The next morning, Lloyd, Katarina, Keres, Kai, Jay and Cole went over to the Mayor's building to talk to the newly elected Mayor about freeing Aspheera. Zane stayed behind because he had to work on using his powers to keep Nya frozen and from falling apart.

"Are you sure that the Mayor will help us out with this one?" Jay asks skeptically. Lloyd nods firmly.

"Yes, I'm sure." Although something in the back of his mind told him that the Mayor would say no to their request.

"You don't sound sure, Green Ninja." Keres points out.

"Granted, this will be a bit tough, considering we're asking the Mayor to free one of the most dangerous criminals that threatened Ninjago. It's okay to be doubtful about this, but it's not like you and I can free her with our magic." Katarina explains.

"But we can." Her inner demon states as they go inside the office. "We're more powerful than Aspheera and any other magic user in all of the sixteen realms. We have the power to drain Water Lily's powers."

Cole whips his head towards her and Katarina with disbelief. "You have the power to do that?! Why didn't you say anything before?!"

"Because..." The Purple Ninja looks down onto the polished floors, uncertain and hesitant. "It's not like I don't know how, I do, it's just...complicated."

"More complicated than asking Aspheera to drain Nya's powers?" Kai asks her. She nods slowly.

"Yeah, something like that. I know how to drain someone's powers, magic and Elemental. I've learned the spell since I was really young, thanks to my sister Dawn. But I swore off using that kind of magic. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Because you used that spell on your own kind and it made you feel so bad, that you wanted me to erase that memory of you using it even though I can't since I don't have that kind of power." Keres says. The Purple Ninja nods.

"Why is it that every time we hear about your past, it's always dark and horrible?" Jay asks anxiously.

"Not all of my past is dark and horrible. Some of it is good." Katarina smiles nostalgically. Lloyd walks up to the Mayor's personal assistant, Dwayne, to request him to see the new Mayor.

"We like to talk to the Mayor, please. Can you please tell him we're here?" The Green Ninja asks Dwayne, who nods immediately.

"Of course. Let me take you to his office, and I'll let him know immediately, Lloyd Garmadon." The Ninja and Keres nod, and behind Dwayne, who runs towards the Mayor's office at such a speed that Keres could've sworn that must've come from his years of being at the Explorer's Club.

When the team walks up to the Mayor's office, it was open and they could hear the Mayor talking to Dwayne as if they weren't there in the first place. Mayor Trustable was playing indoor golf in his office, and it looked like he didn't want to be bothered with his free time. "Tell 'em I'm not here. Better yet, tell 'em I'm out sick. I got a cold."

Lloyd clears his throat, causing the Mayor to look up from his little game and turn his head towards the team. "We can see you, sir."

The Mayor clears his throat, and makes an awkward laugh.  "Oh, ho ho! Those ninja! Hehe. Why didn't you say so? Come on in, fellas! Sorry about the mix up." The team walks in to the Mayor's office, while he hisses at his personal assistant angrily. "What's the matter with you keeping these guys waiting?"

Dwayne just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Hehe. What can I do for you?"

"Well, sir, it's about our friend Nya." Lloyd says.

"She's the heart of our team. And we thought we lost her defending Ninjago." Jay says sadly. Cole puts a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder, causing the Lightning Ninja to smile at the gesture.

"But we just discovered we have a chance to save her and bring her back."

The Mayor nods absentmindedly. "Ah, that's great. Really really great." He drops a golf ball onto the mini golf course, his back turned to everyone. "I'm gonna play through, but keep talking. I'm listening."

"But we need Aspheera's help, so we have to let her out of Kryptarium." Katarina says. The Mayor stops short mid-swing, his breath caught in his throat as he turns towards the team.

"A- Aspheera? A- As in, Aspheera who destroyed half the city with a lava serpent army Aspheera?"

Jay nods. "Yeah! Her. Oh, and we also need her staff, which is locked up at Borg Tower. She can't use her powers without it."

The Mayor laughs and shakes his head. "Yeah nope."

"Look, we know Aspheera is dangerous. But we'll be watching her the entire time! We promised to protect Ninjago." Keres explains.

