Chapter 50 Epilogue

Movie Ninjago

Unsurprisingly, Skylor was in the hospital the longest of those who fought against Chen. Others, especially those in the Sandshark Mech also had decently long stays, but even they were let out sooner than Skylor. Even so, she was only hospitalized for a week thanks to the combined efforts of Lloyd's apparent healing powers, magic teas, and efforts of actual doctors. Said doctors were the reason she had even stayed that long, thanks to Zane giving them the information from his health scans. The Serpentine doctors and nurses had paled at what they saw on it and insisted she stay for observation. It seemed Clouse wasn't as good a doctor as he thought he was.

Skylor was alright with that. She honestly needed that time to come to terms with the fact that she was no longer under Chen's thumb. That she wouldn't soon wake up back in her cell of a bedroom on that island and all this hadn't been a pleasant dream.

(It also let her absorb the fact that there's a multiverse out there, and, oh man, did that information cause so many things to suddenly make sense.)

It was a wonderful feeling when it finally sank in for her that she would never have to go back there again. Never have to see her father or Clouse's faces ever again.

Still, that left a slight conundrum.

"I'm going to have to find somewhere new to live," she mentioned off-hand one day during her hospital stay.

Kai, Pixal, and Nya, who were all visiting her at the time looked up at her in surprise. They had been her most constant visitors her entire stay, but the rest of the Ninja Force had come to visit too.

"While I agree, considering the apartment you have now is kind of… old. Still, any specific reason why?" asked Nya, not wanting to insult her, but knowing that the place Skylor had been staying in Ninjago City was kind of a dump.

"Even with my father… with Chen locked up, he still has spies and thugs out there that won't be happy we locked up their boss. Loyalty and all that," Skylor explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to take it out on me." Her expression then shifted to a troubled frown. "Though… I don't know how I'll afford somewhere new."

"Afford it?" asked Kai in concern.

Skylor shrugged. "All Chen's money is dirty, as are most of his businesses, which are no doubt falling apart as we speak without him. The only one I can think of that isn't a front for anything illegal is a string of noodle restaurants. I guess I can continue those, but…" she trailed off seeing the troubled looks on her friend's faces. "Don't worry," she said with an encouraging smile. "I'll figure it out."

The twins exchanged worried glances, and they all failed to see the determined frown come onto Pixal's face.

Which is why Skylor was so startled a few days later when upon being released from Ouroboros' hospital she saw Cyrus Borg sitting in his wheelchair beside Pixal and the Ninja Force outside the hospital.

"Hi, Prof. Borg. Wasn't expecting you here. I thought they were super strict about letting outsiders in?" Skylor said.

"They are," Lloyd confirmed with an amused smile. "They still won't let Dad set foot in the city. He threw a fit when they wouldn't let him see me and Mom in the hospital, and was video calling us nonstop while we were here. Uncle Wu just barely convinced him not to try and conquer Ouroboros again."

Borg let out an amused chuckle at that story before addressing Skylor's question. "I was given special permission by the king to be here today, as a show of gratitude for my aid in creating the weakness of the Golden Master Mech." His face turned slightly downcast. "Though, I am unworthy of such, given how I was the one who built that accursed thing in the first place."

"You were tricked by Chen initially, and then forced to continue once you realized the truth," said Pixal patiently with an air that she'd said this to her father many times before. "The Serpentine understand and empathize with your plight, and know you did your best given the circumstances."

Borg sighed and smiled fondly at his daughter. "I know you are right, Pixal, but it will take time for that to sink in."

"It's great there are no hard feelings between you and them, but still, why are you here?" Skylor asked politely as she could, bringing them back to her initial question.

Though, she had a sinking feeling in her gut that he might be here due to her part in his recapture. If he had any grievances about that, she understood completely, and mentally prepared herself to hear them.

So she was very surprised when Borg's expression brightened and he actually smiled up at her. "Ah yes, thank you Skylor," he said. "To cut straight to the point, I'm here for you."

"Me?" asked Skylor, that sinking feeling growing more pronounced.

"Yes," said Borg with a nod and another fond smile at his daughter. "My dear Pixal has brought to my attention that you no longer have a place to live, nor a guardian to watch over you until adulthood."

Skylor, not seeing where this was going, answered, "Yeah, I can't go back to my apartment, and my 'guardians' if you can call them that, are in jail." She paused thoughtfully and asked the Ninja Force. "Clouse is in jail, right?"

