"We were supposed to leave by nine, guys! It's ten-thirty!" Lloyd yelled while hopping around, trying to stuff his left foot into his sneaker.

Kai was currently at the mirror in his room, fixing his hair. "We would've been on the road an hour ago if Cole hadn't started making cookies at the last minute. Something he was supposed to do yesterday!"

"I forgot, okay!" came a yell from the kitchen, undoubtedly Cole's.

Just then, Jay dashed out of his room holding a pair of blue socks, panic evident on his face. "Why is Cole making the cookies?!"

Zane looked up from the small table on which were laid several sandwiches and dry cake slices which the nindroid was sorting into disposable lunchboxes with the initials of each of the team's members. "I believe it's because Cole has the most time on his hands as he has completed his packing," Zane said, putting a sandwich in the box marked with a green "L".

Jay scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"That isn't packing, Zane. He just throws stuff into his duffel bag. Besides, you know I don't trust Cole with cooking and stuff." Here, Jay raised his voice, making sure it was heard by Kai who had stepped out of his room. "Last time he almost poisoned us with his cookies because some idiot put washing powder into the baking soda jar!"

The morning had found the monastery in a complete uproar with everyone scurrying about and yelling at each other. Lloyd had suggested that they go on a road trip seeing that they had only explored Ninjago when they were on the case of some crackhead villain.

The Green Ninja thought it to be a good family-bonding activity where they could enjoy themselves without being chased by a gang of thugs, ghosts, snakes or angry mobs. He was standing in the middle of the hall, shouting at anyone who passed. He had wanted this to be a normal road trip and they were already jinxing it by being late.

Nya hopped out of her room, wearing a navy blue tee-shirt with "Aqua" written on the front in light blue sequined lettering and tight, dark blue jeans. She also sported sunglasses with little dolphins on the corner of the rims and lightning bolt shaped earrings.

"Alright people! Let's do this!" she exclaimed cheerfully. She was definitely in the mood for a little break from being a ninja. She hummed a tune as she zipped open her duffel bag and looked inside to make sure she had packed everything she needed. "Toothbrush, toothpaste, towels, shampoo, a bar of soap, lip gloss, hairbrush, hairdryer, clothes; perfect!"

Jay walked over and glanced at her bag, scratching his auburn hair.
"Uh, Nya? We're going on a road trip. Not taking a bath."

Nya rolled her black eyes which the Master of Lightning couldn't see because of her sunglasses. She zipped up her bag and stared at him. "Just because I live with boys doesn't mean I have to stink like them."

Jay's arm quickly shot up as he sniffed under his armpit. He couldn't smell anything because he had just taken a shower but frowned at Nya all the same. "We don't stink that much."

Nya giggled. "I was kidding, Zaptrap. Now, zip it and take my bag outside." She threw her duffel bag at Jay. "Thanks, you're a doll!"

She was about to kiss Jay on the cheek when Kai pushed them away and turned towards Nya. He snatched her sunglasses off of her face and held them up in the air so that his sister couldn't reach it. "Who said you're coming along?"

Nya looked at Kai disbelievingly.
"Uh, my being a part of your team says."

Kai looked down the hall at Lloyd who was screaming at Zane that no hell was going to break loose if the sandwiches touched the cake slices and that there was no need to protect them from one another with plastic shrink wraps.

"Yo, Garmadon!" the Master of Fire yelled. "I thought you said that this was a 'boys only' road trip."

"When did I ever say that?" Lloyd shouted back who knew better than to label anything as 'boys only' unless he wanted to see Nya become more violent than a blood-thirsty shark.

Kai rolled his eyes and turned back to his sister who looked like she was about to explode. "Sorry, sis, but you're gonna have to sit this one out. Anyway, you can have way more fun hangin' out with Pixal and Skylor. Hold on, lemme text her, tell her to come pick you up."

Kai whipped out his phone, ignoring Jay's warning looks and gestures, and started typing away to the Master of Amber, the tapping sound of the keys filling the air. Nya suddenly lunged at him and snatched his phone and her sunglasses out of his hands.

"What's your problem?!" Kai yelled indignantly.

"Look," Nya began in a calm voice that sounded forced, "I have as much right of coming along as you have. So, no matter what you say, I'm coming."

"No, you're not!"

