{Location: The Cabin}(Willow's POV)

"What happened?" I know what happened just by looking at their thick purple coated eyes. I want to hear that I'm wrong for once.

Cole opens his mouth only to start gagging.

Lloyds shoulders Kai, "You're going to be ok." Lloyd half carries, half drags Kai into the cabin.

I breathe deeply, extending my hand over Cole.

He's unbelievably hot as if he is violently ill. Cole slowly pushes my hand away, rubbing his forehead, "j-..Jay." He points before covering his mouth.

Jay looks awful. He moans loudly while gagging by a tree. I try dragging Cole to the shoreline only to pathetically fall on my face. Zane worms his way over, looking at me with electronic purple coated eyes instead of blue ones, "Jay received the worst of it. I will stay with Cole."

I nod as Lloyd runs out to drag the next one inside. "Jay," I cup his cheeks in my mouth, "You need to focus. Where are you right now?"

He closes and covers his eyes, "The Junkyard? You're not my mom."

Not good.

I gently touch his forehead, a soft white light forming from my hands before he jerks away to gag again, "Ok Jay." I loop his arm over my shoulder, speaking softly as if to not scare a child, "I'm going to get you under some covers."

Jay shakes his head as he tries to walk, "I'm not at the junkyard. The Monastery. Where's Sensei Wu?"

Really not good but he's getting closer to the present.

I pull him inside, tucking him in a blanket on the sofa. I dart out to help drag Cole inside with Lloyd.

"What's wrong with 'em?" Lloyd plops Cole on a loveseat.

"They met the Black King." I force open one of Kai's eyes, moving towards Zane to feel his forehead. "They've got the side effects of his powers."

"Can't you heal them?"

"To an extent." I grit my teeth. Where's Jamie? Or Dallas. I need to know how bad my friends are. I lay my hand on Zane, exhaling slowly as there's a faint white glow, "The King's power targets the brain's mental state. I can relieve their pain but I can't help much." Zane is running a high fever. Zane. The one who's cold to the touch. "They need to be warm. I need blankets and wood to start a fire."

He nods, "On it." He runs out, leaving the door open behind him.

Another door slams open, Jamie in an extremely oversized hoodie and sweats, walks out, she moves the open door, closing it quietly. Her face closer to, 'let them suffer,' then her blank emotionless stare.

White lights twinkle between my fingers as Cole relaxes, "What happened?"

"What happened?" Jamie huffs, her face looking a little red, "What happened was they failed."

I straighten up. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"Oh yeah," her fist squeezes together, "We just failed EVERYTHING!" She takes a breath but she doesn't seem any calmer, "I thought you said they were ready."

"They are. This time was a fluke."

"Was it?" Jamie shakes as Jay moans loudly.

I take a breath, kneeling next to Jay, "What happened with the King?"

"It went so smoothly. I thought you were right, solely based on how they fought off the wisps. Then we ran into a little Black Rose." As she talks, the red leaves her face, "Thinking that four would be better than one, I sent them ahead to shut off the train." She lets out a deeply annoyed breath, "And that's when everything came crashing down."

"The King was in the train, wasn't he?" I thought they were ready. I was wrong, for once. Not like I can do much to help with that problem.

She nods, "No pearl. No train. No furthering our plan."  There's something in her pale blue eyes. A fierceness I see. And one I don't want to see. "And they failed. Why did you tell me they were ready?"

I thought...No, "I know they are. They just need a little fine-tuning."

"In what common sense? Because after what I saw out there, they are sorely lacking."

"Pardon me," Zane pulls himself up, the electric blue of his eyes blinking in and out, "You do not have the right to talk to us like that."

"What's the matter? Can't handle-"

"We can handle anything." Zane tries straightening up as much as he can, "In truth, my analyzer has detected that you are sorely lacking in an area."

"And what's that?" She steps up to him, ready to smack him.

Zane doesn't move. Looking down on her, like a giant facing down a mouse, "Trust."

She looks taken aback a little.

"You did not trust us to fend off the Black Rose, you did not trust us to get out of the Black King's grasp on our own. You do not trust Willow's judgment of us."  Zane shutters as the Black King's effects are still in motion, "a strong suggestion I have is to start trusting."

Jamie is speechless. Nothing but gasps and flustered breath escaping her.

I peek out the door as Lloyd walks in with an armful of wood, the lake is lifting into the sky and starting to snake it's way over. My feet carry me in-between them, "Ok, let's all take a minute, regroup and plot out what we all need to work on."

She slaps my hand away, "Fine." She turns around.

Lloyd looks primed for a fight from that, I can feel my own blood pressure rising but before either I or Lloyd can step in, Zane grabs her shoulder. With a small spark of rage in his eye, he lets a little of his power out, ice growing on her shoulder, "Do. Not. Talk. To. My. Friend. Like that."