"Oh yeah, he's got a nice cozy cell in Kryptarium Prison," said Kai with a smirk.

"Maximum security," Zane chirped helpfully.

"And he's gonna be there for a long time," finished Cole leaning on the Nindroid's shoulder lazily.

"Pythor managed to get away, though," said Jay, ever the pessimist. "He slipped the Serpentine chasing him and managed to use the boat Lloyd built on Chen's Island to escape."

"We're still looking for him," said Nya. "Lloyd even got Taffy in on it. But with any luck, he's lost at sea forever."

Despite not needing her throat for such, Pixel gave a loud cough to quiet the Ninja and turn the attention back to Borg.

"Yes, well, in light of your current situation," said Borg, reaching into a pocket on the side of his chair. Pulling out a stack of paperwork and a pen, he held it out to Skylor and with a warm smile. "If I may be so bold, Skylor Chen, would you be willing to allow me to adopt you, or at the very least act as your guardian until you are of age?"

Skylor's jaw dropped! This was the absolute last thing she would have expected from the inventor. "I helped kidnap you!" she said incredulously. "My father made your life heck!"

"And you are not your father," said Borg patiently, obviously having expected this reaction. "Not to mention that I as well as Pixal know you never intended for our capture to take place, and did the best you could for us in a no-win situation."

"But-" Skylor started to protest.

"You protected me," Pixal cut her off imploringly. "You could have told Chen and Clouse who I really was, let them use me against my father, but you didn't. You kept my secret and gave my father peace of mind during his captivity. You are a good person, Skylor."

Skylor felt herself tearing up again. It was strange, she normally didn't cry this much, but now…

"You want me?" she asked in a choked voice.

"Yes," said Borg with a kind smile. "I do."

"For the record, we wanted to adopt you into our too," Nya waving her hand between herself and her brother. "But Borg beat us to the paperwork. Plus, you being Kai's sister would have made things weird."

Kai turned scarlet and sputtered as the rest of his team laughed.

Skylor choked out a laugh too and reached to take the adoption papers from Borg to sign. "Thank you," she said earnestly.

Borg and Pixal only smiled as she wrote down her name, making it official.

"Also," said Nya brightly, drawing attention to her again. She then tossed heart-shaped confetti over the new sisters' heads. White confetti for Pixal and red for Skylor. "Congratulations, you have both passed the Nya Test."

The reactions were immediate. Lloyd and Cole laughed, Jay squealed in delight, Kai turned even redder than before, and Zane's face seemed to glitch in his embarrassment.

Pixal and Skylor just blinked in confusion. "The what?" they both asked.

Nya smirked. "Sorry," she said, not sounding at all apologetic, "but I've kinda been keeping an eye on you both and judging you when I heard Kai and Zane both liked you two. You pass the test, and have my blessings to date them."

"NYA!" said Kai in a strangled tone, and Zane tried to hide his face behind his hands.

Skylor could only stare in disbelief, but her face was turning just as red as Kai's.

Pixal, meanwhile, frowned thoughtfully. "Is that not a double standard?" she asked. "To judge us and not the boys?"

Nya scoffed. "Are you kidding? I gave them the Nya Test years ago," she said, jerking her thumb at the boys. "We never would have become friends if they didn't pass." She then winked and stage-whispered, "Though Kai's under constant scrutiny. I've been judging him since the day we were born."

"WHAT?" squawked most of the boys, staring at the Water Ninja in disbelief, making it very clear they'd had no idea.

The only one not surprised was Cole. "I told you guys it wasn't just a love test," he said rolling his eyes.

"Cole passed with flying colors, by the way," added Nya brightly.

Pixal and Skylor exchanged glances and laughed.

Things for all of them were looking bright.

Show Ninjago

Zane blinked his eyes open and was momentarily startled at the small notifications on the edges of his vision, wondering how they had gotten there.

Then his memory kicked in and he smiled.

It seemed that new part of his upgrades was a success. Now to test the rest, but first…

The newly upgraded Nindroid turned to his left to look at the work table beside him where his brother was coming back online as well.

Echo slowly sat up and looked around, giving Zane a good look at him. It was like he was an entirely new Nindroid.

