NOTE: This fanfiction takes place in between seasons three and four… this means Garmadon is a sensei, Cole and Jay are still fighting over Nya, Cole is still human, Garmadon is still there, Pixal is still in one piece, and Zane is titanium. I just thought Zane and Pixal would look really good together, with what their titanium skin and all. I might take a while to add new chapters, since I’m currently writing two different books as well. Also, I’ll probably favor Zane a little, since he’s my favorite! 😀

Chapter 1: New Mission

Lloyd concentrated on the problem before him, focusing on one enemy at a time. “Hi-yah!” he shouted, giving the first one a ball of green energy in the stomach. Spinning around, he punched another one in the nose before it could knock him down. Then, the intense fighter ducked under an axe meant to take his head off, and he continued the motion to kick its wielder in the face.

Lloyd stepped back to observe the damage he’d done to the training course dummies. He noted with satisfaction that he’d taken them all down in record time, as well as completely destroyed them like his mother wished.

“Good job,” came a kind voice from behind Lloyd. He whipped around, nearly punching his mother in the face.

“Sorry- you surprised me. I guess all this training is making me a little alert,” he apologized. “I’ll clean the mess up in a minute.”
Misako smiled. “I didn’t come to tell you to clean up your mess… I know you’ll do that regardless,” she explained. “I came to let you know it’s time for dinner.” When Lloyd didn’t move, she added, “Zane cooked.”
Lloyd immediately went into motion, using spinjitzu to sweep the broken pieces into a pile. He used fire to weld it into a solid ball, then used super strength to throw it off the Destiny’s Bounty. He brushed off his hands. “Done,” he said, then ran below decks to the dining room.

Once Lloyd arrived in the dining room, he found his father and uncle already seated. Cole was also there, eagerly staring at the door leading to the kitchen. Lloyd took his normal seat next to his father.

Zane was having a hard time in the kitchen. A timer beeped, and he rushed to the oven to take out the cake he was baking on request from Cole. However, he could smell the bacon Jay asked for burning on the stove at the same time. He pushed the skillet of bacon off the stove as he opened the oven door with his foot.

Steam rushed out of the oven, and Zane quickly pulled the cake out. After setting it on a heating pad on the counter, he turned the oven and stove off. The room was now filled with steam from the oven and smoke from the bacon, so he yanked the window open. As the kitchen aired out, he opened the fridge to warm up leftover noodles.

Misako opened the door and peeked in. “Almost done?” she asked. “Cole is on the edge of his seat waiting.”
Zane gritted his teeth as he washed the cake tin and the greasy skillet at the same time while the cake cooled. “Almost,” he answered, drying off the dishes and putting them away while taking out more plates.

Misako smiled. “Good! Dinner smells delicious, by the way.” She left, leaving Zane once again alone with the food.

Zane put the clean skillet back on the stove, then turned up the heat. He turned back to the counter to chop vegetables to simmer in soy sauce. He threw in a few diced chili peppers to spice it up on Kai’s request. In a few minutes, the vegetables were simmering steadily with the bacon and noodles, and he could move on to the cake.

Zane once again went to the fridge, and he pulled out the chocolate icing he would use for the chocolate cake. After icing it, he stepped back to admire his masterpiece. However, something was missing. Zane knew Lloyd had asked for him to add something to the cake, but he couldn’t remember what.

At that moment, Zane saw the bag of m&m’s sitting on the counter. That was what he was forgetting! He dumped out a handful and decorated the edges of the cake with them. He’d left them on the counter after putting them in the batter, knowing he would forget about adorning the cake with them.

Zane put the cake in the freezer, then moved the simmering noodles off the stove. He turned off the heat. Taking out a large bowl, he transferred the spicy Asian noodle mix into it. He then stacked up all the plates he’d taken out, grabbed the silverware, and headed into the dining room to set the table while the food cooled.