Nya raised a hand to slap Kai across the face but stopped short. It wasn't because she was scared of what he'll do to her if she did strike him (seriously, she could kick his butt in her sleep). It was because she didn't want to hit him in front of his friends. He had some dignity as well, right?

"Nya, everyone knows you're super annoying."

Okay, he really needed a slap. On the face. With a table made of metal. Thrown by Garmadon's Colossus.

Nya shoved her brother's phone towards his chest and stamped on his foot. "Come on! You guys won't last a day without me!"

"What?! That's nonsense!"

Zane got up from the table and arrived at the scene of the siblings' "fight to the death" as Jay had dubbed it whenever Kai and Nya would quarrel.

"She has a point," he said, raising a titanium finger. "It is scientifically proven that women are better at handling emergency situations than men. And after a quick analysis of our previous adventures, this seems to be true."

Kai looked at the nindroid incredulously. "Zane?! Are you on my side or hers?"

"I am on no one's side. I'm merely stating a general fact."

"Yep. He's on her side," Lloyd murmured who had appeared from behind Zane.

"Chill out, Nya," Cole said, emerging from the kitchen with a cake tin filled with freshly baked cookies. "It's just a road trip. We can handle ourselves. Besides, the worst that can happen is that we run out of food which is supposed to last us till we find a motel. Which is unlikely because we aren't pigs, right?"

"Says the guy whose tumbly still has the rumblies worse than Winnie the Pooh's even after eating an entire cake," muttered Jay.

"Hey!"

"Okay, okay. We'll vote," Kai announced as Nya scoffed disbelievingly. "Who doesn't want Nya to come along?" He and Cole both raised their hands.

"Only two?" Kai complained, annoyed with the way Nya was smirking.
"Okay, then. Who wants Nya to come along?"

Jay and Zane raised their hands while Lloyd rolled his eyes.

"Ha!" Nya exclaimed, pointing a finger at her brother. "It's a tie. That means I'm coming." She began walking towards the main door before Kai blocked her way.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're not going anywhere. Lloyd hasn't voted yet."

They all turned to Lloyd expectantly who shook his head. "I can't believe you guys are even doing this! We're getting late and all you guys wanna do is play stupid games!"

Kai folded his arms and glared at the Green Ninja. He was going to make sure Lloyd stayed on his side. "Decide quickly, buddy. Me or Nya?"

Jay groaned and took hold of Nya's hand. "She's coming, guys!" Nya gave him a small smile which he returned with a nod.

Cole pointed his finger at the yin-yang couple. "Now both of you aren't coming along." The red ninja nodded. "He's right!"

"Hey! What did I do?" Jay yelled.

"You compared me with Winnie the Pooh! Who does that?" the Master of Earth retorted.

"What's a Pooh?" Zane's voice cut into the conversation.

Confused, irritated and angry, Lloyd's face turned red. He clenched his fists and screamed at the top of his lungs, "SHUT UP!!"

Everyone abruptly stopped talking and stared at Lloyd as if he were a bomb that had just blown up. The said "bomb" stomped forward and poked a finger at Kai. "Nya is joining us on this road trip whether you like it or not. So I suggest you all stop wasting time and get your butts deposited in the car!"

"Alright. Sheesh, will you chill?" Cole muttered and hurried away to pack the cookies he had made. "By the way, I'm calling shotgun!"

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Um, you're driving."

"Oh, right."

Lloyd looked at the digital wall clock which glowed 10:45 before glaring at the others. "I want everyone down at the rental car in five minutes or else your faces will serve as target practice," he threatened, snapping his fingers and producing a ball of energy. "Now, go!"

Zane put a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, trying to calm him. "Cole is right, Lloyd. You do need to . . . what was it . . . chill."

"I'm the definition of chill right now!" the blonde exclaimed, breathing heavily, his right eye twitching. Nya chewed on her lip before saying, "Yeah, you don't look so chill."

The blonde started yelling at Zane again who picked up the disposable lunch boxes and ran out into the courtyard, followed by a barefooted Jay who carried a packet of plastic shrink wraps.

"Don't forget these, Zane! I don't like my cake covered in sandwich fillings."

Lloyd displayed the "I'm watching you" gesture towards the siblings, grabbed the car keys off the table and left as well.

Kai, on the other hand, simply gave Nya a death-glare which was ignored by the Master of Water. She put her sunglasses back on and shrugged her duffel bag onto her shoulders. Without looking at Kai, she sashayed out of the monastery, a triumphant smirk on her face.

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