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Smith follows Kai down the school hallway between classes, absently scanning for threats. Generally his fellow students leave him alone, but... well, being friends with Lloyd unfortunately makes the entire city a potentially hostile environment. Kai is doing the same thing- the entire friend group just casually moves as if they could be attacked at any moment, which is... upsetting. For a number of reasons. Not the least of which being they're kind of right.
He tries to shake off those thoughts- before he gets angry again- by asking Kai a question. "So... what exactly is Octan? People keep mentioning it." Smith asks his counterpart. The name's been brought up multiple times today with a general feeling of resentment.
Kai immediately scowls. "Ugh, Octan." At Smith's quizzical look, Kai elaborates. "We've kinda got beef with Octan. They've given Jay's parents grief over the junkyard a few times- they're not very supportive of small local businesses." Kai starts gesturing with his hands as he continues.
"Octan is a giant corporation- they've got monopolies on lot of stuff, but they're mostly known for oil. No one in Ninjago City likes them because they were responsible for this massive oil spill off our coast a while back, but they're making another push to get their hooks into the city anyway." Kai shrugs with a grimace and casually dodges an outstretched foot meant to trip him.
Smith shoots a scowl at the owner of said foot and watches them scamper away. "That explains why Jay's been upset today." He says as they arrive at the lockers.
"Yeah, he's got a grudge. I could go on and on about Octan's shady business practices, but I'll save it for later." Kai grabs his stuff and closes his locker then moves to open Lloyd's, who is stuck in the principle's hallway again and needs them to grab his books for him.
Has Smith mentioned that the way Lloyd and his friends are treated really pisses him off? Because it does.
Kai tries to open Lloyd's locker- key word try, because it only moves about an inch before getting stuck. Kai frowns and gives it a few more tugs. "...Huh."
Smith steps forward. "...Want me to try?"
Kai steps aside and gestures. "Go for it."
Smith tugs on the latch a bit, but there's a lot more resistance than he was expecting. The school lockers don't exactly have handles, so Smith uses the inch he has to pry the door the rest of the way open. Suddenly the resistance gives out and the door flings open, and something splatters across his face. "Euagh!" Smith recoils and immediately tries to wipe whatever it is off his face.
"Woah, what the-?! Are you okay?!" Smith feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to squint at Kai through the mystery goop.
In the brief moments before Smith's world goes fully crazy, he looks down at his hand and recognizes the substance he wiped off his face. Venomari venom.
"...Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh? What do you mean?" Kai startles slightly when Smith looks back up and he catches a glimpse of his eyes. They've turned a sickly shade of green, and it looks like it's getting worse as Kai watches. "Uh, Smith? Bro?" Kai discreetly reaches for his phone, keeping one hand on his doppelganger's shoulder. Whatever the heck Smith just got hit with is obviously bad news, and he could use some back-up-
Kai absolutely does not yelp when Smith suddenly goes from staring at him to grabbing both of his shoulders. "You- Kai, you need to- you need- Mr. Walker's room. Take me there." Smith leans in a little too close. "The elves are coming."
What. "Ooookay, buddy. Let's get you to Mr. Walker's room then." Kai carefully closes Lloyd's locker (Someone set that up on purpose! That goop could've just as easily hit Kai, or Lloyd-!) and pulls Smith's arm over his shoulder, keeping half an eye on him the whole time. His eyes are going unfocused and he's swaying slightly, which is... not a great sign. Kai hastily dials Nya as he guides Smith down the hall.
"Kai, the elves..." Smith whispers nervously, glancing around the hallway. "They're watching us."
"Those are our classmates, bro." FSM. Nya, answer the phone.
Kai has to tug Smith slightly to keep him moving as he stares at the other students still in the hallway. "But what if they attack us? Elves don't like me."
Nya answers the call right as Kai tells Smith, "The elves won't bother us, I promise."
"...What? Kai, what are you talking about?" Nya sounds halfway between bemused and exasperated.
"Hey sis, uh-" Kai glances at Smith again. How does he explain this? "I've got a bit of a situation- uhm, Smith's not doing so hot." Smith is staring at the tiled floor in absolute fascination.
"What do you mean, is he hurt?! Where are you?" Nya demands. The bell for the next class rings and the hallway finally empties, which Kai is immensely grateful for, even if it means they are now missing class.
"Someone rigged Lloyd's locker to spray some sort of goop when it's opened, and Smith got a face-full of it. And now he's, uh..." Kai glances at Smith as he stops walking again. "...Smith? Bro?"
The hallway becomes a blur of movement as Smith suddenly throws Kai over his shoulder and launches them both to the top of the lockers. Kai wheezes in surprise and quickly latches on to the lockers to avoid falling off. One of the many empty coffee cups goes clattering onto the floor.
"Kai?! What's going on, what happened?!"
"Uh-" Kai says, still reeling at how Smith literally just picked up an entire person and jumped them both six feet straight up.
"The floor is lava and the lockers are made of cheese." Smith informs him.
"...Okay yeah, Smith is hallucinating."
'Smith is hallucinating.'
To say Nya was concerned would be an understatement. From what Kai was able to tell her and what she'd overheard over the phone... Smith just has the absolute worst luck. As she gets closer to Kai's location she can hear him arguing with Smith.
"I don't wanna be in a volcano again, volcanoes just hurt people-"
"We're not in a volcano, we're at school-"
She finally rounds a corner and is greeted with the sight of Smith and her brother balancing somewhat precariously on top of the lockers. The look of utter relief on Kai's face when he spots her combined with the way Smith is clinging to him would be hilarious if she wasn't so worried.
"See, Nya's here, she's gonna help us get to Mr. Walker's room, alright?"
Smith jolts up, looking panicked, and Kai scrambles for a moment to keep them from falling. "NYA!" She winces slightly at Smith's bellow, but Kai is already moving to calm him down.
"She fell in the lava! We have to get her out-!"
"It's fine, the lava won't hurt her-"
"But, but-!"
"Look- it, the lava! The lava isn't real! It's fake lava trying to trick us!" Kai shouts desperately while trying to keep Smith from hurting himself. Amazingly, Smith actually stops squirming and starts squinting at the floor suspiciously. Kai notices and instantly starts following up. "Yeah, see, it's pretend lava. Nya's fine, cause she's way too tough for any stupid fake lava to be able to hurt her." Smith switches his focus to examine Nya as she approaches. She's more than a little startled by his toxic green eyes, but doesn't let it faze her for more than a moment.