Jamie snaps, a fleeting expression of panic on her face before her mask comes on, "Why are you so COLD?" She rips her shoulder form his grasp, jabbing her hands in her pockets, stomping her way upstairs only to slam a door as Dallas stomps in.

Dallas enters from the back room, new uniforms in his arms, "She'll be fine. What do we need next?"

I catch Zane as he stumbles into my arms, "Blankets, fire, and hot cocoa," I command as I gently lay Zane down.

Dallas nods as Lloyd tries starting a fire.

I head to the kitchen, searching for chocolate of any kind I can use.

Dallas isn't too far, pulling fuzzy blankets from the linen closet.

I pause my search for chocolate and milk, my hand taps Dallas' arm, "Is there something-"

"No." Dallas tries pulling away, actually seeming to show emotion. Anxiety. "Nothing she wouldn't tell y' all." He bites his lower lip, "Not that she has nothing." He shakes his head, "The chocolate is in the lower left cabinet. Milk be in the icebox." He pauses as my friends loudly moan, "Grab it real quick and get going."

I eye Dallas as I start making cocoa. Lloyd's finished with the fire. I grab cups, "Lloyd, can you close all the blinds?"

Lloyd nods, quickly pulling close a curation.

I pour the milk into a coffee pot, making the milk warm as I line up some mugs. I grab the chocolate, breaking the chocolate up then pour in the milk. I let the warm milk sit on the chocolate, quickly going to check on them to see, Lloyd and Dallas tucking in the ninja. A strange sight considering how they are all grown adults but sweet nonetheless.

My hands glide back to making hot cocoa before bringing it to them.

"Now what?" Lloyd questions as his face is brightend up by the firelight.

The Ninja moan, rubbing temples and their foreheads.

I hold a finger over my mouth, then point to upstairs. The two follow me. There's not much up here, just a few bedrooms and a forbidden attic. I pick a bedroom, quietly closing the door, "We can't be loud. One of the king's powerful side effects is migrated."

Dallas shrugs, "Those shouldn't be too bad, the King had 'em for two minutes."

"What other side effects are there?" Lloyd leans against a wooden bunk bed.

"Depending on how long the victim has been under his control, nausea, disorientation, minor memory loss and purple coated eyes." I push away the pressing memories of my own time with the annoying yet painful side effects, "The best we can do is treat it like a minor cold. An annoying cold but nothing a little rest and coco can't fix."

"Just be quiet, easy peasy." Lloyd smirks, pausing, "What are we supposed to do until then?"

I shrug, "I'd say now would be the time to watch Jamie's vast movie collection but no noise."
"Speaking of," Dallas steps out, his hand on a rusty doorknob, "I should check on the little whippersnapper." He leaves and quickly closes the door to a deadpanned shouting match.

Lloyd heads out, heading downstairs, "Knowing me, I'll make too much noise even if I didn't do anything. Wanna tag along?"

I shake my head, closing the door, "Nah. I wanna keep an eye on them." I hum a little, "Now would be a great time to have a book."

Lloyd gasps, his hand over his heart with a goofy smile following, "You have no book?"

I smirk my cheek warming from the fire. Yeah, definitely the fire, not at all how he looks in the firelight, "I know, what's the world coming to?"

All four of the Ninja bolt up, "SHH!"

Lloyd rolls his eyes a little, "Fine, fine." He slowly opens the door, "Let me know when it's safe. I'm going to get some training in."

I nod as the door closes off the sunlight.

There's loud shouting upstairs from Dallas. Several shushes from Jamie but nothing I can make out clearly. I can't quite tell but it almost sounds like there's a third and a fourth voice mostly talking.

I shuffle around very quietly as the ninja quickly fall asleep. With Cole, of course, snoring like a tank. I casually lay my hands on their heads, healing as much as I can, though it's not much. Mostly, I try keeping away my own thoughts.

Why'd I let them go? Oh yeah, Because I had no idea the Black King was here! Neither did Jamie. Still...I should have taken it into account.

I slide down near Jay, who's shivering like a wet kitten even under a fuzzy blanket.

I should have gone as planned instead of them

What about that sweet moment with Lloyd? I wouldn't have had that if I left.

My friends also wouldn't be in complete mind-numbing pain right now either.

"You seem...." Kai rubs his forehead, taking a deep breath while sitting up, "It's gone. It was on the tip of my tongue and now it's gone."

"You should really be sleeping. You need to rest."

"And you need to give yourself a break." He smirks a little, winching at Cole's snoring, "I thought I was used to it."

"You got mind blasted by an evil demon winged dictator and Cole's snoring is your concern?"

"Well, Gah!" He shutters, covering his mouth a little.

"Here," I get up, quickly placing my hand between his hair spikes. A soft white glow quickly covers his hair, "Better?"

"Oh yeah." He smirks as the others moan, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For being a good friend. Like straight up awesome." His tone softens a little, "I know we put you through a lot of crap with the whole secret prophecy thing. I'm sorry. I can't shake it, even thought everyone agreed, and if we said anything sooner, who knows." He waves his hand. He smirks a little, "I'm just glad you still trust us."