"Like you protected it from that video game thing. And the giant sea serpent. And those creepy black clouds?" He says bitterly, referring to all the past villains and the events the Ninja had faced and gone through.

"Yes! Exactly." The Lightning Ninja says.

"Wow. You are really good at picking up on sarcasm." Kai remarks sarcastically.

"Thanks, Kai!"

"Sir, please. We need to help Nya. After all she's done for the city, we owe it to her!" Lloyd pleads with the Mayor.

"And I owe it to all the little people who voted for me, not to let one of the worst villains in this city's history out of prison. Now if you don't mind, I gotta get back to work."

"Look, Mayor Untrustable, I don't care if all the citizens of Ninjago voted for you to keep everyone safe!" Keres hisses venomously. "What we care about is helping Nya right now, so we need your permission to get that Fire Serpent out of Kryptarium right now, or so help me, I'll-!"

"You'll what? Join forces with some evil biker gang again and help them destroy the city?"

"Hey now, that's not fair-!"

"You know what is not fair? Keeping you out of prison and allowing you to roam around the city freely, that's what's unfair." The Mayor jabs his golf club into her holographic chest. "The citizens are scared half to death because of you, and if it were up to me, I could put you in Kryptarium with the rest of the worst of the worst." He smiles evilly. "Oh wait, I can."

"You can't do that, I proved to everyone that I can be trusted!" She argues. "And what have you done for Ninjago City?! All you've done is make promises of keeping everyone safe, but you can't keep them safe forever since this city is a trouble magnet ever since the Green Ninja here decided to release the Serpentine from their tombs."

"Keres..." The Green Ninja starts in a warning voice.

"We've done much more for this city than you ever could. If you ask me, you're nothing but a pathetic excuse of someone great, and you're trying so hard to live up to that image but you can't because you know you're fucking worthless! You're nothing!"

Kai pulls her back, since she moved so close to the Mayor, and had to practically restrain her from doing anything regrettable to the Mayor. They excuse themselves out of his office, and get out of there in a hurry before he could decide to really put her in prison.

"Just forget it, Keres, it's not worth it. Don't bother." Cole tells her.

"Yeah Keres, he isn't even worth the time of day." Kai huffs.

Back at the hangar bay, the Ninja, Keres and Pixal were going over their options, while Wu watched with worry. Talking to the Mayor didn't help them at all and they were denied their request to release Aspheera to help Nya out. So they were left with one option.

"If the Mayor won't let Aspheera out of Kryptarium legally, then we have to break her out illegally." Lloyd says, as he paces back in force while the sound of Zane freezing Nya's body nonstop goes on in the background, helping to ground him as he mulled over his options.

"Lloyd, I cannot condone this. This is not the way to help Nya." Wu reasons with the Green Ninja.

"What other choice is there? We're out of options, Master Wu." He points to a frozen Nya and Zane freezing her with his Elemental Powers. "It's this, or nothing."

Wu takes one glance at the Water Ninja, then at Lloyd. He sighs and shakes his head. But that didn't matter right now, whether or not Wu was on their side. They needed to do this to help their friend, and if this was the way, so be it.

"Now, who's with me?"

The Ninja and Keres nod determinedly. They didn't need to be asked twice.

"I'm in!"

"Me too!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Count me in!"

"Me as well!"

"I'm also in!"

Lloyd smiles at his friends' determination, and their confirmation to join him in breaking Aspheera out of Kryptarium. Wu could only sigh with disapproval. "Much as it pains me, I cannot be a part of this. I'm sorry, but I've learned the hard way that Aspheera can never be trusted." He turns around and leaves the hangar bay, his heart full of disappointment while the team could only watch him leave.

"What's the plan?" Cole asks.

"We split up. Kai, Zane, Keres and I will break into Kryptarium and free Aspheera, while you, Katarina and Jay break into Borg Tower and get her staff." Lloyd explains.

"I am needed here to keep Nya frozen." Zane points out to the Green Ninja.

"I'm gonna need you at Kryptarium to help us get past those new thermal sensors." Lloyd says.