"Yep, I'm totally fine." She does jazz hands to demonstrate. "Are you ready to come back down? It's gonna be hard to get to Mr. Walker's room if you can't touch the floor." At Smith's reluctant frown, she adds, "Are you gonna let a little stupid fake lava stop you?"
"...You're sure it's fake?"
"Absolutely." She reaches up a hand and Smith takes it reluctantly. Kai helps her lower him to the ground just as Zane shows up.
"Hello fellow teenagers! Nya informed me that Smith is hallucinating?"
Smith looks up as Kai pulls one of his arms over his shoulder. "Hey Robo-Bro. Robro. Zane. The floor is lava, but don't worry 'cause it's fake."
Zane's smile becomes a little strained, but he continues cheerfully. "I see! In that case I will not worry and continue as normal."
"Zane, medscan." Nya mutters to him as they finally start moving towards Mr. Walker's room.
"Affirmative." He responds quietly and his eyes glow brighter. "...Symptoms match descriptions of Venomari venom."
"Where the heck did one of our classmates get Venomari venom?!" Nya demands.
"And what the heck is a Venomari?!" Kai adds.
Zane and Nya both turn to give him disbelieving looks. "...Kai." Nya rubs her face. "We have been learning about the Serpentine tribes in history class all week. Smith corrected the teacher on the effects of Venomari venom literally two days ago. How have you not picked this up?"
Kai scowls at her and opens his mouth, closes it and scowls harder. Zane continues as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"Unfortunately, the effects of Venomari venom are not well documented, so it's difficult to say for sure, but it matches Smith's description from two days ago. ...As a side note, I would like to point out that 'venom' is a misnomer in this case, as the toxin was delivered via skin and eye contact, not injected."
Nya just sighs. "Thanks Zane."
LadyWaterDragon: Alright, the situation is under control for the moment.
LadyWaterDragon: FYI, no one open Lloyd's locker and be careful with your own. Someone rigged his locker to hit whoever opens it with Venomari venom.
LadyWaterDragon: Smith is currently hallucinating.
IceIceBaby: 420 blaze it :D
RollingStones: Yikes.
LadyWaterDragon: Zane.
BlueJay: Wait, so you needed Zane because Smith is hallucinating???
LadyWaterDragon: We needed Zane to identify the venom. We're pretty sure it'll wear off in 5-6 hours
RollingStones: Oof, that long? Will you guys be okay?
FireFighter: I mean, Smith is very concerned about elf attacks and floor lava, but so far we've convinced him not to worry about it
BlueJay: Elf attacks?????
IceIceBaby: The hallucinations seem to be an odd mixture of Christmas, Food, and Volcano themed.
FireFighter: Frickin volcanoes
RollingStones: So I'm guessing you guys are in Mr. Walker's room?
LadyWaterDragon: Yeah, though he's in a class rn. Current plan is to wait it out till the venom wears off
BlueJay: Oh geez
BlueJay: But that's hours from now?
FireFighter: YEAH IT IS
IceIceBaby: Unfortunately there aren't many trustworthy sources describing the effects of Venomari venom, so we're unsure how to counteract it. We're largely working off of Smith's prior descriptions of it
FireFighter: And we can't exactly borrow the Venomari staff. Idk where it even is
LadyWaterDragon: You didn't know what a Venomari was until I told you five minutes ago.
FireFighter: ...Alright, so clearly my research has some hoeljedoihd
BlueJay: Kai??!!
LadyWaterDragon: Fsm
LadyWaterDragon: Brb gotta stop Smith climbing out the window
RollingStones: rip.
All ninja present in Mr. Walkers room quickly realize that due to Smith's not being entirely lucid at the moment, it might prudent to move somewhere a little more discreet, since Smith is currently prone to babbling whatever comes to mind with little regard for subtlety or secrecy.
"Why don't we take him to the warehouse?" Nya suggests, still keeping half an eye on Smith. At the moment, he is sitting quietly at a desk, staring into space, but Nya does not trust him to stay there. Smith has already attempted to both eat a metalwork project and to climb out a window- twice- in the half hour they've been sitting in Mr. Walker's empty classroom.
"That sounds good." Zane says. "Maybe if Master Wu visits he'll know more about how to help Smith?"
"Ugh, it's so hard to contact him." Kai complains. "Maybe he could help, but you guys said it only lasted five or six hours, right?" He leans back in his chair and taps a pencil on his notebook. "Which, to be fair, it sounds like an enormous pain to babysit him that long, but he'll be fine by the time he needs to go home."
"Alright, cool. We should probably leave for the warehouse before next period then." Nya decides as she pulls out her phone. "I'll let the groupchat know. They can decide what to do once the principal finally lets Lloyd go."
Smith suddenly jolts upright and looks around wildly. "Where's Lloyd?!"
"Lloyd is currently waiting outside the principal's office." Zane reminds him.
"Are you sure he didn't get kidnapped again?" Smith twists around in his chair to look at Zane. "Wait, does he know the floor lava is fake? 'Cause last time he almost fell in and I know he's scared of it now-"
"Don't worry, there's ah, there's no lava in the principal's office." Nya tries. Smith seems unconvinced. She glances at Kai, who is furiously scribbling something in a notebook. "Kai, a little help here?"
Her brother does not look up from his notebook, but his counterpart does. "What? But I'm Kai." Smith says in confusion.
"I know, but I was talking to the other Kai." Nya glares pointedly at her unhelpful brother.
"The other... The copycat is back!" Smith suddenly shouts and lunges at Kai, who looks up from his notebook just in time to yelp and dive beneath a desk. Smith, lacking his usual grace, collides with Kai's desk and rolls onto the floor, where he flails like a confused fish before latching onto Kai's shoe with one hand. Kai, like anyone experienced in the art of Sibling Warfare™, immediately kicks his shoe off and rolls away. Smith, also having much experience in Sibling Warfare™, chucks the shoe at his head.
The shoe misses and hits Zane. Such are the casualties of Sibling Warfare™.
"Alright, that's enough." Nya steps in between the two doppelgangers. "Smith, please don't punch my brother in the face."
Smith stumbles to his feet and tries to step around Nya, who steps back in his way and places a hand on his face to push him back. "Stop." Smith continues trying to sidestep Nya to get to Kai. She feels like a soccer goalie. "Zane, what are you doing?" She growls as Smith tries to duck under her arm. "Help would be appreciated!"
Zane, still standing exactly where he was 30 seconds ago, beams and holds up Kai's shoe. "I am waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"Zane."
