Season 11.5 [Rewrite: Continuation]

Agony

(A/N: I had wrote Dyer as a bit of a, prick, but then I kinda liked it, so sorry if he seems different than canon)

It is a varying subject to that of dolor.

Dolor is as an ant on one's skin. Puny, insignificant, an insect to be tread on and pulverized by one's dominance and authority. If any nod of insubordination is detected, the ant is trashed and disregarded.

Yet when the forgettable insect awakens the upper armies and rallies the colony, what was  once the dominant hand transforms into a colossal titan at the whims of hundreds of thousands of creatures burrowing into one's flesh.

This dolor is not a mere pinch to the skin. It is a soul-screeching, never-ending flare that, despite the hundreds of times the user pleads for relief, it cannot be quenched.

That, my dear readers, defines the dolor of agony.

>_<

Ninjago City.

From above, it was a city of innocent blood. Partygoers, late-night workers, the homeless, most who tread on the administrative-built roads of the city were naught but easy, routine bodies.

From below, it was a myriad of feuds. Gang rivalry. World-defying enemies. Treaties of blood and bone.

Here she was, a traveler who lived on both sides of those lines. Some days, she was basking at the freedom and liberty those innocents partook in. Others, she was sinking in a bloodbath between foe and friend.

This was a day on the latter side. The whole week was. Nothing but clashes, curses, name-calling and brutal brawls.

Her task was to find Milton Dyer, a.k.a. Unigami. Thus, her and Sensei Wu's days were squandered on the computer screen, each swapping sleeping turns to resume their search for the man.

As she stood above the bar, she anxiously tuned into her teacher. "I have arrived."

"Good," there was an air of heaviness and grief. It wasn't new, it was there from the time Zane skipped his civil duty and Lloyd abandoned the monastery, there since Jay was missing and the responsibility of Ninjago City was plated onto their shoulders.

There was no news of communication from the team in Prime Empire, no way to know how the team was or their current status. Still, she clustered hay straws of faith in her heart. The team was to parade on with victory. She was confident of it.

"Any sign of the Mechanic?" Wu first inquired of her.

"None. I do not believe him to frequent these parts." She quickly ran down the staircase to then walk into the bar.

Her voyage led to an arrangement of people. Drunk, out of it customers were slumped in the corners, the more rowdy, festive bunch near the bartender. She passed the song of a sickened bird on the frays of death – or was that Dareth? – before sitting on a bar stool.

This was their last lead. Every other was dried and forgotten, a dead end, and she hoped for this to be the finale.

"Good evening," she tipped the bartender as he attended her.

"What can I do for ya?" She took out an image of Milton Dyer with a friend.

"I'm looking for a man by the name of Tony." As soon as the bartender heard his name, he slouched.

"Ah. Figured you'd be coming sooner or later." The bartender hid his expression in the shadows of the light, a sullen mood over him. "I'm the childhood friend."

P.I.X.A.L. furrowed her eyebrows. "You hold information about Dyer's whereabouts yet have failed to communicate this with his mother?"

"No, look," he cleared up with a cough. "Dyer always wanted his privacy, and I respect that. That's why I never said anything."