"What about Nya?" The Ice Ninja wonders aloud. "Nobody else can keep her frozen."

"You sure about that?" A familiar voice spoke throughout the hangar bay. The Ninja and Keres turn to see Skylor walking up to them with a smile. Her red hair was longer and was put into a long ponytail that reached up to her waist, and she was wearing chainmail armor that was over her orange jumpsuit. Small knives were on a small holster on her upper left leg, and there was a red belt on her waist and red fingerless gloves over her hands.

Kai's mouth dropped. "Skylor?"

"I called her." Lloyd tells him.

"You had her number?!" The Fire Ninja exclaims with disbelief.

"I can replicate Zane's powers and keep Nya frozen, freeing Zane up to help at Kryptarium." Skylor explains to Zane and the others. The Ice Ninja contemplates this for a moment, before nodding firmly.

"It is a clever plan, assuming we return before your replication ability wears off."

"We'll just have to be quick." Katarina says. She looks towards her friends. "And remember, we go in disguise. Don't use your names. And don't get caught."

Everyone nods, understanding the plan. She smiles. "Okay guys, let's bust her out."

That night, Lloyd, Kai, Keres and Zane busted into Kryptarium by crawling through the sewage system and going through the vents. Zane undid the screws on the ventilation cover and kicked  it down. The group lands on the floor, wearing black gis as their disguises.

Lloyd and Kai peek out into the long hallway, where there were security cameras that were used to surveillance one door. He looks at the Fire Ninja expectantly. "What're you waiting for, Zane? Freeze the sensors!"

Kai looks behind him to get a good look at Lloyd. "I'm not Zane."

"Freezing the sensors will not work, Kai." Zane tells Lloyd.

"I'm not Kai!" The Green Ninja corrects him.

"Wait! Don't use names." Keres reminds the trio. The Fire Ninja lets out a huff. This was all getting confusing.

"This is getting confusing. I can't tell who's who!"

"So how do we get past?" Lloyd wonders aloud.

Zane hums and scans the trio. Kai and Lloyd were giving off heat signatures, but Keres wasn't since she was a magical hologram., so she wasn't in the physical world to give off her own heat signature. Or maybe since she's an inner demon, she doesn't have one? He would have to ask Katarina when this was all over.

He summons his Ice and aims his hands towards Lloyd and Kai. "Like this." The ice hits both Ninja, freezing their entire bodies by encasing them in ice. "By freezing you and lowering your body temperatures, thus making you undetectable to the cameras."

"Smart move, Glacier." Keres smiles.

"But now we can't move." Kai says through his frozen mouth. Zane shakes his head knowingly.

"No. But I can carry you." He moves over to him and Lloyd, and picks the both of them up, tucking their bodies under his arms. He walks over carefully to the door, as the cameras watch them and Keres without a second glance.

"It's working." Keres whispers. "The thermal sensors aren't detecting us at all."

She and the Ninja come up to a keypad and a red button on one side of the door. He needed to press that button in order to open the door and get them to the other side, but his hands were full.

"I'll get it!" She volunteers. She reaches over Kai, her hands inches away from the button, but she stumbles into the Fire Ninja's frozen feet. "Oops!" The top of his head hits the button, opening the door for them.

The Ninja and Keres walk through the door, as the Fire Ninja grumbles under his breath. "I'm - gonna - get you back for that –'' He hisses through gritted teeth, as his head hits the door frame. "Ow!"

Cole, Jay and Katarina arrive at Borg Tower in the building's work attire; White shirt underneath a blue collared shirt, with a gray jacket with Borg Tower's symbol, accompanied by fake name tags. They wore gray hats on their heads so they wouldn't be recognizable and easily spotted, but also so it wouldn't make them too suspicious.

Nodding at each other, they grab cases that was being hauled into a large truck and head inside the building. Once they enter inside, they glance the guards at the front desk. One was sleeping while the other one was playing a video game on his phone.

They enter the elevator without being detected by the guards, and drop their cases once the elevator cases. They breathe a sigh of relief. "Ha. They didn't even notice! For security guards, they're pretty clueless." Jay remarks humorously.