Lloyd’s stomach was growling. He was absolutely starving by now, and he wondered where Kai, Nya, and Jay were. “Have you seen the others?” he asked Cole.

“Nope,” the ninja of earth answered without tearing his eyes away from the kitchen door. Scrumptious smells were coming out of it, and he was practically drooling on the table.

Just when Lloyd thought he couldn’t wait another second, Zane came out with plates and silverware. “Diner will be out in just a second,” he said. Nya walked in. “Nya, would you mind calling Jay and your brother to the table?”
Nya rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure they’ll be over soon. They can smell the food.” She sat down next to Lloyd.

Zane went back into the kitchen. Moments later, he came out with dinner, and he sat down. “Now, all we need are Kai and Jay,” he said, and they all waited for the two boys to come.

Meanwhile, those two ninja were playing video games. Jay lost for the sixteenth time, and he threw down his controller in frustration. “Ugh! I’ve officially proven no one can beat you at Fist to Face 2… hey, do you smell something?”
Kai turned off the TV and sniffed. “Yeah, it smells like-”
“Kai, Jay… dinner!” Misako called through the house.

In seconds, the two missing ninja were seated at the table. Minutes after that, and the food Zane had cooked was diminished by half. “Ah… spicy,” Kai said, leaning back in his chair after finishing his second helping.

Once the meal was gone and Cole had eaten half a cake, Sensei Wu stood up. “Garmadon and I have been looking into something that may interest you,” he announced. “We discovered that a naturally caused portal to another realm has been opened in the past.”
As Wu sat back down, Garmadon continued. “If our calculations are correct, then it will open again in a few days. If someone were to fall into that portal, it would be dangerous. What Misako, Wu, and I want you six to do is go through that portal and find out where it leads. Make it safe. Only, be sure to make it out before the portal closes again, or you’ll have to spend years in that realm before the portal reopens,” he explained.

“Well hey, wait just a minute- you just said the portal was dangerous. If that’s the case, then why are you sending us through it!” Jay took a deep breath, then sat back down, his momentary panic over.

Sensei Wu pulled his beard thoughtfully. “Because you’re ninja, and that’s your job. I trust you to avoid getting killed.”
Nya rolled her eyes. “Um, you realize we’re talking about Jay, right? Not to hurt your feelings, Jay, but you’re kind of… well, not trustworthy…”
“I know- we’re not super trustworthy, we’ll be going through an unsafe portal, and we don’t know where it leads.” Jay chuckled, then sighed, letting his head rest on the table. “What could go wrong?”

Cole stood up slowly due to the large amount of food in his stomach. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been dying for a new mission. This should be fun!”

“I’m with Cole. We’ve been cooped up with no one to save for too long,” Kai complained.

Zane smiled. “Don’t worry, Jay- we’ll be fine,” he assured his nervous brother. “And I, for one, look forward to helping Ninjago again!”

Kai grinned. “Oh, I can’t wait to see the look on Skylor’s face when I save the city again!”

“I bet that’s all you care about,” Jay said.

“No! I care about other things, like my fans-”

“Anyway, we should probably get to bed so we can prepare for the mission tomorrow,” Zane said, removing the dishes from the table so he could wash them.

…

The next day was a rush of preparations. Kai and Jay were the only ones not doing anything productive. They managed to fry the television’s circuitry four times in a row, and Nya finally gave up repairing it. Instead, she moved on to helping Zane estimate the time the portal would open and where.

Cole walked into the room where Nya and Zane were working at the computers. “Hey, Nya… I don’t want to interrupt what you’re doing, but once you’re done, could make us new suits?” he asked hesitantly.

Jay, who happened to be walking past, stepped in. “Ooh, yeah! I could help you design them, Nya- you know, because I love helping.” He blinked innocently.

“Pfft, you just want to be by Nya,” Cole protested.