Zane finally steps up behind Smith and lifts him up in a Julien Hug™. Smith keeps squirming, but Zane's grip is literally made of steel and he eventually slumps in defeat to glare at Kai.
Kai cautiously picks up his notebook and Nya recenters herself. "Alright. To the warehouse then."
(Thankfully by the time they arrive at the warehouse, Smith has forgotten about Kai being an evil clone.)
LadyWaterDragon: So Smith has no filter right now, which is a problem
LadyWaterDragon: If anyone not already in the know overhears some of this stuff they're gonna have Concerns™
FireFighter: Sis its concerning even with the context we have
BlueJay: Why whats he saying
BlueJay: ...Guys???
IceIceBaby: Smith has decided Kai is his evil clone and is currently attempting to tackle him :D
BlueJay: Uh oh
BlueJay: Do you guys need help??? Smith is kinda scary good at fighting!
IceIceBaby: The situation is under control. Smith is much less adept than usual.
LadyWaterDragon: Anyway we're taking Smith to the warehouse now. Cross your fingers he doesn't run off chasing a reindeer or something
FireFighter: Cause we'll never be able to catch him again
OurCollectiveBraincell: Aight, I've been released from purgatory.
OurCollectiveBraincell: ...WTF happened????
Smith immediately accosts Lloyd when he finally steps foot in the mech warehouse. "Lloyd, did you finish your ballet lesson with Cole?"
Lloyd trades a bewildered look with Cole over Smith's shoulder. "Er... Yeeesssss?" He tries.
Smith furrows his eyebrows. "...Did you both ditch again?"
Smith is radiating disappointed parent vibes, and Lloyd doesn't know how to respond. Smith takes Lloyd's silence as confirmation. He folds his arms and huffs. "If Cole didn't want to teach you ballet then why did he offer?"
"Heck if we know." Nya gives Lloyd a long-suffering look as she takes Smith's shoulders and gently steers him back into the warehouse. "Hey guys, glad you could make it."
Jay just groans and flops face first on a couch. Kai leans over the back to look at him. "What's up?" Jay just makes another muffled groan into the cushion.
"Octan." Cole explains succinctly.
"Ah." Kai winces in sympathy. Jay raises his face from the couch so he can complain.
"It's just- it's barely been a year since the oil spill, and they're already trying to act like nothing happened!" Jay screams into the couch cushions followed by a muffled, "I hate them!"
"Mood." Zane agrees.
Eventually, Nya, Zane, and Kai fill the others in on Smith's condition, and they all eventually settle in to work on homework and various projects.
Lloyd sits down with Zane and Nya to fill them in on what they missed in History class- technically Kai should also be there but he is playing videogames instead- and Lloyd learns pretty quickly what the others meant about Smith 'getting into trouble'.
"Okay, so..." Lloyd trails off and leans slightly to look over Zane's shoulder. Nya and Zane follow his gaze and proceed to watch Smith reaching comically slowly for the weapons rack while staring right back at them. Lloyd sighs. "...Smith."
Smith freezes, hand still outstretched. This is the third time in the past hour he's tried to grab a weapon. Last time it was to fight the gingerbread men.
"Smith, what are you doing?" Lloyd tries to channel Smith's own disappointed parent vibes back at him.
Smith's green-tainted eyes flick to the weapons rack, still staying perfectly still. "...I need to kill the Great Devourer."
That's a new one. "The... 'Great Devourer'?"
Smith looks at Lloyd's green dragon mech. "Giant snake. Eats stuff, gets bigger. Ate our boat."
"A giant snake ate your boat?" That sounds like a story. Maybe he'll ask Smith about that one when he's sober again.
"Ran out of fuel, we had to ditch it and run. Had to give Garmadon the Golden Weapons to beat it." Smith frowns and looks at the dragon mech again. "...Thought it exploded into goo."
"That's not the Great Devourer, it's just a big machine that looks like a dragon. You don't need to kill it."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"...But what about the gingerbread men?" Aaaaand now they've looped back to this.
"If the gingerbread men show up, we will fight them for you. Please sit back down." If Lloyd didn't already believe Smith was Kai's counterpart from another realm, this would have convinced him. Smith's current resemblance to Kai during one of his sleep-deprived caffeine-fueled cryptid hunts is uncanny.
Smith looks unconvinced, and eyes one of Kai's swords.
"Smith. Please." Lloyd begs even as he resigns himself to disarming Smith again in the near future.
Thankfully, Smith just slumps and wanders away from the weapon's rack. Lloyd turns back to his homework with a sigh. They probably shouldn't let him wander around the warehouse without supervision, but everyone's getting a bit tired of Smith wrangling at this point.
Smith is staring at him.
Jay doesn't know why, but Smith is sitting next to him on the bench and staring at him. "...D-Do you need something?"
Smith finally blinks and actually focuses on Jay, then frowns. Very slowly, he lifts his hand and carefully pokes Jay's eyebrow. Jay leans away. "Um."
"Your eyebrow's wrong."
"Y-Yeah?"
"Yeah. Supposed t'be missing a piece," Smith says and gestures across his own eyebrow, "Right here."
"Oh. Uhm. Sorry?" Jay tries. Smith just looks vaguely confused.
"Not your fault they stole your eyebrow. It's cool you got it back."
"Um, thanks." Jay tries to refocus on his current project- fixing Smith's busted comm unit- even though Smith still hasn't stopped looking at him. It's fine, Smith is basically high, it's not his fault he's being weird. Maybe if he ignores him he'll go bother someone else.
Jay has almost forgotten about Smith when something pats his head. He freezes. It's Smith. Jay doesn't dare turn his head, but in the corner of his eye, Smith has a very focused expression on his face. Jay doesn't move as Smith slowly pets his hair.
He finally catches Cole's eye and tries to signal for help.
Cole pulls out his phone and takes a picture of them.
Jay scowls at him. Fine, see if he helps Cole with math homework later.
(...He will, but thinking it makes him feel better.)
(Cole has no regrets about leaving Jay to his fate, especially when a few minutes later he seems to have leaned into Smith's hair-petting without realizing. It doesn't hurt that it buys the rest of them a peaceful half-hour devoid of Smith-related shenanigans.)
At some point Nya got fed up with Kai avoiding his homework and dragged him over to sit with her and the others.
"There really isn't a good way to factor quadratic equations, is there?" She muses, flipping through her math notes while Kai grumpily scrawls out numbers on a paper.
