A/N: I dunno how to break these up into chapters right now, guys, because I always just write it like a whole ass book and this is still the stuff I wrote like 2-3 years ago

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jay interrupted Sensei's long explanation again, "We have to go into Hiroshi's Labyrinth?! Why?! No one ever leaves Hiroshi's Labyrinth!"

"Because," Nya snapped at him, slightly aggravated because of Jay's sudden inability to listen to instructions, "Someone's making a hideout there, and the location is relatively close to the Realm Crystal."

"Oh," Jay nodded a little bit.

"And, granted, that it's Hiroshi's freaking Labyrinth, we all have to go together and hope that one of us is sensible enough to not get us lost," Lizz added sharply. She may not like leading, but she doesn't like not moving around, and Jay's ignorance was stalling them, "I'll lead. Let's go."

Everyone watched with worried looks as she glided out of the room , "Since when does she ever-?"

"We don't know, Lloyd," Cole shook his head, "She changed a lot, last year, when you and Morro..." he gave Morro an apologetic look; Morro, in turn, was looking absolutely shameful.

"She's definitely not the same as when we first met her, that's for sure," Kai mumbled, following her out.

"Perhaps being apart of the team has matured her mental state," Zane offered, holding the door open for everyone else. Cole and Morro didn't need it, but the thought was nice.

"I honestly think Zane would be our best bet to not get lost in the Labyrinth," Lizz was leaning against a tree out in the front yard, "Y'know, since he's a Nindroid and everything and smarter than all of us combined."

"I'd say that I take offence to that," Cole began, "But I know it's true."

"Exactly her point, numbskull," Morro snickered slightly, shoving Cole forward, "Get movin'."

"Go around me," Cole quipped.

"Behave or you're both getting sprayed with water," Lizz mumbled, sprinting forward a little ways before leaping into her dark blue Airjitzu spin. When she got a few hundred feet into the air a dragon of the same dark colour burst into existence.

"It's a bit frightening how good at that she's getting," Jay whispered in disbelief, following her lead.

"She's better at Airjitzu than the rest of us are and she's the one that hates heights the most," Kai added on, his dragon popping out of nowhere.

"She's also the late-bloomer of the group," Cole's ghostly dragon pushed off the ground, taking flight with the others, "Having gotten her powers, dragon, Spinjitzu and Airjitzu way later than the rest of us!"

"I do believe it's something to do with her bloodlines," Zane called out, hovering higher than the other boys, "She is the granddaughter of The First Spinjitzu Master."

"Maybe it's just her angry determination," Morro mused. His dragon was long and spindly, twice as long as any dragon the others had, and it was glowing bright green from the inside out. Angry red eyes and rows of razor sharp teeth, the thing looked quite terrifying.

Lizz named him Spike.

Speaking of Lizz... "Quit talking about me like I'm not here," Lizz reminded the boys that she was still in fact very much there, "And let's get going. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be caught inside Hiroshi's Labyrinth after dark."

Without warning her Dragon -- 'Drop' as she'd come to call him -- took off and Morro groaned, "Come on!"

*.*.*.*.*.*

"Both you and your dragon need to take a chill-pill, 'aight?" Morro hopped to the ground next to Lizz, Spike disappearing with a small pop!

"Drop doesn't need a chill-pill," Lizz patted Morro on the shoulder and moved past him to stand at the edge of the forest, "Y'all just need to speed up."

"Not all of us have A.D.D, Lizzi," Kai hooked his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her temple, "Did you take your meds this morning?"

She pushed him away with a grunt, "Don't call me that. You and I both know very well that I'm not on any meds and I don't have A.D.D."

Cole cut Kai off, stepping between the two, "Into the forest. Then what? What exactly are we looking for?"

"Or who."

Cole gave a sidelong glance at Lizz, "What?"

"She said 'or who'," Lloyd clarified, "You know, since we could be looking for a person."