“Well, you do, too!”
“So what if I do? Kai likes to-”
“Someone’s talking about me?” Kai walked in. He scowled once he realized Cole and Jay were pointing out that they liked hanging around their crushes. “Well, we all know Zane does it, too-”

“Leave me out of this,” Zane interrupted firmly. “It’s Cole and Jay’s argument, and they need to decide when they stop.”

Kai shrugged, then leaned in the doorway. “So, you’re designing new suits for us to use? How about they reflect our elemental powers… make sure to give mine a big flame on the side.”

Nya sighed. “I guess I am designing suits, then. Zane, can you do the rest by yourself while I make your guys’ new gis?”

“Of course,” Zane answered without looking up.

A few hours later, Nya was putting the finishing touches on the gis she made for the ninja. She cut the excess thread from Cole’s suit, then held it out in front of her so she could admire her work. The new suits were slick and flexible, and had masks instead of hoods. Each gi featured the wearer’s element and symbol: Kai’s had a large flame covering his right half; Cole’s had rocks on his right; Jay’s had lightning; Lloyd’s had green energy; and Zane’s had a streak of ice. Nya even made a suit for herself, only it had her Samurai X symbol on the side. Last second, she decided to make new gis for Skylor and Pixal, since they were honorary ninja.

Nya smiled, once she was satisfied. “Oh, yeah- whatever my brother and the others face, they’ll face it with style!”

Chapter 2: Through the Portal

“And you all remember what to do?” The two senseis were running through what the ninja were supposed to do once they arrived on the opposite end of the portal.

“Yeah, yeah- we make sure the area is safe, then one of us stays to protect the portal while the rest of us discover the world and figure out what caused the portal to appear,” Kai recited impatiently. “We know this already!”
Jay stared eagerly at the spot on the ground a few feet ahead of them, where the portal was supposed to appear. Over the night, he’d gotten excited about the new mission, and he couldn’t wait to go into the unknown. “When did you say the portal would open?”

Sensei Garmadon facepalmed. “We just went over that! It should open any second,” he explained, sounding almost as impatient as Kai. “Which means-”
A sudden gust of cool air blew past, and the sky darkened in a matter of seconds. Zane stared at the dark clouds with a critical eye. “That can’t be normal,” he said, just as Skylor came running up.

“I saw the sky above this area, and I knew you guys would be here,” she panted. Kai was blushing furiously.

Just as Kai was about to say something, they all heard, “Ninjago! Jump up, kick back, whip around and spin…” Zane dug around in his pocket, then pulled out his ringing phone. The screen was in pristine condition (unlike Kai’s, which had been forcefully acquainted with the floor too many times to count), and Pixal’s face was displayed.

“Um, please excuse me for a moment,” Zane said, his face as purple as Kai’s was red. He stepped away from the group and answered the phone. The others could hear his one-sided conversation: “Yes? I know, it’s been awhile… yes, how did you guess? Wait, right now?” Zane looked up to his right.

A few seconds later, Pixal was with them, too. “I assume you have another mission?” she asked, and Zane nodded.

“You can join us if you want,” Nya offered. She held out the two extra gis. She’d known Skylor and Pixal would find their way to the ninja before they left, so she’d brought them.

Skylor immediately picked up the orange one and did a quick spinjitzu change. Pixal took the sleek, silver one out of Nya’s hand, then just stared at it. “Aren’t you going to put it on?” Skylor asked the female Android.

“I cannot do spinjitzu without Zane, and that would defeat the entire purpose. Wouldn’t it?” Pixal tipped her head in consideration.

Zane looked guilty. He considered it his fault that Pixal couldn’t put on her gi, so he quickly built an enclosed structure around her out of ice. It was thick enough where you couldn’t see through it.

A few seconds later, Pixal tapped on the ice. “Kai? I could use your fire right now.”
“Wow, that was fast,” the red ninja replied.