Cole and Katarina chuckle. The Earth Ninja walks over to the keypad, that would allow them to bypass the elevator's systems. "What's the bypass code Pixal gave us?" He wonders aloud. The Purple Ninja shrugs.

"I dunno. I wasn't there when she gave it to you two."

Jay shakes his head. "How would I know? She told you!" He says to Cole.

"No, she told both of us." The Earth Ninja argues back.

"No, she told you. I was just standing next to you." He looks at Cole incredulously , and puts his hands on his hips to emphasize his disappointment. "Don't tell me you forgot!"

"Oh, dear Master." Katarina groans. "You don't remember?! And Lloyd said I have a zoning out problem."

Cole turns to the keypad, and taps a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "It's either 3314 or 4413."

"I think it was 4413." The Earth Ninja takes a moment to contemplate the two possible combinations, before settling on the one Jay suggested to him, deciding to just screw it and just take his chances.

"Okay. Here goes. 4, 4, 1, 3."

He inputs the code into the keypad, which takes the code right away. The buttons on the keypad and the inside of the elevator turns a bright red. A loud alarm goes off, and it causes everyone inside to freak out, because they were going to get caught and they would never be able to retrieve Aspheera's staff from the secured vaults now.

"Great. Nice work, Jay." Cole exclaims, looking for a way out as he blamed his best friend. Jay lets out a shocked gasp at the betrayal.

"Oh, don't blame me! You were the one who wasn't paying attention!" Panic soon sets in the Lightning Ninja's mind, causing him to pace back and force on the elevator floor as he tried to breathe. He really didn't want to go to prison. He can't have that on his perfectly good and clean record.

"Now we're gonna get busted and go to jail and I'm gonna have to make friends with some really scary thugs to survive and –!"

"Would you two relax?" Katarina cuts him off, allowing the Lightning Ninja to have a bit of respite in his panic. Cole stops looking for a way out, and turns his attention to her. She grabs both of her shoulders and points to their only way out on the floor. "I got an idea."

She kneels down and opens one tile of the elevator floor. It opens for her, and it reveals the cables that help carry the elevator up and down. She smiles. "C'mon, this way!" She was the first to jump down and slide down the cables, and the Earth Ninja followed after her.

Jay looks down hesitantly. He groans.

"Oh. Now I gotta slide down this cable and probably get some blisters." He jumps down and grabs onto the cables, but instead of sliding down them, he shimmies down carefully so he wouldn't burn his hands.

After a long while of walking down the hallways, Zane, Keres, Kai and Lloyd were able to find the spot they were looking for to get down to Aspheera's cell. The Ice Ninja feels around for a specific spot on the floor, while the other two Ninja were busy warming themselves up after being frozen into human popsicles for a solid thirty minutes.

They shudder violently as they drink up the warmth Kai manages to ignite from one small flame. Keres was helping them warm up, too, by using her small flames to warm them up faster and to melt the remaining ice from their bodies.

"I believe we are directly above Aspheera's containment chamber. If my schematics are correct, there should be..." Zane taps a specific tile on the floor, and it lifts up. He lifts the tile up all the way, revealing the way down to Aspheera's cell. "A hatch!"

He was the first to jump down, with Lloyd, Kai and Keres following after him shortly after. They were now above Aspheera's cell, the same cell that was used to house Lord Garmadon. Zane examines the electronic pad that would allow them to activate the bridge to close the large gap between the entrance to the glass cell.

He throws a shuriken towards the button, the pointed tips hitting the button and activating the bridge. Inside her cell was the former fire serpent making origami snakes, which she places gingerly on a small table. However, the sound of the bridge stops her and interrupts her thoughts, and she turns around, looking out for anyone who wanted to see her. Maybe it was the prison warden.

The three Ninja and Keres jump down onto the bridge, facing her. She hisses at them, not recognizing them in their current disguises. "Who are you?"

Kai steps forward and takes off his hood, revealing himself to her. "Remember me?" The serpent tilts her head, confused. She didn't recognize his face, due to it being hidden when she once extracted his Elemental Fire. He scoffs after a moment. "It's Kai!"