While he still had his bronze hair and eyes and resembled Zane strongly, small changes had been made to his face to give him a more youthful appearance, highlighting how young he actually was. He had been fitted with the same synthetic skin as Zane, hiding his gleaming new self-winding clockwork parts inside him where they would not fall out as easily. Small solar panels had been set into his skin disguised as freckles, allowing him to be fitted with abilities and mechanics his previous parts would not allow.

In other words, Echo looked great.

And from the beaming smile he sent in Zane's direction, it was clear he felt great too.

"Big Brother, look!" he said brightly, swinging his arms around in wide circles. "My arms! They're not falling off!"

Zane chuckled and pushed himself off his table to get a better look, and paused at the feeling of his movements.

Oh, that! That felt good!

He'd never noticed how stiff his joints were, or how much effort he put into moving them. For him, it had been normal, but now that he thought about it, it was entirely possible his own internal parts had been more worn down and corroded than he'd initially noticed. But now that those parts had been replaced and were working like new… It felt good. At the risk of sounding like an old man, he felt young again.

"I see you are enjoying your new upgrades," said an amused voice, making both brothers turn and look.

Prof. Julien and Dr. Julien both stood watching in amusement, and behind them were Nya and Jay watching in anticipation. Behind them were Cyrus Borg and Pixal, hanging back because they weren't family, but looking ready to come forward at the slightest invitation.

"Very much so," Zane finally responded to his father who had made the statement. "And thank you so much for helping install them, Professor."

Prof. Julien waved a hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it," he said cheerfully. "I was happy to help, especially now that certain secrets won't prevent me from doing so," he added with a glance at Borg.

Seeing the invitation, Dr. Borg wheeled himself closer. "I must say I'm quite pleased to make your acquaintance as well," he said. "And the mere idea of other dimensions is simply fascinating. The possibilities it could unlock are endless."

At that moment, Echo tried to get up off his table and not being used to how sturdy he now was, fell forward onto his face.

"Though, there's plenty of time to talk about that later," said Borg in amusement as Nya and Jay hurry over to help the younger Nindroid. "For now let's just work on getting these boys their sea legs."

"But we are not at sea," said Echo in confusion.

"Figure of speech, Rusty," said Jay as he and Nya pulled him back to his feet.

"But I am no longer rusty," said Echo, seeming to grow even more confused even as he marveled at how his arms hadn't been pulled from their sockets by their aid.

"Yeah, but you're never getting rid of that nickname," said Nya. "You're stuck with it."

Seeing Echo looking hopelessly lost, Zane took pity on him. "They are teasing you, Echo. It is how they show they care. It is a sibling thing."

"Oh," said Echo, looking like he didn't quite understand, but was pleased by the implication. He then seemed to see something behind Zane and indicated for him to look and gave him a thumbs up.

Turning around, Zane saw Pixal standing there with a shy smile. "Are the upgrades to your liking?" she asked.

"That depends," said Zane, reaching out a hand to her. "Are we compatible now?"

Pixal's expression turned to one of delight and she took his hand. "Yes," she said. "Yes, we are."

Zane's face brightened as well. "Good. Then I couldn't be happier."

A few feet away, Jay barely contained letting out a high pitched squeal. "Awwww," he said in a hushed whisper. "Robot love!" He then turned to look at Nya, clearly set to say something cheesy and romantic to her, but stopped at the sight of her avoiding his eye contact guiltily.

Oh, right, they weren't… they weren't a thing anymore.

With that reminder, Jay's enthusiasm quickly became more subdued. "I, uh," he said, backing away from them all. "I need to get going. Cole invited me to this new arcade and… yeah. If you don't need me, I'm just gonna go."

"Yes, we're finished here," said Dr. Julien. He then paused and looked confused. "... Um, we are, aren't we?"

"We are, don't worry," said Prof. Julien, patting his counterpart on the shoulder, and glancing over at Jay. "Go and have your fun, Jay."

Nya looked like she wanted to say something to him, but then closed her mouth and looked away.

Jay was not ashamed to say he fled down Borg Tower to escape the sudden awkwardness between them and was just glad it didn't penetrate the happy bubble Zane, Echo, and Pixal had been in. This day was for them and their new upgrades. He didn't want to ruin it with his drama.

He'd put them through enough drama already.

Cole was waiting for him in the lobby, grimacing and rubbing his shoulders at the sight of a sign depicting him holding up the city. It seemed Borg wanted everyone to know it was him who saved the day that one time. He perked up when he saw Jay exit the elevator. "Hey man, how'd it go?" he asked.