"Doesn't look like it. There's always some guessing involved." Lloyd taps his pencil against his paper thoughtfully. He looks up at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Kai squawks as Smith suddenly shoulders past him into the group with a look of intense concentration. The ninja exchange confused and exasperated glances. Jay trails in after him, trying to smooth down his hair and looking apologetic.
"Smith? What's-" Lloyd begins, but Smith quickly holds a hand up and meets his eyes.
"Shh. Do you hear that?" Smith asks in a hushed whisper. Despite themselves, the ninja do pause for a moment to listen. They hear nothing. Lloyd moves to guide Smith back to the couch, but Smith interrupts him again with, "Do you hear the sleigh bells on the wind?" Smith looks him dead in the eye. "...They're coming."
...Ominous. But probably nothing, considering who said it.
As soon as he thinks that, the GarmAlarm goes off and the ninja promptly scatter to their mechs.
"Hold up, what about Smith?" Kai reasonably asks before they all take off.
"I'll take care of it." Cole pulls out one of their spare blankets and wraps Smith up in it, knotting it closed. Smith, thankfully, just stands there a little bewildered while Cole does this and plops him on the couch.
"Stay there," Cole tells Smith sternly before jogging over to his mech.
"...You really think that will hold him?" Jay asks doubtfully as he starts up his jet.
"Not if he was lucid, but high on snake venom? Should keep him occupied for a while. And if it wears off before we get back, he can get himself out." Cole explains.
"I still feel kinda bad just leaving him there, though." Kai mutters.
Nya sighs. "Not much else we can do. Just focus on the fight for now."
And thus, they leave their hallucinating friend alone on a couch wrapped in a blanket burrito. In the middle of an empty warehouse, while an army invades the city.
...Probably not the best plan, but no one ever accused the Secret Ninja Force of having excellent decision making skills.
It's the first time Garmadon's invaded the city since the whole Smith/Shogun fiasco, and he's glad to be back! The citizens of Ninjago seem a little less enthused, but they never are. Wet blankets, every single one of them.
"Alright Generals, you know the drill! Put the fear of me into these nerds!" His invasion force is a little underwhelming in terms of numbers today, given how many of his Generals got trounced by Smith during his escape. But Garmadon doesn't need to dwell on that! The citizens of Ninjago will hardly notice the difference, they're already running and screaming just the same as they always do. He clears his throat and adds, "Lemme know if any of you spot Shogun, I wanna know what his status is. Actually, tell me if any of the ninja nerds are acting weird today." It's always smart to know what your enemy's up to, right?
(He's definitely not worried about Smith after some of the reports he was given about his escape. Like the hallways full of bodies.)
Garmadon shakes his head and charges forward in his mech, firing missiles and laughing maniacally. Wrecking this place always makes him feel better.
As per usual, the first ninja mech he spots is the little lightning dork's plane, scattering some of his own manta-planes. If he didn't hear the ninja nerd screaming his head off every other time they fly within earshot, Garmadon would almost call their crazy lightning plane cool.
His Generals call out the arrivals of the rest of the ninja mechs shortly after the Lightning Jet shows up. "No sign of Shogun yet, Lord Garmadon." Someone reports. Garmadon frowns. It's probably not a big deal. Shogun always shows up a little later than the others, probably 'cause he has to run across the city on foot, which sounds exhausting to be honest.
He shoots a few more missiles at a particularly obnoxious billboard.
"Garmadon!" Oh, there's the green one, flying his (admittedly pretty cool) dragon mech towards him, right on schedule. "You have a lot of nerve, attacking again so soon." The Green Ninja sounds pissed, but is keeping his distance for now.
"And you're pretty dumb to be fighting me again after how well it went for you last time!" Garmadon squints at the increasingly angry kid in front of him. No obvious injuries or bandages but, "How's your face doing? Last I saw you weren't looking too hot, Green Ninja! Your little friends gonna rescue you if you conk out again?" Hoo boy, winding this guy up is even easier than normal today! Greenie looks about ready to blow a gasket, and it hasn't even been thirty seconds! Was that an eye twitch? It's hard to tell when he's so far away.
The Green Ninja growls. "I don't have time for this." He slams a button, and suddenly Gamadon is scrambling for cover. The green one has always been fond of missles. Sometimes he wonders if his dragon mech is literally made of them.
Oh wait, he still needs to find out where Shogun is. He briefly considers asking the Green Ninja, but another round of missiles makes him think maybe Greenie's a little too riled up for talking at the moment.
Cole feels his mech reel back slightly as the incoming missiles impact it, before he lowers it's arm and blasts a wave of sound at the crab mechs menacing him. He follows up by hurtling forward and smashing them up before they can recover.
He rounds a corner and frowns when he spots a bunch of prone Generals and broken mechs scattered about the street. He could've sworn no one had swept this area yet, and some of those mechs almost look melted-
Cole stifles a swear as he finally looks up to check the roofs. Sure enough, Smith- dressed as Shogun, thankfully- is up there fighting multiple Generals. While high on Venomari venom.
Of course he is. So much for the blanket burrito.
Cole sighs and reaches for his comm. "So uh, Smith escaped the warehouse..." Cole winces slightly at the chorus of exclamations and curses from his teammates.
"Of course he did." Nya just sounds resigned. "Where is he and what is he doing?"
As Cole watches, Smith ducks a punch and spin kicks the one who threw it into another General, then jumps and latches onto a third one's back like a deranged koala waving a sword. The remaining Generals seem reluctant to approach them. Overall, he seems to be holding his own just fine for the moment.
"On a roof just east of Downtown, he's fighting a bunch of Generals. He doesn't look like he's fighting much worse than usual actually-" Cole cuts off as Smith tries to use his spinjitzu tornado. Key word being try. Cole watches Smith spin into the most wobbly tornado he's ever seen and ping-pong wildly off of every nearby person and object. "...Uh, scratch that, hang on-"
Smith's tornado finally pings when it should've ponged, and careens off the side of the roof. Cole, having seen this coming, quickly maneuvers his mech in time to catch the falling ninja. "You good man?" He asks Smith through the cockpit speakers (not the weaponized ones) as he wheels away from the remaining conscious generals. He can either come back to deal with them after making sure Smith is safe or send someone else to do it.
Smith blinks his (still green) eyes dazedly before he looks up at the mech and they widen. "You're huge!"
"Yep. And you're supposed to be back at base."
"But the seafood buffet is invading!"
"Er, yeah, but we have it handled. So- hang on." A squad of crab mechs rounds the corner and Cole awkwardly maneuvers to face them while trying not to drop Smith. It doesn't really matter a few seconds later when Smith runs up the mech's arm, uses Cole's cockpit as a springboard, and manages to grab ahold of a passing manta-plane. He leaves a tabi-shaped footprint on the glass. "Wha- hey!"