Zane, Keres and Lloyd take off their hoods and walk up to join Kai. She hisses again. "Ninja..." Her eyes catch the inner demon's form, and she stops mid-hiss. "I remember you."

Keres was caught off guard by her statement. She raises an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Of course, I do. Who can forget the physical traits of an inner demon?" Aspheera slithers right up to the edge of her cell, getting as physically close to Keres as possible. "I sensed your power through your purple friend, through the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu. Giving such power to someone so....unstable is unwise."

"She's not unstable. And may I remind you, you had a lot of power as well before it was stripped away. You had such potential, if it weren't for allowing your anger and your idea of revenge getting the better of you. Such a shame for you to throw it all away." Keres spoke, her voice dripping with mockery and disgust, her mouth forming an icey cold smile. Her eyes glow a threatening purple.

Aspheera backs away with a scoff. "What do you want, Ninja?"

"We're here to make a deal, Aspheera. A one-time offer." Lloyd offers, stepping forward towards the cell.

"What deal?" She asks curiously, tilting her head a little.

"Sort of a get out of jail free card." Kai says.

"Our friend Nya is in trouble," Aspheera rolls her eyes and slithers away from the Ninja and Keres. "And the only way we can save her is to remove her Elemental powers." She stops short in her tracks and turns around with wide eyes.

"If you help us ... steal her powers," Lloyd gulps, the idea of saying it not getting any better, while Kai closes his eyes tightly at the awful memory of his own powers being stripped away from him. "We'll let you out."

"Like you stole mine. Remember?" The Fire NInja chimes in bitterly. He crosses his arms across his chest.

"You betray me, imprison me, and have the audacity to ask for my help?!" Aspheera yells at both Kai and Lloyd angrily, her voice tinted with disbelief. The Ninja asking for her help in turn for letting her out of prison?! What an absurd idea! They must be really desperate this time. "What makes you think I would even consider that?"

"Because you want to get out of this cell. I know you're desperate to get out. You don't want to rot away here forever, even though you deserve it. And this is your only chance." Keres points out.

"We are proposing a mutually beneficial arrangement. You help us, and we will help you." Zane chimes in.

"We're offering you a second chance, Aspheera. Please. Take it." Lloyd implores her. Aspheera takes a moment to consider their deal. If helping them out with Nya would grant her freedom, she'll take it. It's not like this cell was getting any more exciting. She sighs.

"Very well. I accept."

Zane gets out a device and uses the laser to cut a hole in the glass big enough for Aspheera to fit through. Once the glass was pushed down, she smiles and slithers to the outside, pushing everyone aside. "Freedom!"

"We need to hurry!" Lloyd looks behind him and points to the pole holding up the glass cell. "This way!" Everyone nods and jumps on top of the glass cell after the Ninja and Keres put their hoods back on. They climb up the pole quickly, while the serpent just scoffs at their escape plan.

"This is your idea of a quick escape?"

"Just shut up and follow us, or I swear to the First Spinjitzu Master, so help me I'll take my spear and shove it so far down your throat you'll wish we've left you there in that cell to rot for the rest of your worthless life." Keres hisses at her. Aspheera immediately shuts up, her eyes wide with fear and quickly nods.

While everyone shimmies up the pole, the tip of her tail knocks the device out of Zane's hands. The devices falls down and hits the bridge. A laser fires from it, ricocheting all over the room until it hits the pole. Everyone gasps.

Nothing happens. They breathe a sigh of relief.

Until the cell detaches from the pole, and falls down. It hits the ground with a loud crash. The alarm system goes off. "Fools!" Aspheera hisses at them.

"Hurry!" Kai shouts. Everyone climbs the rest of the way up, the Fire Ninja being the first to open the hatch. When his head pops out, he was met with an army of police guards, who were looking down at him as the entire prison was bathed in a red light.

He laughs awkwardly. "Oh, uh, we were repairing the AC?"

Keres pops up next to him. "Great excuse, Fireboy. Who'd you use it on last? Your mom?"

