Unintentional

Chapter 20: Gone

"Skylor Chen!" 

"Ow! Oops."

"We cannot have oopses during a mission."

"I tripped! By accident! Haven't you tripped before?"

"I have," Pixal admitted. "But that is besides the point. We need to stay hidden. And we need to be quiet."

"Too late," a deep voice hissed. Pixal and Skylor spun around, alarmed.

A handsome black-haired man waved mockingly at them, a gang of similar looking people standing snickering behind him.

"Even the robot didn't know we were here," the man said in a taunting voice. "She must have some major bugs in her program. Or maybe we're just too good for this world." 

The men laughed like they had never heard anything funnier in their lives.

"This does seem rather cliché, doesn't it, Sky?" Pixal asked, a smile playing on her lips. 

"It does, Pix," Skylor replied, smirking. "But I wish their sense of humor was a little better. Well, at least I can assume you know what to do, right?"

"That's right," Pixal said. Before anyone knew what was happening, Pixal had tackled the man that had spoken and Skylor had flung herself into the group of people standing behind him.

The black-haired man struggled against Pixal's tight grip, his wrists turning red as she dug her fingers into his skin. 

"Since this is already a movie-worthy encounter " Pixal said calmly. "I'll play along." She swung the man around, knocking out several of his comrades with his feet. Skylor ducked as the grey shoes swung above her head and shoved someone in Pixal's direction. 

"Incoming!" Skylor called as she punched two people in the stomach. They doubled over, crying in pain, and stumbled forward. The nindroid quickly stepped backwards and let the three men Skylor had injured fall at her feet. 

Pixal tossed the leader at a small cluster of masked followers, and the entire group collapsed with a groan.

"That was easy," Skylor chuckled, dusting off her hands. "And it's been a whole month since I last trained."

"If we meet once more, it might be another year until you do it again," a sinister voice said. The man that had spoken suddenly jumped up and snapped his fingers. 

The last thing Skylor saw was a glowing moon rising from the ground. 

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"And you are?" Nya asked in an annoyed voice.

"Lia," Gaia replied. "Lia Birchwood." 

"Interesting name," Misako commented. "Ms. Aurelia Birchwood was a very famous historian, as well as the founder of the Ninjago History Museum. She was also rumored to be the elemental master of land and sea, though no one proved she had those special powers."

"I know about Aurealia," Gaia said cheerfully. "She's my favorite historian."

In truth, Gaia hated Aurelia Birchwood. The woman had done too many things that went against Gaia's beliefs. She had only chosen that name because it would be appealing to the old lady. 

Gaia knew that she had to play her moves more carefully this times. Badar had just saved her bacon. For whatever reason, he had turned back the clock and given her a chance to start over. There would be no more "Rumi", no more messes, no more mistakes.