It was a very long week of reconstruction since the attack of the Great Devourer.

Fortunately, all of the slime had been cleaned by now. Fallen edifices were nearly finished being rebuilt. With every citizen pitching in, working day and night, everything was being done at a very quick pace.

The ninjas all stood together at the metro station. Jay, Zane, and Cole lifted the fallen sign back up. Scarlett and Lloyd picked up the trash around them.

Cole let out a sigh of relief. "There. All fixed up and Serpentine free."

Kai wasn't really doing much except standing around. In exasperation, he released a shameful blast of fire that barely flew an inch out of his palm. Mere sparks burst from his fingertips.

"This is so frustrating. Our weapons are gone and most of our elemental powers are gone! I mean we can still do spinjitzu, but..."

At the same time, the other three nearly dropped the tall sign.

Lloyd looked up at Scarlett. "Must be real nice not to rely on a weapon for your powers."

She nodded. "Oh, it's great. But I'm not gonna bring it up. It's pissing Kai off more than when we all found out he was afraid of gingerbread men."

He didn't hear them, so he continued. "I just feel so, I don't know... limited. And thanks to the Devourer, our tank's out of commission, our dragon's hurt, and now that the Bounty is destroyed, we don't even have a place to sleep!"

Zane lifted the metal mask he held and halted his welding. "No one ever said being a hero is easy. Though our good deeds may never make us rich, they make us rich in other ways."

Kai paced away for a second. "Yeah, well I don't feel rich."

Jay went to pick up a broken TV and throw it in the trash bin. "I for one enjoy pitching in. I've always wanted to feel part of a community."

Once dusting his hands off, he turned to everybody. "Ah, speaking of which, anyone see Nya? She said she was gonna help."

"And I have!"

The cheerful voice of the samurai made all six face the road. Driving in on a red moped with Wu in tow, Nya wore a tight red helmet and matching goggles. She waved an envelope in her hand.

"I may have found us a place to live!"

Jay blinked in surprise. "Really? But there's a waiting list a mile long to live in Ninjago City. How did you do that?"

"I know a guy who knows a girl. And she knows this girl who knows a guy. Well, this guy knows a girl who's a real estate agent, and she can help you find a place! If you catch my drift."

Everyone only blinked at her ramble.

"Wow, you sound worse than me," Scarlett commented.

Jay took the pamphlet she handed to him. "And where are you off to?"

"We have to find a couple of components to fix the Ninja Tank, and my Dragon Ointment has finally arrived," Wu explained. "It's a day's trip, but once we get back, he'll be flying once again."

A crooked smile then appeared on his face. "Also, I love scenic drives." A snorty chuckle. "Punch it, Nya!"

"Aye, aye, Sensei!"

The samurai then drove off with their teacher cheering like a teenager.

Jay glanced down at the pamphlet, observing the woman posed with a large key in her hand and behind her. "Patty Keys, Real Estate Queen. Huh, this is exactly what we need! Once we get a roof over our head, we can start properly training Lloyd and Scarlett."

The two named gave each other a high-five.

Cole stood in front of the group. "Good, 'cuz if we know Lord Garmadon, he's not gonna be taking any breaks. And let's not forget, the Serpentine are still at large."

So they called this agent up. Hopefully they'd get something worthwhile.

Scarlett heard faint shuffling in the distance. She turned her head to find a figure facing her direction from a broken building not too far off.

She squinted. Was she actually seeing that?

"Yo, you coming, Casper?"

Jay's voice made her shake her head back to reality. Everyone was already a few feet away and staring.

When the teen looked at the spot again, it was empty. No one was there.

"Wow, I must be going insane," she muttered under her breath before hurrying after the others. "Coming!"

¤ ¤

Fortunately, the agent replied pretty quick. In just an hour, Patty Keys was ready to show them what could be offered.

But god, did it reek when they peeked inside.

She tried to be as enthusiastic as possible, baring a cheery smile as she pushed the door open. "This one bedroom, one half bath is a cozy dream! Who needs extras when everything is in arm's reach? Now wait until you see the lighting!"

She flipped a switch. The single lightbulb in the room flickered on and off before it fell off the cord and shattered.

"Uh, who needs lights when you have this view!" Nervously, Patty pulled up the shades. There was just pure brick. "Um..."

The place was not only one bedroom and one half bathroom, but it was too small, messy, and looked like the last time someone lived in it was in the 1700s.

Lloyd, being the child he was, had no filter. "Uh, why do I smell old people?"

She whirled around, irritated. "Look, doll, I'm trying to work around your budget. This is all you can afford!"

Scarlett began to think. "Wait a minute..."

"Well, this looks... promising," Cole cut off her thinking. "Remember, guys. Sensei told us our main objective is to train Lloyd and Scarlett, not kick our feet up in some swanky suite. If this is all we can afford, this is all we can afford..."

The teen tapped his shoulder. "Um, Cole? About that..."

"Woah, woah, woah," Jay hurriedly began, "let's not rush into any decision. I mean, if it's really all about them, don't we need to live some place that'll make their training easier?"

"Yeah, Jay's right," Kai agreed. "If we have to teach Scarlett how to hold a weapon right and get Lloyd ready to save Ninjago from his father, shouldn't they at least have their own rooms?"

Zane smiled. "Technically, that does not matter. He only—"

Kai elbowed him in the chest.

"We're only thinking about the children." Jay placed his hands on both ninjas' heads.

She frowned. "There is a pretty big age gap between me and Lloyd, asshole."

Patty seemed more sincere with her smile now. "I do have another property that you'll just love."

They all followed her into the elevator. They rose many floors.

Once the doors opened, the ninja were in awe.

"Woah!"