Back at the hangar bay, Skylor's replication powers were slowly wearing off. The ice that was holding Nya together was melting. "I don't know how long I can keep this up, Pixal!"

Pixal wheels a cooling unit towards Nya, and turns it on. "This cooling unit should help, buying us some more time until Zane returns." She explains, as both the cooling unit and Skylor fought to keep Nya frozen.

Kai, Lloyd, Keres, Zane and Aspheera were now trying to escape dozens of guards who were trying to capture them for helping out a very dangerous criminal. They were looking for the way out. Hopefully, they'll get out before those guards manage to capture them.

"Nice plan, guys!" Aspheera remarks sarcastically.

"I regret to admit, this was not part of the plan." There were guards in front of them, ready to fight and tackle them to the ground. "And everything we do at this point is purely improvisation." Lloyd and Kai jump up towards the ceiling, going over the guards, while Keres, Aspheera and Zane go right through them with ease.

They round another corner. They were running out of breath, they couldn't keep this up much longer. Zane summons his Ice and uses it to create a slippery surface on the corner they turned. When the guards followed after them, they weren't expecting the ice, causing them to hit the wall in front of them.

"Come on! This way!" Lloyd summons his Energy and blasts two energy balls towards the button besides the door. The balls of energy hit the button dead-on, allowing the group to run through the door as the guards try to get up and pursue after them.

Cole uses his super strength to open the doors to the floor that housed the vault. Jay, Cole and Katarina enter the floor as the doors close behind them, and take a look around.

"It's quiet." The Earth Ninja whispers, while the Lightning Ninja looks around for any security cameras.

"Yeah. Too quiet." Cole and the Purple Ninja stop in their tracks to look at him. She snorts with laughter she was holding in, while the Earth Ninja rolls his eyes playfully.

"Did you really have to say that?" Jay shrugs. They all walk up to the vault, which was secured and shut tight. Good thing they have their powers.

"Alright. The Sword of Sanctuary is in here, the Oni Mask of Vengeance, all the most dangerous artifacts in Ninjago. Be ready for anything." Katarina advises the boys. Cole and Jay nod.

"Anything." Jay says. "I'm ready."

Cole pounds his fists together, summoning up his Earth powers as his scar on his forehead lights up in response to them. He takes in a deep breath. "Whew. Here goes. On one...two...."

Jay and Katarina summon up their respective powers, the Lightning crackling in his hands while her magic sparks to life.

"Three!"

At the same time, they pound their fists against the vault's door with their powers, the door to the vault coming off its hinges. They jump into the vault, ready to take Aspheera's staff and leave with it.

But what they saw next caused their faces to fall.

All the artifacts in the room were gone from their respective pedestals. Including Aspheera's staff. Jay gulps.

"Uh oh..." Katarina mutters.

"Erm...." The Lightning Ninja starts to say, at a complete loss for words.

"Where is everything?" Cole wonders aloud.

Skylor was now struggling to keep Zane's powers inside of her as she fought to keep her best friend frozen. But even with the help of the cooling unit, the Water Ninja was still melting. Then she felt something. Realization struck her like a bullet to the heart.

"Oh no. Zane's powers are starting to fade! Pixal!"

The Samurai X Nindroid was already pulling up another cooling unit, turning it on to the max in order to help Skylor out. "This should help stabilize her, but we are running out of time."

Skylor grunts with exertion. It was getting harder and harder to keep this up. It wouldn't be long until Zane's powers completely disappear. "Where are they? They should've been back hours ago!"

A warning beeping sound comes from the main monitor. Pixal looks up to see the temperature levels on Nya were slowly rising. In less than an hour, Nya would completely melt and they would risk losing her forever. "At this rate, we can keep Nya stable for less than an hour."

Skylor nods and turns her head towards the Water Ninja. "Nya, if you can hear me in there, it's gonna be okay. I promise you. We will do everything in our power, just hold on. The others will be back soon." She looks towards Pixal hopefully. "Won't they?"

The uncertainty on Pixal's face said it all. The Master of Amber looks at Nya desperately.

Hopefully, the Ninja will be back soon. They just had to be. 

All that was left for her to do was to hold out just a little longer.