"Cole, what's going on?!" Lloyd asks over comms.
Cole just groans.
"Lord Garmadon, we've found Shogun!"
Ah, music to his ears! "Great! Where is he?"
"Uh, near the east docks, but he's acting kinda strange-"
Garmadon readies his mech and starts to make his way to Shogun's location. "Keep me updated on his position. Generals 16 through 21, distract the Green Ninja for me."
Several manta ray airplanes swoop in with a chorus of affirmations, and Garmadon books it while the Green Ninja suddenly has to focus on dodging. He's not sure yet if he should attempt to recapture Shogun- the sheer destruction he (And the ninja to a lesser extent- that Earth Ninja better watch himself after sucker-punching Garmadon with a hammer to the back of the head) wrought on his way out has made even Lord Garmadon hesitant to risk a repeat of the incident. But he's pretty sure he'd been making progress with Shogun before his escape- he needs to see if Shogun has considered accepting a position as Garmadon's right hand man!
...And also maybe follow up on Shogun's implication that he has been kidnapped and held captive in a volcano before. Multiple times.
Garmadon's shark mech weaves and ducks through the maze of under and overpasses that tangle through the city like a plate of dropped pasta. He spots Shogun running down a road below him, and Garmadon drops off the overpass to land directly in his path, cracking the pavement.
"Hello there, Shogun." Garmadon takes a moment to savor the feeling of towering over the street as Shogun skids to a stop in front of him, waving his arms wildly for balance.
Shogun stares up at him wide-eyed. He might even say slack-jawed, though it's hard to tell with the mask. Garmadon inhales, about to give Shogun another compelling speech to sway him to the side of evil, when Shogun beats him to the punch and, still staring directly into Garmadon's soul, says-
"...Santa?"
Garmadon chokes in surprise and starts coughing and wheezing. Never in all their years of fighting has one of the ninja even dreamed of catching him this off guard.
"Santa, is that you?" Shogun is still staring at him. Garmadon suddenly realizes Shogun has not blinked this whole time.
"Wha- Do I look like Santa to you?!" He gestures at his dark armored, red-eyed self with all four arms.
Shogun finally blinks. "...Yes."
...Did hanging over lava fry the kid's brains? How does one even respond to that?
Something explodes nearby and Shogun jolts up and looks around, eyes somehow going even wider. He turns back to Garmadon with the same soul-piercing gaze. "Santa, why're you destroying the city?!"
"Uh-"
"How could you?!" Oh father, is he tearing up?! "All the children in the city believe in you, and you're breaking their houses!" Shogun... looks at him accusingly with big watery eyes, and somehow despite everything, Garmadon can't help but feel a little guilty. Time to put this conversation back on track before the ninja show up- Or maybe...
"I'm afraid this entire city is on the naughty list, Shogun. There's not a single name on the nice list! I've taken matters into my own hands." Garmadon says dramatically. Yes, pretend to be Santa Claus- a brilliant idea.
Shogun looks up at him defiantly. "But that's bad! You're causing problems and you need to stop!" As if Shogun doesn't know by now that Garmadon's whole motto is 'cause problems on purpose'. He considers his next words carefully.
"...You don't have to help them, you know. The people of this city treat you and your friends so cruelly, would it really be so bad to return the favor for once? To show them what it's truly like to live in constant fear and dread?"
"...They are pretty mean." Shogun admits.
"Exactly! You have the opportunity to repay them in kind! Deliver to them not presents, but fiery coal as their reward! Let them fend for themselves the way you have had to! Join me Shogun, and together we will make them rue the day they hurt you!" Garmadon has to restrain himself from adding an evil laugh at the end.
"...Can I pet the reindeer?"
"O-Of course you can pet the reindeer! I'm sure Rudolf and the gang will love to meet you!" He can get a dozen reindeer, right? How hard could it be to acquire a dozen reindeer? It can't be that hard. He'll put one of the enginerds on it. "You have the power and skills to be great! You just need the chance to show this city what you're really made of! No one will be able to question your right to be here when you stand with me at the top of Ninjago! What do you say?"
Shogun's eyes are unfocused at this point, glancing slowly at the city around them with a lost expression, and Garmadon almost thinks for a second Shogun is about to accept. Then Shogun refocuses on him with narrowed eyebrows. "...What about me?" Garmadon frowns. Was the offer not clear-? "Why... why did you leave us alone?"
"...What?"
"Me, and my sister. When our parent disappeared. You stopped bringing us presents." It's at this point Garmadon realizes with dread that he may have made a tactical error. "...Were we on the naughty list? Did I do something wrong? I was trying my best! I took care of her, I made sure she was safe and happy... Was that not enough? Our neighbors still got presents, so why didn't we?"
Oh boy, there's a lot to unpack there, starting with the realization Garmadon may have made a mistake. He tries to interject. "I-"
"And, and Phe didn't do anything wrong!" Shogun starts to rant. "She was so sad when you never showed up! So I- I told her you were just running late and I would go find you, but instead I snuck into town and stole toys for her! I told her they were from you!" Shogun is crying. There are tears running down his face and soaking into his mask. "And then I found out Lloyd never got any presents from you in his whole life, so I started doing it for him too! He thought you hated him! He thought he was a bad person 'cause you never left him presents!"
Garmadon feels like he's been punched in the gut. Is this what guilt feels like? Has Luh-loyd really never gotten presents from Santa? Surely Koko wouldn't let that stand, right? Garmadon racks his brain and suddenly realizes he's never gotten a present for Luh-loyd either.
He's just as bad as Santa.
Should he try and find an excuse for Santa, or should he own up to not being Santa? Which would be worse? "Uh, kid-"
"I believed in you!" Shogun howls. "You were my hero and you abandoned us like everyone else! And now you're breaking everything and being mean!"
"I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU, SANTA!"
Silence hangs in the air for a moment after Shogun screams his declaration. It feels like the universe is judging Garmadon for his many sins. Then he realizes it's not the universe judging him, just a handful of civilians peeking out from cover, a couple dozen generals in various states of defeat- even the ninja nerds have stopped fighting. They're all staring at him accusingly. Garmadon considers melting into the floor.
Which is why he's a little taken off guard when Shogun suddenly darts forward and picks up a pipe from one of the broken mechs, then charges at him screaming.
He's even more taken off guard when a green blur darts in and abducts Shogun before he can make it that far. Garmadon watches the dragon mech fly away, with a still howling Shogun in it's claws.