"I don't." My arms fold, pinning to my waist, "I don't think I'm going to get past it that easy."

He shrugs it off, "I think you do. You healed us without a second thought."

"I happen to care."

"Because we're friends." Kai has a pleasant yet cocky smile on his face, "And friends trust each other. Even if the trust is as small as a mustard seed."

I hum, "Sensei Wu?"

"Nah, that one came from me."

So humble. I try to not roll my eyes as a door creaks open from upstairs. Jamie walks down with an emotionless face and a long black sheet of paper. She slowly walks to the coffee table, rolls open the paper while staying quiet. A little too quiet.

Dallas reappears to let Lloyd back in.

Jamie doesn't look up or even seems to notice me. She just taps the sheet, "Wake 'em up, please. We need a talk."

"Fine." I gently shake the ninja as Kai glares daggers at her.

Jay moans the most as his eyes nearly glow purple. Zane seems the most ticked off but it trying hard to not show it. Cole looks longingly at the hot cocoa I nearly forgot.

Jamie hums as Lloyd finds a spot on the wall, "After considering out the situation, I've decided to take down the Black King sooner than expected. After all," she finally makes eye contact with me only to send shivers down my spine, "Many hands make light work."

I break first, grabbing the coco then passing it out.

"We have a plan, NOW??" Jay perks ups after his first big gulp, "What?"

"Correction, now," Dallas taps the black sheet as a hologram of the King's main base appears, "Agent Starr has always had a plan. Don't go pitching a fit just cause we didn't include y' all."

Kai huffs, the fire cracklings a little louder.

"Oh, I'm just picking on ya " Dallas smirks a little, stepping back.

"Dallas," Jamie turns her cold stare on him, "Shut up."

Dallas hangs his head a little.

"It's easy," she expands on a small corner, "we have three teams but all with the priority is to get everyone in here. The first team will sneck thought the back door and by hacking the algorithm, we can create a massive evacuation, getting everyone in town into the King's castle. Then we use the tunnels underground to move them out." She rubs her nose while zooming out.
Cole sets his mug down, "And how do we get the King out of his castle, oh pray tell."

"A distraction." Jamie taps the field outside the castle, "We have at least two foes we need to worry about, the Black King and Black Rose. I believe there's a way to buy enough time by fighting these two."

"I don't know if you know this, " Lloyd's playful green eyes disappear in the shadows, "But even all of us couldn't defeat the Black Rose."

"And look how well we did against the Black King..." Kai smirks, sipping slowly, "According to you at least."

Jamie snarls a little, "Which is why you're not fighting the Black King." She looks at me, then her icy eyes point towards Lloyd, "you are."

"Excuse me?" Fight. Me. Against the Black King.

No.

Not again.
I can't.

"The King hasn't fought you in eons, you've gotten stronger. Not to mention you'll have Liam fighting with you."

Cole's ears tint red, "His name is Lloyd."

She shrugs, "And you, Colber and Ziggy, will be fighting the Black Rose."

Jay jumps up from the couch, "Don't you hear us! LAST TIME WE FOUGHT THE BLACK ROSE, OUR TAILS WERE HANDED TO US!"

Jamie slams her hands on the table, standing up and scaring Jay to fall back. She doesn't even flinch as he lands with a hard thud, "Trust me, you all will be stronger for this fight. And this time, you're fighting to distract. Not to win."

Zane stirs his cocco, not sipping it, "And how will we be stronger?"

Jamie glances at me, "With whatever she teaches you."

My mouth nearly drops to the floor, "Excuse me?"

"We don't need board skills to win. Just a few.... Fine-tuned elements." Jamies savers the words as the fire casts a shadow over her face, "Jay needs to be able to hack the electronics so the algorithm can be tricked, Kai needs to be a much better sword fighter. Zane needs to be able to listen to ice and snow to be able to anticipate the Black Rose's fight, Cole needs to be able to track his enemies. Lloyd needs to be able to create a force field so he can protect multiple people and you," she nearly touches my chest, "need to be able to do the air twitius things."

I straight up as much as I can to get an inch on her, "Airjitzu."

She rolls her eyes, "Whatever. You want to take down your father right? This is how we do it. Taking away the hostages and rubbing his face in it. I just gave you a full proof plan and you want to argue."

"I don't. I don't know what I was expecting was all."

She nods, "Good. Until then," she pushes down the hologram, rolling up the sheet, "Rest up. We have a lot of work to do." She walks down the hall.

Zane sips his cocco a little, "Strength alone, however, won't win us the fight. All that matters is saving the people, correct, Miss Starr?"

Jamie freezes a little, her hand on a doorknob, her back to us.

She's quiet for a bit too long. Like she's confused.

"Yes, Zane. The people are all that matters." She walks away as Dallas follows.

Kai scratches his head, "Did she.... Did she just get our names, right?"