By the time Kai melted Pixal out of the icy enclosure, the sky above them was black. Strangely, the blackness swirled in a circle above the ninja, and the sky beyond the revolving circle was bright and cloudless. The ninja’s hair was standing on end. A moment later, a bolt of lightning so loud, it sounded like the sky was ripping open hit the ground only an inch or to from the robots. They disappeared, and the sky cleared to its normal state.

Where the lightning had been a moment before was a rip. It was suspended in midair, and there seemed to be a magical pulse emanating from it. Jay stepped closer to the tear. “Do you think this is it?” he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped through.

“Jay!” Nya yelled. “What was he thinking?!” She leapt through after him, and Kai started to go after his sister. However, just before he could go in, Skylor grabbed his ankle. They both tumbled out of sight together. Cole shrugged, then stepped through with Lloyd to join his friends.

“I sure hope the ninja know what they’re doing,” Misako said, shaking her head.

“Have they ever?” Sensei Garmadon responded with a sigh. He folded his arms and leaned on his staff, prepared to keep local citizens away from the dangerous portal.

…

Every fiber in Jay’s being tingled. He felt… strange, like something about himself had changed without his knowing. He stood up from where he’d ended up when he fell out of the sky. A familiar gasp came from behind him, then a chuckle.

“No way! Cole’s a pig- like, literally!”

Jay turned around and nearly bumped into Kai, who was doubling over with laughter as he pointed to the black mound lying on the ground a few feet away.

Jay looked at Nya in disbelief. “I think going through the portal damaged your brother’s mind, and he just went insane.” He stared sadly at Kai, who was still choking on a laugh. “You know, I always thought I would get to do that before him.”

However, Jay fell over laughing, too, when Cole stood up. He had small, pointy black ears poking out of his hair, his nose was turned up at an extreme tilt, and he had a short tail that resembled a spring. “What? Why are you all looking at me like that…” Cole trailed off and chuckled. “Wow, I didn’t know going through the portal would cause you to grow ears, whiskers, and a tail, Jay!”

Jay’s laugh died instantly. What was Cole talking about? “Yeah, Jay- you’re a mouse!” Nya laughed, and Jay frantically turned around in circles. Kai nearly went into hysterics with laughter at the sight of Jay chasing his own tail.

Nya and Skylor were also laughing over their new features: Nya now had a cat tail and ears, and Skylor had long, colorful feathers lining her arms.

When Kai was finally able to stop laughing- enough to stand up, that is- he felt all over himself. When he got to his hair, he felt a sharp prick. He jerked his hand away, and saw a bead of blood growing on the tip of his finger.

As he sucked on his finger, Kai walked over to a pond nearby. He looked in, and saw his own face looking back… only, his spiky hair was sharpened to a point at each end! “I’m a hedgehog,” he realized.

Thirty feet away, Zane and Pixal were just getting to their feet. Zane took one look at Pixal, then immediately sat back down again. He put his hands to his head, and- yes! There they were: a pair of pointy titanium ears.

Pixal put out a hand to help Zane up, and he took it with a smile. A large, bushy tail curled around his leg. “We appear to be arctic foxes,” Pixal said, not letting go of Zane’s hand. He didn’t mind one bit.

“We are still compatible?” Zane asked, and Pixal confirmed it with a nod.
Just then, Kai came over. Zane assumed he must have gotten a splinter, since he was sucking his finger. “The others are over there,” he said, taking his finger out of his mouth.

Zane, Pixal, and Kai walked up to the others so they could start the mission. “So who wants to stay here by the portal to protect it?” Lloyd was asking. He was a dragon, and had a long tail and wings covered in green scales.

“I’ll do it,” Zane volunteered before he could think.

“I will also stay and keep Zane company,” Pixal added.

Cole grinned. “Hey, didn’t Zane watch over the Techno Blades while we went to see Sensei Garmadon? You were the one to steal them!”

Pixal blushed slightly. “Yes, and I’m sorry. The Overlord-”
“The Overlord did lots of terrible things,” Zane interrupted. “It wasn’t your fault you were hacked. Even if I hacked you again to save you.” He shook his head. “Anyway, Pixal and I will stay to watch over the portal.”