"...What just happened?" He asks no one in particular.
The Lightning Jet zaps him.
This is such a bad idea. This is the worst idea he's ever had. Why did he think this was a good idea-?!
Jay pulls back on the jet's controls and takes a hard corner to shake some of the planes dogging him. The G-forces crush him back into his seat but it's nothing he isn't used to, and he's more than a little distracted by the comms request he made actually being answered-
"Hello? Who is this?" Garmadon himself asks because Jay thought tapping into his comm line would be a good way to distract him-
"Hi, this is the Blue Ninja," Jay blurts out nervously. He blasts down another line of manta-planes with lightning and swerves to avoid getting tangled in a jellyfish. "So, uhm-" Crap, what does he say next?! He didn't think this far ahead-
"Oh hey Blue Ninja, maybe you can answer a question for me. What's up with Shogun today? He got a concussion or something?"
"No he's on drugs." Jay responds on autopilot as he has to return his focus to not crashing his jet.
"...Did he get his wisdom teeth taken out?"
"No it's uh... Venomari venom...?" He pulls out of a dive and barely avoids scraping the ground.
A beat of silence. "...Are you nerds fighting the Serpentine in your spare time?!"
Jay blinks and takes a second to review the last few things he said. "...UH."
"Why are you fighting the Serpentine?!" Lord Garmadon demands.
"We're not! No one is fighting any Serpentine!" Jay squeaks.
"Are you seeing other villains? I thought I was your nemesis!"
Jay threads the needle between two buildings and tries to ignore his mounting stress.
Lloyd is feeling a little stressed.
"UNHAND ME, DEVOURER! I'M GOING TO KILL SANTA!" Smith wriggles in the grip of Lloyd's dragon mech, and it's taking a bit of effort to avoid dropping him.
Lloyd risks a quick glance back and is relieved to see Jay successfully distracting Garmadon, if not all of his troops. "Alright, I've got Shogun but I also have some mantas on my tail- also he's trying very hard to escape. Uh, any ideas what to do with him?"
"...Stuff him in the back seat of Zane's tank?" Kai offers.
"Uh-" A few manta-planes and a jellyfish mech careen out of a side street next to him, and he quickly realizes he doesn't have time to evade them. He glances at the street below him and makes a snap decision. "-Kai catch!"
He yeets Smith at Kai's mech.
"Wha- LLOYD I DON'T HAVE HANDS!"
...Kai's mech does not have hands.
Lloyd cringes as he uses his dragon's newly freed up claws to wreck the airborne mechs in front of him. A few moments later he's free from the fray again and loops back frantically. "-I'msosorryKaiisSmithokay???"
For a scary moment Kai doesn't answer, but then, "...You are SO lucky Smith is good at crazy mid-air acrobatics." Multiple people heave sighs of relief over the comms. "Technically I've got Smith, but there's nothing stopping him from- aaaaand there he goes." Lloyd catches a glimpse of Smith leaping away from the Fire Mech and dashing off to parts unknown.
...This is going to be a long battle.
The Lightning Jet swoops in to zap Garmadon's shark mech in a desperate attempt to change the topic of conversation to something less awkward.
"Hey, what was that for?! We're in the middle of a conversation!" Garmadon complains.
"Uhm, yeah but fighting you is still my job-" Jay reminds him.
"Oh yeah? How much do you get paid?"
"..."
"...You do get paid, right?"
"Uh..."
"Are you telling me this is volunteer work?!"
"I think technically we're vigilantes so it's more illegal...?"
"Kid, you shouldn't be working without compensation-"
"I don't get paid enough for this!" A General laments, right before Shogun uses his face as a platform for his foot.
"Well, you should get paid more then!" Shogun says as he socks another General in the jaw. "You guys do good work!"
One General perks up. "Aw, you really think so? I try really hard-" A different General goes flying into him and knocks him down.
"You guys are great and deserve better." Shogun steals a sword and uses it to parry a blow then knock someone out with the hilt. "I appreciate you." He tells the pile of groaning Generals, then leaps away.
"-terrible fashion sense, not a single shark or any ocean motifs to be seen-" Garmadon continues to rant about one of his former employees in one of Jay's ears. The other ear is occupied with listening to his teammates play tag with Smith while still defending the city. He is loosing his sanity in surround sound.
"Kai, I need you to handle that big crab mech. Kai handle that." Cole is saying with increasing intensity. "Kai. You're not handling it. You're not handling it Kai."
Out of the corner of his eye, Jay spots a few planes trying to make a run for the tower and he has to peel off to chase them down.
"I heard you- look- I'm only one person, okay?!" Kai protests.
"Well clone yourself then!" Cole demands a little unreasonably.
"-and he tried to color it with a giraffe pattern, can you believe it?!-" Garmadon continues.
Jay hits the button to speak while he dodges crabs. "Giraffe pattern? That sounds really dumb."
"...Why are we talking about giraffes?" Kai asks, baffled.
Jay cringes. "Sorrywrongchannel-" He hits the other button to switch channels. "Giraffe spots are really tacky." He tells Garmadon as he shoots down his planes with lightning.
("Who else could you talking to right now?!" Nya demands in the background.)
"I know, right?!" Garmadon replies and continues without missing a beat. "Anyway, one time they tried to convince some of the enginerds-"
"Does anyone have eyes on Smith?!" Lloyd asks a little desperately.
"Nope. You know what I could use eyes on though? Some backup. Kai." Cole hints unsubtly.
"Uh-" Kai hedges. "-There's no 'I' in team but there's a 'U' in 'I'll see you later!'" He says very quickly. Cole sputters.
"DAMMIT KAI GET BACK HERE AND HELP ME-"
"-And it took weeks to get all the glitter and pom-poms off the walls-" Garmadon rambles. "-I swear some of them still sparkle when I walk by-"
Jay resists the growing urge to bang his head against the controls of his jet.
Nya is wondering if her team is starting to show negative effects from accumulated head trauma. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise her- they've all taken knocks on the head over the years, it's hard to completely avoid in this line of work-
"Can anyone tell me where Smith is?!" Lloyd asks, on the verge of hysterics.
"~Oh wheeeere, is the ninja~? Oh wheeeeeeeeere is the ninja~?" Zane sings to the tune of 'Where is my hairbrush'.
