands groping and squeezing Misako’s butt and thighs. Even more were of her breasts being cupped and played with. 

The last that stood out to Zane was that of Sensei Garmadon laying in a seductive pose on the bed with his robe loosely tied, exposing much of his chest. That much like in other photos was still covered with a thick dusting of hair. And like in many of the previous photos, he was erect. Zane couldn’t see it, but judging by the unnatural tenting of fabric around his crotch, it was too obvious for Zane to think that it was anything else. Before the nindroid could look over any more pictures, he heard Nya’s voice ring out in the midst of the papers rustling and light chatter. 

“I FOUND IT!” Nya shouted out, holding open a little calendar notebook with “Expedition to Temple of Felis” in red letters, dated to the day she set out for the fateful expedition.

“AW, come on! It was right there?!” Jay cried, raising his fists in the air in utter frustration.

“What is all this ruckus? And why are you all in Misako’s room?” Master Wu asked, peering his head through the sliding door.

“UNCLE WU! DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE TEMPLE OF FELIS IS?!?!” Lloyd screamed, yanking the ninja master by the beard with a crazed look on his face.

“Oh, I haven't been there in years… But I'm sure I could find it on a map if I tried…” Wu muttered with a confused look on his face.

“We need your help!!! Where is it?!?!” Lloyd shouted, pointing to the map and dragging his uncle over to the large corkboard map.

Looking around at the various colored pushpins that dotted the map, Wu traveled back in time through his memories to the time he and his brother were young boys. The brothers had been invited to visit said temple after learning Catjitzu. Though he himself was the only one who paid the temple a visit. Following along familiar rivers and mountains, he noticed one of the pins placed where the temple was most likely to be located. “It should be… this one.” Wu pointed with his bamboo staff. To which the ninja cheered in celebration. 

Zane however was frantically scrambling to try and return the pictures and assorted letters back in order of which he found them. While Zane was putting the photos back in the box, he silently hoped that no one else, especially Master Wu was looking in his direction and saw even the smallest glimpse of what was in his hands. Because even though Zane was looking through Misako’s collection of perverted photos, ZANE HIMSELF WAS NOT A PERVERT. HE IS A VERY RESPECTFUL NINDROID. 

As Lloyd ushered his uncle out of the room to begin preparing the Bounty for flight, Wu began giving his nephew instructions as to how to brave the journey to the ancient temple. The ninja followed, leaving behind their files that they had been dredging through as Pixal stayed back with Zane to return the files back to the cabinet.

Once every photo had been returned, and the box was sealed shut, Zane placed it back in the bottom of the filing cabinet exactly where the others had found it. Breathing a sigh of relief as he began placing the file folders left behind by the other ninja back in their rightful order, Zane opened up the hatch in his arm to re-activate his emotions.

Flipping back the ‘emotion’ switch and feeling every suppressed feeling flooding back to him, Zane could only drop down onto his hands and knees before collapsing into the fetal position with a long, drawn-out groan.

Turning his face up to Pixal with a perturbed look in his eyes. “Pixal… I… require your assistance.” The nindroid croaked out before being helped back up. 

“ZANE! PIXAL! ARE YOU TWO COMING OR NOT?!” Lloyd shouted from across the hall.

“No…” Zane muttered, still frozen in shock.

“Zane requires my assistance. It’s best you go without us.” Pixal replied as she stepped out of the room for a moment before returning to Zane.

“OKAY, SEE YOU GUYS LATER!” Lloyd shot back as his footsteps grew quieter and quieter until both he and the rest of the ninja team had rushed out the door to try and find Misako.

“Pixal…” Zane stammered, reaching out for her hand.

“Yes, Zane?” she replied.

“Please prepare the computer for a memory wipe… the past 30 minutes should suffice.” Zane huffed, slamming the drawers of the filing cabinet shut as Pixal stood wide-eyed before him.

“Oh, okay…” Pixal nodded, wondering what in all of Ninjago he saw in those pictures that seemingly shook him to his core…

Chapter Text

As Lloyd piloted the bounty at breakneck speeds, Master Wu stood behind and gave directions. Everyone on the ship was on edge as their destination grew nearer, wondering what in all of Ninjago had held up the fearless adventurer.

Could she have been kidnapped? Or cursed? Maybe a cave-in at the ancient temple? Well whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good if it prevented her from contacting her son for over a week…

Once arriving at the ruins, the ninja noticed a tent set up about half a mile from the crumbling temple. Looking at it in this condition, one wouldn’t be able to tell that the former Temple of Felis had once housed the guardians of the legendary Cat-Eye Jewel. Though in the temple’s disrepair, many stray cats still lingered around the nearby forests and hillsides. The temple had been abandoned and overgrown with plants climbing over the sides of the oddly shaped structure. Such plants crawling up the walls looked to be… catnip? And the odd structure most resembled… a cat tree? 

Approaching the tent, Lloyd sprinted across the field, passing at least a dozen cats napping in the grass. Once he made it to the tent, he noticed his mother safe and sound. With a purring cat on her lap as she wrote in a journal.

“Oh, Lloyd! What are you doing here?” Misako gasped in a rather unusually nasal voice.

“I came to rescue you! You haven’t answered any of my calls, or texts ! I thought something bad happened to you!” Her son exclaimed, his hands on his head as he looked at her with wide eyes.

Reaching into her bag and showing Lloyd her cell phone that had its screen cracked and what looked like bite marks puncturing the screen. “This *sniffle* might be the reason…” she suggested, placing the phone down on a fold up table nearby.

“These little monsters think that my devices are something for them to chew on.” Misako groaned, looking at one of the cats laying on top of her research journal. “But they can’t help it, can they? Nooo, they’re just too cute and don’t know better. You’re just little guys, aren’t you?” Misako cooed and giggled as she picked up one of the cats and began petting its head.

“Well how come you didn’t tell us your phone broke?! I worry about you, mom!” Lloyd exclaimed, moving closer to her to cautiously pet the cat as well. 

“I have a radio, and I can always send a distress signal. I also have a- a- ACHOO!!!” Misako began to explain before being so rudely interrupted by a sneeze.

“Bless you.” Master Wu chuckled as a cat had walked in with him and began nuzzling against his leg. “Misako, how come you never told us where you were going? I’ve actually been here before and I… was thinking of returning one day… but I just got really busy and forgot about it…” Wu trailed off as he lowered his eyes in regret. 

“I was just telling Lloyd that these creatures have been responsible for my lack of-“ Misako began to explain before the cat that was laying on her journal sat up and swatted her phone off the table, dropping to the ground and breaking into pieces. 

“-communication… Great.” She sighed, gathering the pieces and sliding them into a plastic bag that she would have normally used to store artifacts. As the rest of the ninja entered the tent, they were pleased to know that instead of Misako being captured or cursed, she was just held up by the nearby cat population.

“Oh, *sniffle* Hey Misako. Glad to know that you’re safe.” Cole smiled through his runny nose and red eyes. “I’m going back to the Bounty.” The earth ninja groaned, wanting to head back home before his allergies got any worse.

“I see that everyone but Zane and Pixal are here. Are they back on the ship?” Misako asked.

“Uh, they had some sort of robot thing they had to take care of.” Lloyd answered, although not quite sure what exactly they stayed behind to do.

Chapter Text

Laying down on the “operating table” in the middle of the ninja’s hangar bay, Zane found himself with a serene expression on his face after every memory of the nasty photos he had sifted through were all taken care of. 

Pixal however had gotten a secondhand glimpse of the photos and felt her circuits overheating at such steamy images.

“Good for her.” Pixal thought before taking the plug from the side of Zane’s head and helping him off the table.