As the others started to walk away, Kai threw a look over his shoulder. “Have fun doing the boring stuff!” he called, and Zane waved back.

…

A few hours into the team’s search, they still hadn’t discovered anything about the new realm. “Are we going to just keep hiking through the woods?” Jay complained. “My feet are tired and sore. Why did going through the portal destroy our shoes?”
“Because mice don’t have shoes,” Kai answered without looking back.

Cole sighed. “I’m with Jay- obviously, pig feet aren’t meant for severe hiking.”
Skylor stopped and glared at the two complainers. “Hey, at least you don’t have normal human feet! Your’s were made for walking around outside, but mine are exactly the same as before, only my nails are sharpened to bird claw perfection,” she pointed out. She held up one of her feet, and they could all see it was covered in dirt and bruises.

Lloyd held up a hand, motioning for everyone to stop. “I think we’re all going about this the wrong way,” he said. “Maybe we should all use our new animal abilities and split up. If you find someone or something worth noting, text everyone else.”

“But there’s only four ways to go,” Cole said. “That means two of us are going to have to team up with each other-”
“I’m going with Skylor!” Kai and Nya yelled at the same time. The two siblings glared at each other.

“-two per group,” Cole finished. “And two of us will have to go solo-”

“I’ll go solo!” Lloyd said.

Cole groaned. “Seriously, can I talk without being interrupted?” when no one answered, he smiled. “And I guess I’ll go solo, too!”
Kai and Nya were having an intense sibling stare-off. Only one of them could go with Skylor, and they both wanted to be that one. Finally, Jay made the decision for them: “I’m going with Nya,” he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from her brother. Kai stuck out his tongue at her.

“I’ll go North,” Lloyd said.

“I’ll go South,” Cole added.

“We’ll go East,” Skylor said before Kai could say anything.

Jay shrugged. “I guess that means Nya and I are going West.”

Lloyd put his hand out, and the others added their own to the pile. “Ninjaaaa-go!”

…

Meanwhile, Zane and Pixal were still sitting by the tree closest to the portal. There hadn’t been any commotion yet, and it was getting close to night. “Maybe we should take shifts,” Zane suggested. “I’ll go first, and you can get some rest before your turn.”
Pixal smiled. “Sounds good to me. Aren’t you glad there are two of us?” she replied.

Zane was okay up until the point Pixal fell asleep. He suddenly noticed how tired he was, and he remembered he’d been up since early morning. Once he felt like he couldn’t possibly stay up a minute longer, he decided to wait a few more minutes before waking Pixal. However, he took back his decision a few seconds later, and he gently shook the sleeping form of Pixal on the ground next to him.

“Is it my turn already?” Pixal asked groggily as she sat up. She got no answer, as Zane was already asleep.

Pixal was more awake a few minutes later. She actually enjoyed being up late under the stars, since she’d never slept outside before. In fact, she hadn’t spent much time outside at all before meeting the ninja- what was a robotic assistant supposed to do outside?

A noise to the left of her made Pixal sit up straighter. A bush rustled, and she tensed. However, she relaxed when Cole stepped out of it. “Hey, Pix,” he whispered. “I’m searching South for anything that might be of importance, so say hi to Zane for me when he wakes up.” He continued his path into the woods, and Pixal went back to enjoying the night sky.

Pixal realized she must have fallen asleep when she felt a hand shaking her. She opened her eyes, and Zane was staring at her anxiously. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Zane was pointing at the small clearing on the other side of the bushes hiding them.

“We’re not alone.”

Chapter 3: Robin

Pixal sat straight up. Now she heard it: human voices. “There are three people talking in the clearing,” Zane said. He, too, was tense. Would they be noticed?

Two of the people left, one of them flying and the other swinging from tree to tree. Zane and Pixal held their breath, hoping the third person would leave, too. Their wish was granted, just not in the way they hoped.