-It really, really wouldn't surprise her. Nya takes a calming breath and turns on her mic. "Lloyd, breathe. Zane, stop that." She orders. Zane blessedly stops singing the repetitive song as Nya blasts the last few enemy mechs in her area. "Everyone keep an eye out for Smith and let us know immediately if you see him. Now, does anyone have any ideas to keep Smith from just running off again?"
"I could encase Smith in ice!" Zane proposes immediately.
"...Maybe save that as a backup plan." Nya says diplomatically, desperately wishing she could put her head in her hands.
"I guess restraining him would work, if one of us could get a good enough hold on him." Lloyd contributes, sounding significantly calmer now, thankfully. "Unfortunately, I think only my and Cole's mechs will be able to do that. Without freezing him in a block of ice."
"Well, I guess it's up to you then, Lloyd, because I'm kinda busy getting attacked by a giant crab, Kai-" Cole says tersely.
"What do you want from me?!" Kai demands. "I can't just drop everything and let this street get overrun-"
"Can you people just do your jobs, please?!" Jay interjects shrilly.
Just then, Nya catches sight of Smith sprinting down a street at a squad of crab mechs, looking for all the world like a lithe predator in pursuit of his prey- until he trips over the pole of a fallen umbrella and performs the most spectacular face-plant Nya has ever seen. A bewildered looking crab pilot scoops Smith up with his mech's claws.
"I found him- oh for the love of-" She darts her mech over close enough to blast it apart. The resultant explosion flings Smith through the air- where he impacts the top of Zane's tank as it rolls onto the street.
What happens next is too quick for Nya to process in time to stop, but it involves Smith using the tank like a runway ramp and swinging off a jellyfish mech's chains like Tarzan and somehow ending up on a roof.
...Nya can't help but wonder what the shark army is making of all this.
General 23 and a couple other Generals sit on a roof after the Lightning Jet shot them down, with little to do but listen to the drama unfolding over the comm channels. And oh boy has it been worth listening to for once! Apparently Shogun mistook Lord Garmadon for Santa Claus? 23 has no idea if that's true or what is going on, but at least it's fun to listen to.
"The Fire Mech has Shogun- wait no he's jumped away." Someone reports over comms. They rattle off the direction and street name Shogun is running down.
"Hey, that's this street." General 38 leans forward to look and 23 has to snag the back of his uniform to keep him from toppling over the side of the building.
"Careful. If you fall down there you'll have to fight him." 23 reminds him. 38 pales and scoots back a bit.
General 33 carefully cranes their head to get a better view as the comms crackle with the information that more of Garmadon's mechs are headed their way to head off Shogun. "Incoming, guys. Things are about to get loud again."
"...You think someone'll pick us up?" 38 asks without much hope as a squad of crab mechs scurries onto the street below.
"Do you think they're going to survive being on the same street as Shogun?" 23 responds dryly. They all know what Shogun is capable of. Especially after his escape from the volcano.
Sure enough, Shogun comes hurtling around a corner, charging straight at the crab mechs and- trips and gets caught? General 23 and her two companions watch in complete shock as Shogun wiggles around helplessly within the claws of a crab mech.
"I-I got Shogun?!" Over the radio, the poor crab pilot sounds a mixture of triumph, disbelief, and panic. The last one is entirely justified, given a moment later-
"Water Mech incoming-!" One of their squadmates calls out too late, as their mech basically explodes, sending Shogun into the air. As if that weren't enough, the Ice Tank barrels down the street, icing up the remaining crab mechs and catching Shogun- if you can call Shogun hitting the tank like a ragdoll catching.
...Shogun really isn't at the top of his game today, is he?
The trio of spectating generals are abruptly reminded that, top of his game or not, this is still Shogun, as he pulls himself together and- with a series of incredible feats of acrobatics- lands on the roof right next to them.
"Oh shi-" General 33's panicked squawk gets cut off by a pained wheeze as Shogun drives a shoulder into his gut. General 23 suddenly remembers that the reason they were sitting up here is that none of them are equipped for close quarters combat- just as Shogun turns his attention to her. 23 has just enough time to register the slightly manic look in Shogun's eyes when General 38- bless his heart, she should probably learn his name- lunges forward and traps Shogun in a bear hug.
"I've got him! I've got him-!" 38 cuts off with a squeak and drops the squirming ninja. "-He just bit me!"
"Through the mask?!" She yelps, desperately trying to figure out how to avoid getting beat up by Shogun.
"Back, gingerbread men!" Shogun shouts as he kicks 38, sending him teetering off the edge of the building. On instinct, 23 lunges forward and manages to grab 38's hand, leaving him dangling and her trapped in place unless she drops him. She hears scuffling behind her and winces in preparation- but instead of Shogun, General 33 kneels next her and together they haul 38 back onto the roof.
They all collapse onto the roof in a heap. "Where... where did he go?" She asks 33. General 33 just wheezes and gestures in a direction without moving from where he's flat on his back. They all look up as the jellyfish mech Shogun swung on earlier approaches them.
The pilot pulls his vehicle level with their roof and looks at them. "Hey, uh... you guys need a lift?"
Jay can feel himself reaching the end of his rope. He's outright muted his teammates in a fit of frustration in the hopes it would help his mounting blood pressure a little. It has not.
He hits a button with a little more force than necessary. He thinks the spiral of panic might be turning into blind rage now, actually.
He spots yet another one of those stupid Octan billboards and makes a loud angry noise.
"What's up kid? You sound upset. Did one of my Generals get'cha?" Garmadon asks.
Jay jolts in surprise, before realizing he left his mic on. "Oh, no, it's just-" He grimaces at the billboard. "...There's these billboards."
"Oh, do you mean all those new ones? I think I blasted one o'them earlier."
"Yeah, they suck!" Jay starts the familiar rant. "The company that makes them is just awful; they harass small business and they treat their employees badly, they violate workplace safety laws- I'd break them myself but I'm supposed to be defending the city and all-"
"Oh! You mean those douche-bags responsible for that oil spill about a year ago! That totally messed up the local ocean ecosystem, my poor sharks..."
"Yeah, Octan!" Jay remembers the oil spill very well. There were multiple weeks in a row without Garmadon attacks during the crisis, though the shark army still made the news since they were visibly assisting with cleanup. "They're making a big push to get their hooks into Ninjago City, it's infuriating." Kai has been going nuts with his conspiracy theories.
"...Hmm. Y'know, it'd be a shame if you flew near those billboards and some of my missiles happened to miss you."
Jay pauses and takes a moment to process that. ...Is he actually considering this? Why is he considering this, this is a terrible idea-
On the one hand, cathartic destruction of something he despises. On the other hand, Garmadon could use the billboards to predict his movement and more easily shoot him down...