She explained everything at a rapid yet easy pace to thoroughly describe the apartment they were gawking at. "Now, this is the eight-bedroom Hero Suite. Floor to ceiling windows, digital wall television, state-of-the-art game console..."

It was much cleaner than the basement. Brighter, with a view one could kill for. Couches were in front of the grand TV, and the bedrooms were all in sight. Surely decently sized, too.

Of course, Cole started to ruin the fun. "Uh, it seems a little out of our price range."

Before Scarlett could open her mouth again, Patty did first. "Oh, sure it costs a little more, but you deserve it! I forgot to mention, there's also a dragon keep on the roof."

This really impressed them all. Scarlett's eyes sparkled.

Jay was the first behind her on their way to the window. "Maybe we can get a hero discount. After all, we are the ninja that saved the city."

Patty whirled around with a hand on her hip. "I thought Lord Garmadon saved the city."

He crossed his arms.

"We could get day jobs," Kai suggested, "to pay for the extra expenses."

The idea made Zane smile. "We always said we could use a little more responsibility."

Then the fire ninja thought of something else. "But we have to train these two, especially Lloyd."

Patty poked her head behind the child with a grin. "Did I mention the in-house training facility?"

She pressed a button on the remote in her hand. A door they hadn't noticed yet slid open, revealing a room with many forms of training equipment. Of course, those were all part of the extra expenses Kai referred to.

Mouths hung open. In unison, the four boys shouted, "We'll take it!"

Patty smiled. Scarlett turned them both around so the others couldn't hear the conversation. "I got the first month fully covered. Probably the second month, too. I'll just need a few days to get it all in order."

"Yeah, I figured someone like yourself would have some sort of change in her pocket," the agent teased with a smile. "How come your budget was so low, then?"

"Well, to be honest... I kind of forgot about it. So when you all started talking money, everything just hit me." Scarlett lightly rolled her eyes. "But you know men. They love to have the last word. Never let me get one out! So I'll let them bust their asses finding jobs. They're grown. Like they said, they need to have responsibility, anyway."

"I see." Patty let out a little giggle. "Sounds fair enough. I'll talk to the landlord and see when we can have this settled."

"Perfect." The teen sincerely smiled. "Thank you!"

Meanwhile, the five boys stared at them.

"Uh... what are they whispering about?" Jay questioned.

"I dunno, probably woman stuff," Kai unsurely answered. "What do women talk about exactly?"

"Women can talk about a multitude of things," Zane responded. "They can talk about their day, the weather..."

"Uh, Zane?" Cole turned to his friend. "I'm pretty sure anybody can talk about that."

"Precisely. A woman is a regular person. They can talk about anything."

¤ ¤

Lloyd walked around in the empty room previously filled with training equipment. He even spun around. He did anything to try and cure his boredom.

Scarlett was on the phone, talking and laughing.

"Girl, you had one of the sexiest shoots ever and then like, fell off the face of the earth! What the fuck happened?"

"Sorry, sorry!" she giggled. "You know all this ninja stuff sort of happened out of the blue. I hope they'll still take me back."

"Are you kidding? You're their star! And my favorite girl. And the fact that you're a ninja? And apparently a dragon, or something? I still can't believe that one. This'll be one of the craziest covers yet."

"Oh, I'm glad!"

Kai was peering down at a newspaper, searching for available jobs open. "So, was anybody ever gonna bring up the fact that she had thousands in savings?"

"Yeah, I wish she told us this sooner. We looked like losers," Cole agreed with a slight frown.

"I'm pretty sure she tried to bring it up at one point today," Lloyd began, "but you guys wouldn't shut up."

The four glared at him.

"Okay, babe. See you then!" were Scarlett's last cheery words before she hung up the phone and turned back to her team.

"What did she say?" Zane questioned. "Are you going back?"

"Yeah! She said they'll be happy to have me back," she answered. A wide grin was plastered on her face. "I'm actually kind of excited! I was being a little mean before... are you guys sure you don't want me to handle everything?"

"No, no. You're already handling rent, which is more than enough," Cole replied with a sort of scolding expression. "We need to take some responsibility, too. This is a team effort."

"Besides, you got the hard part. I'm sure with all of us, paying for the extra stuff won't be too bad." Jay waved her concern off with a lazy smile.

"Speaking of... how's job searching going for everyone?" Kai asked before lifting his head.

"I'm just waiting for a call from this pizza place. Said they need drivers," the ninja in blue responded.

"I have a few restaurants in mind. I'm sure at least one of them could use a chef," Zane added.

"Ooh!" Scarlett bounced with excitement. "You gotta tell me where when you start working."

"I'm kind of in between bodyguard jobs. I gotta figure out if I'd rather be a security guard or a bouncer," Cole bluntly added.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"What?"

Lloyd blinked. "Is a bouncer what I think it is?"

Scarlett lightly gasped and covered his ears. "You should not know what that is."

The child pouted.

"You know, I see it." Jay shrugged. "But... don't you have to be at least twenty one to do that?"

The former let out a tsk. "Nope. All that matters is that I'm old enough to file taxes. Even though I'm a ninja so... I don't exactly do that regardless. But I can defend a place better than anybody out there."

"I love the idea!" the teen chirped. "You should definitely go for it, if they take you. I don't see why they wouldn't. You're a young, attractive guy with brute strength to crush a skull. Just what a club needs!"

He'd be lying if he said that didn't boost his ego a bit.

Kai started to grumble under his breath. His friends seemed so successful already and their jobs weren't even secure, save for Scarlett's.

At this point, anything would do. Even the mascot job for children's parties.

What they weren't aware of was that Garmadon had already begun to form his army of Serpentine. And he planned on making the Golden Weapons stronger than they ever were in his grasp.