The last person in the clearing started to walk away. However, they walked toward the two people hugging each other and hiding in the bushes. About three feet away, the person paused and put their nose in the air, as if they were smelling something familiar. Then, the person pushed the bushes aside and stared at Zane and Pixal.

…

So far, Lloyd hadn’t found anything. “Ugh, this must be the Wood Realm,” he grumbled. He was long since tired of the woods that seemed to cover the entire world. He’d only made a few quick stops at night to rest, determined to find something as quickly as possible. He didn’t feel comfortable with splitting up, especially since there was something dangerous that was activating the portal.

Suddenly, a large, colorful creature fell through the leaves of the trees overhead and landed on the ground in front of Lloyd. He realized it was a girl when she groaned and stood up. “Are you okay?” Lloyd asked, and the girl jumped.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine- this happens all the time,” she said, blushing. She dusted herself off.

“I’m Lloyd.” Lloyd stuck out his hand.

“I’m Robin,” Robin said, shaking the hand offered. A few of her feathers fell on Lloyd. “Sorry about that- I shed a lot,” she apologized as she dusted her feathers off Lloyd.

“Oh, no, it’s okay! I’m just happy to be around other human life! Er, I mean-”

Robin laughed. “We’re animen, not humans! Those are just creatures of legend.” When she looked at Lloyd’s surprised face, she grew concerned. “Wait, you actually believe that humans exist?”
Lloyd gulped. “Well, it’s complicated- is there a place where everyone else can get together? It’s a long story, and I don’t want to have to repeat it a million times.”

Robin just continued staring at him. “Um, yeah? Have you seriously never been outside your home?”

Lloyd shook his head. “Like I said before, it’s a long story.” He suddenly remembered his promise to text everyone if he found something. He pulled out his phone, but realized he had no service. Ugh, why didn’t I think about that before? he thought to himself.

“What’s that?” Robin asked, staring at the phone in Lloyd’s hands.

Lloyd looked down at his phone. “Oh, this? It’s just my phone. Don’t you have anything like it?” he replied, shoving it into his pocket.

Robin started to walk away. “Well, I do have an iPuter,” she said, putting a hand to her head. Lloyd recognized this as something Zane did on a regular basis. A slightly transparent blue screen appeared over her eyes like glasses, and she pulled up what Lloyd assumed was a map of the world. She then put in directions, all by pressing a disk located above her ear. “Come on,” Robin called over her shoulder.

Lloyd jogged to catch up with her. “Where are we going?” he asked.

“To the Hall of Elders,” Robin answered. She stopped walking and eyed Lloyd. “Hey, can you fly at least a little?”
Lloyd remembered the small wings on his back. He shrugged. “I haven’t ever flown before, but I can try.”
Robin started climbing a tree. “All right- climb up here, and we’ll fly instead of walk.”

…

Kai and Skylor weren’t as well off as Lloyd. They were hungry (Skylor limited them both to two small meals a day so they wouldn’t run out if they got lost), their feet hurt, and they hadn’t found anything yet besides trees.

“I hate this place,” Kai complained. “It’s just a bunch of trees, so why even bother trying to find anything else?”
“Because,” Skylor said with a sigh, “there’s obviously something here, unless the trees are causing the portal to appear. That could be it, but I somehow doubt that.” Traveling with Kai could get very annoying!
Just then, there was a noise on their left. Kai jumped behind a tree, dragging Skylor with him. A second later, a boy came walking out from behind a tree. He was very skinny, and had large antlers sprouting from his black curls. A small nub of a tail stuck out behind him, and he had what looked like holographic glasses over his eyes. He had his hand up by his left ear, and he was talking. “…yeah, I’ll be going to the Hall of Elders to watch the ceremony. I wish you could come with me, Drake.” He paused, then sighed. “Yeah, I know- you couldn’t help it Ducky took your water-proofing lotion and lost it, but still…”

As the boy with antlers moved out of hearing, more people wearing the weird glasses walked by. A group of girls that were all different types of animals walked by. They didn’t have their holographic glasses turned on, and they were chatting. “…and I was like, ‘yeah, that’s so out of style, girl’, and then I couldn’t wait to go to the Birdie Boutique with you guys!” said one with colorful blue feathers on her arms.