Jay makes sure his weapon is charged and flies deliberately to catch and lead Garmadon's attention to a nearby billboard. He hovers his hand over the controls, ready to zap any missiles that come too close, but to his surprise they don't come very close and do indeed hit the billboard behind him. It's engulfed in flames.
Jay lets out a slightly hysterical giggle.
"Did you see that?! How was that, kid?"
"I'm going to get in so much trouble-" Jay whispers, unable to keep the mad grin off his face as he hunts down another billboard while the shark mech trails behind him.
"Only if someone catches you, and I'm not telling!" Garmadon laughs wildly.
"Oh, I see Smith!" Kai exclaims. "...Aaaand now I don't see him. Cole he's headed your way again, get ready."
"I'd make another comment about the giant crab, but I actually destroyed it already. What direction is he coming from?" Cole asks.
Zane pulls his attention away from Jay's odd flying pattern as Kai sputters but ultimately gives Cole the information. The current Smith Retrieval Plan seems to rely on Cole or Lloyd using their mechs to simply grab and restrain the wayward ninja, which isn't a bad plan per say, but...
"I have an idea to keep Smith in one place." Zane says.
"I still don't think freezing him solid is a good idea, Zane." Nya shuts him down again. Zane huffs.
"How dare you, it's a great idea. But that's not what I was going to suggest- Lloyd, you need to ask Smith for help."
"What?" Lloyd questions.
"Next time you are in earshot of Smith, you need to tell him you need help. Past experience indicates that if he believes staying near you is vital to your safety, he will do so." Zane elaborates.
"...That does check out." Cole admits.
"Alright, then Plan B is to try and herd Smith over to where Lloyd can get him." Nya decides.
"Is there a reason Lloyd can't just ask Smith over comms?" Kai asks.
"I think Jay was in the middle of repairing his comm when the alarm went off. It's not in his hood." Lloyd answers. "Speaking of Jay, where is he, he's being quiet."
"Jay is currently engaged in exciting new flight patterns that may or may not be resulting in the destruction of numerous Octan billboards." Zane informs them.
"...You know what, good for him."
Cole follows Smith's path along the rooftops as best he can, smashing enemy mechs along the way and trying to tune out Kai's suggestion of scaling the buildings like King Kong.
A platform suddenly collapses under Smith, and he falls towards the ground- while screaming his head off. Cole rolls forward and snatches him out of the air for the second time today. Smith clutches the sides of the mech's fist, looking very disoriented and a little sick. Maybe getting hot-potatoed across the city for ten minutes straight is finally catching up to him.
Cole is so ready for this fight to be over. "I've got him. Lloyd, where you at?"
"COLE LOOK OUT!" Jay screeches over comms for the first time in several minutes.
Cole looks, and Garmadon's mech is hurtling down the street towards him with a wall of mechanical shark teeth. In a moment of poetic justice, Cole makes a decision.
"Lloyd you're up!"
He hurls Smith into the air, hopefully in Lloyd's general direction, just as Garmadon's mech crashes into his.
"Someone help Cole!" Lloyd shouts to his team as he dives to catch Smith. It's nerve-wracking for a moment, but he manages it.
Lloyd pulls the dragon up from the dive and leans over to yell at his friend now wriggling in it's claws. "Shogun! Shogun, I need your help with something!"
Miraculously, Smith's escape attempts slow down and he focuses on Lloyd. "...What? Is something wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?!" Smith's eyes widen and he starts wriggling again. Lloyd hastens to calm him down.
"No no, I'm fine, everyone's okay, I-I just need you to stay with me and watch my back- can you do that for me?" Hopefully Smith will accept that because Lloyd couldn't think of anything better-
Smith seems to take a moment to process that before slowly nodding his head. Lloyd lets out a relieved breath (but not too relieved because he does not trust Smith to remember what he's supposed to be doing) and carefully maneuvers Smith onto the back of the green dragon mech, and he settles in right behind Lloyd.
Lloyd glances back to check on Cole- and abruptly decides the others probably have it handled. He starts picking off shark army stragglers instead, keeping half his attention on Smith.
Garmadon grins as the Earth Mech struggles in vain to pry the jaws of his mech off of it. It's been a while since one of the ninja let him catch them like this, and he's enjoying watching the metal plating slowly buckle under the increasing pressure. The fact that it's the ninja who recently slammed a hammer into the back of his head is a nice bonus.
Suddenly, several blasts from the Ice Tank impact Garmadon's shark mech, causing the jaws to malfunction enough for the Earth Mech to escape.
Garmadon refocuses and takes in his surroundings- specifically the ninja surrounding him.
The Fire Mech, the Ice Tank and the Waterstrider Mech all take up positions around him as the Earth Mech rights itself. The Fire Mech activates it's flamethrowers threateningly.
"We are going to beat you to death!" The White Ninja announces cheerfully through his tank's speakers.
And then they do.
(Figuratively, anyway.)
After they confirm the shark army's retreat, and Lloyd finally, finally lands the dragon mech back in the warehouse, Smith only stumbles a few steps away before lying face-down on the floor. Lloyd briefly panics, thinking Smith might be hurt, but he quickly realizes it's closer to one of Jay's post-battle 'Sweet solid ground I'm never leaving you again' collapses. Speaking of Jay, he also tumbles down from the catwalk and collapses next to Smith, hyperventilating.
"Hey hey hey, breathe Jay, you're okay-" Nya hustles over to help Jay calm down.
Cole meanders over and nudges Smith with his foot. "...You good there, Smith?"
"Nooooo..." Smith whines petulantly into the floor. "I'm not a football..."
"You kick Smith? You kick him like the football?" Zane chimes in as Kai face plants on the couch in the background. "Oh! Oh! Jail for Earth Ninja! Jail for Earth Ninja one-thousand years!"
Smith just stares at him in utter confusion. "...What?"
"Don't worry about it!" Zane exclaims as he pulls out the blanket from what feels like years ago and uses it to scoop Smith up and carry him to the couch, where Kai seems to be trying to set up a video game while moving as little as possible.
Cole wanders over and leans on Lloyd's shoulder. "...Well that sucked."
Lloyd nods tiredly. The damage to the Earth Mech isn't as bad as it could be, but it's still going to be a pain to fix. And this looks like the worst panic attack Jay has had in a while, but Lloyd trusts Nya to help him. Overall, less of a disaster than their last mission- as far as they know, nobody died this time. He rubs his hands down his face. "...Lets never do this again."
"Agreed."