"Or a ghost," Jay narrowed his eyes at Morro, briefly, before glancing over the others again, "Or a Serpentine, or a skeleton."

"Or maybe nothing so we can go back home," Lizz crossed her arms, tapping her foot, "The gaming systems are still screwed up from Lloyd way back when."

"Didn't you two-" Cole looked very confused.

Lizz waved a hand, "Yeah, well, something kind've popped up in the middle of me and Jay trying to fix everything, in case you forgot," she added when all eyes went to Morro, "Hey, it's not his fault."

"Perhaps we should simply stay focused on the task at hand," Zane told them, walking through the thicket.

Lizz followed him in and immediately she regretted it. The forest was about fifteen degrees warmer due to the intense humidity. She began panting and Lloyd raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with you?"

"I. hate. warmth," she grit out, tugging at the collar of her Gi. With a growl she rolled up the sleeves and took off her gloves, sticking them in her bra. When Lloyd gave her a weird look she gave him one right back, "What? It's not like I've got pockets."

Cole snapped his fingers, "Hey. Keep it down and keep a lookout for anything suspicious. We're in here for a reason, it's not just a leisurely stroll through the woods."

"I'd have very much appreciated if Sensei could have told us what we're in here for," Kai ran his hand across a tree as they passed, and then proceeded to get his feet tangled in some vines at his feet. The entire group laughed when he fell and disappeared in the bushes. He stood after a moment, his hair flattened on one side. Kai himself was coated in a slight layer of leaves and dirt, "Yeah, haha, very funny."

"For us, yeah," Cole grinned, not bothering to hold in his snickers.

"Not so much for you," Morro added.

Kai wasn't paying attention to them anymore, though. His attention was behind the group, "Uh... guys...?"

Zane was the only one that stopped giggling long enough to address Kai, "What is it, Kai?"

Kai was stiff as a board, wide eyed. Morro glanced through Cole and gulped, "Tiger..."

All eyes followed their gazes and sure enough, there was a large tiger standing in a bunch of bushes a few meters behind them. She wasn't doing anything but watching, and was barely visible -- if it weren't for her ears and tail, she'd not have been noticed at all, "She's not doing anything," Zane turned his back to the tiger, "Let's leave her be and continue."

And continue on they did, venturing further and farther into the heart of the forest. After about three minutes, Lizz let out a groan, "Would anyone object if I started stripping?"

"I wouldn't," Morro and Kai chorused.

"Um, I would," Lloyd told her, glaring at the other two, "Why do you want to?"

Lizz quirked an eyebrow, "Sometimes I think you think I'm a hoe, Lloyd. I, at the moment, am very, very warm and am about four feet from keeling over from heat stroke and-or exhaustion."

Kai immediately stepped up to her side, making sure she was able to stay upright. Lloyd rolled his eyes, "Why are you so against heat?"

"Because, Lloyd," she leaned herself against a tree, "Unlike you, I was raised underground. Do you know how cold it is down there?" it was rhetorical, and Lizz answered herself anyway, "Very, alright? I had to adapt."

Morro piped up, raising his hand slightly, "I am very confused right now, can someone fill me in a bit?"

Cole hit Morro's shoulder, "You were in Lloyd's head, you should know everything about everything by now."

"The only thing he was thinking about other than world domination was-" Lloyd began bitterly.

Morro cut him off, "Hey, hey! You promised!"

Lloyd snorted, but fell silent and Jay, too, now, looked confused, "I'm not even going to ask, but does anyone know exactly why we're wandering around aimlessly in Hiroshi's Labyrinth?"

"We're looking for unusual activity," Zane clarified.

"Zane knows," Lizz jerked a thumb over in Zane's direction.

A/N: I'm trying to write in 4 different things and do my homework at the same time. Send help lmao

Unrelated-ish; I'm Elizabeth_Herondale on AO3 if anyone wants to go snooping. And also unrelated-ish, again-- does anyone wanna read a Rick Flag/OC that I accidentally started?