“Oh my gosh, I just remembered they got the cutest shipment of feather dye last week, Jaya,” added another. “We’ll meet you guys at the food court when we’re done- right, Jaya?”

“Uh, wow,” Kai said as more animal-humans walked around everywhere. Once the crowd lessened, he and Skylor continued East- the same direction everyone else was heading.

“Hi! I’m Daisy, and this is Herb,” a blond-haired girl with pigtails said, bouncing right in Kai’s face. She had an extra pair of rabbit ears sprouting out of her head. Her brother was also a rabbit, and he was much more shy. “Where are you going? Herb and I are going to the Hall of Elders,” Daisy continued, oblivious to the discomfort of Kai and Skylor.

Herb facepalmed. Apparently, this happened a lot. “Um, sorry about my little sister,” he said in a quiet voice as he tried to pull Daisy away. “She can get a little excited at times.”
“It’s okay, I guess,” Kai said. “I have a younger sister, too.” Herb looked at Skylor strangely. “Oh, um, she’s not here right now,” Kai added. “Skylor’s sort of my-”

“I’m his friend,” Skylor interrupted. “And I can speak, thank you very much. So what’s the Hall of Elders?”
Daisy seemed surprised they didn’t know. “It’s where the Elders make their speeches, duh,” she said. When Kai and Skylor still looked confused, she added, “You know- the leaders? The people who make the rules and stuff? They gather at the Hall of Elders?”
“Are you guys from the Otherness or something?” Herb asked, staring in disbelief.

“Or something,” Kai replied.

“Well, it’s a long story- is there someplace we can go where we can tell our story to a bunch of people?” Skylor asked.

Herb raised an eyebrow. “You mean like the UPC- the Universal Public Convention?”

“Ooh, you could sign up to talk in it after the Elders finish their speech!” Daisy squealed. “I’ve never done that before, but I think it would be exciting- nearly everyone goes to that!”
Kai grinned. “So what do you say, Skylor? Should we…” he trailed off when he stepped through the trees. A street paved with soft pebbles was under their feet, and buildings lined the streets. There was even an outdoor mall in the air, where winged creatures of all kinds came to shop. At the center of the bustling city of chaos was a giant dome made of gold.

“And welcome to the most industrious city in the world: Flickletoniaaaaaaa!” Daisy announced, spinning ahead of them with her arms out. She drew out the end of the city’s name in a dramatic way. However, dramatic fit the scene.

Flickletonia was the kind of city where anything could happen- a shop stall on wheels could sell all-purpose unicorn glitter, a hotel could sprout wings and move to a different part of the city, or the upper story of a building could teleport you to a different building. The entire city was full to bursting with animal-people of all types, and no two buildings were alike. Everything was mismatched, but it only made the place cozier.

“Wow,” was all Skylor could muster. She and Kai felt like they’d stepped into the middle of a young child’s dream; all the chaos surrounding them was confusing.

“Is that the Hall of Elders?” Kai asked as he stepped into the road. Immediately, he nearly got run over from six different directions. There weren’t any lanes or sidewalks, he realized quickly.

Daisy yanked them into the flood of people. “Yep! That’s where we’re heading, as well as about half the population,” she answered.

“Oh, hey, this probably counts as ‘something’, so I should text the others,” Kai said out loud. He pulled out his phone, but quickly stuffed it back into his pocket. “Right, no signal here.”

Skylor sighed. “I hope we’ll find the source of the portal before it closes, or else we’ll be stuck here forever… and I hope even more than that that we’ll all be able to find each other.”