Jay forced a grin onto his face. He'd done good work and helped his friends. He should be proud of that. "It went great!" he said with semi-forced cheer. "Zane's up and better than ever, and Echo's like a whole new bot! No more missing limbs for that lil'terror."

From the look on his face, Cole saw through his attempts but didn't call him on it. "That's great!" he said. "They coming with us to the arcade?"

"I doubt it," said Jay with a shrug. "Zane seemed pretty happy with Pixal up there. Doubt he's coming down from cloud nine anytime soon."

"Good for him," said Cole as they turned to leave the building.

"Yeah," said Jay, trying to keep himself from being jealous. "Good for him."

As if the universe couldn't give him a break, Jay crashed into a couple holding hands the moment he walked out the door, sending the three of them sprawling to the ground.

"Sorry," Jay was quick to apologize, knowing it was his own distracted thoughts that probably caused the collision.

The guy of the couple didn't seem to upset. "Ah, it's no prob- Wait! It's you!"

Hearing the recognition (and slight dread) in his tone, Jay looked at him more closely. "Uh…Oh, I know you. You're Lee, right? You came to our tea shop the other day."

Lee looked absolutely terrified to be recognized even as he helped the girl he was with back to her feet.

The girl, however, looked at Jay with interest. "Tea shop?" she asked. "You work at the shop Lee got that delicious tea and cookies from? Wow!"

Looking at the girl and her and Lee's intertwined hands, it clicked in Jay's brain. "You're Emi, aren't you? You're the girl Lee wanted to impress."

Lee turned scarlet, and Emi giggled into her hand. "Yep," she said brightly. "And he succeeded. It was the best tea I've had in a long time, and he was so sweet when he gave it to me. Thanks a bunch for helping him out."

Jay smiled wistfully at the two of them. "No problem," he said. "I'm glad it worked out… And Lee?"

Lee flinched but tried not to show it.

"I'm sorry," Jay said sincerely. "For the way I acted back then. I was having a bad day and… well, it doesn't matter. I'm glad you got the girl."

Lee blinked, taken aback but nodded. "Uh, you're good," he said. "And, um, thanks for helping with that."

With that, the happy couple walked away, and Jay watched them go.

Cole, who had been silent through the whole exchange, patted Jay on the back. "Hey, Zap Trap, are you okay?" he asked slowly.

Jay took a deep breath then let it out in a massive sigh. "No," he said. "Maybe I will be eventually, but… Even with Pythor gone, Nya and I aren't getting back together, are we?" he asked rhetorically.

Cole winced and that was answer enough. "Not… anytime soon," he said diplomatically.

Jay nodded dully, having already known the answer.

Cole elbowed him in the side encouragingly. "Hey, Nya might change her mind. Cyan said she just needs time to grow up and figure out what she really wants first."

"But what if she doesn't," said Jay, hanging his head in despair.

Cole winced again, wishing he could assure his best friend she would and it all would be alright, but… that wasn't something he could promise. "Well, that's her choice to make," he said finally. "We can't make it for her. It doesn't work like that."

Jay let out another heavy sigh. "Yeah, I know," he said. It looked like Cyan Nya's advice had finally sunk in.

The two walked in silence towards the arcade, despite neither really feeling up to playing anymore.

Just as they reached the door. Jay came to a decision. "I'll wait for her," he said.

"What?" asked Cole in surprise.

"I'll wait for her," Jay repeated, his voice firm. "I'll wait until she makes her decision. If it's me then, well, she already knows how I feel, and… if it isn't…" he squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear the thought, but pushing through it. "If it isn't, then… I'll do my best to be happy for her. But until then I can wait."

He turned to look Cole in the eyes. "She's worth the wait."

Cole smiled and clapped Jay on the shoulder. "That's really mature of you, Jay," he said.

Jay spared him a small smile, before physically shaking himself and forcing the negative feelings away. "Thanks, but we didn't come to this arcade to be mature. We came to have fun! And that's what we're gonna do! Come on!" he said in determination.

His piece said, he shoved the door to the arcade open with more force than necessary and darted in towards the games.

Cole followed after him, shaking his head in amusement.

Good to know even with this new maturity, Jay would never really change.

Movie Ninjago

On a typical morning, Lord Garmadon, decked in his volcano pajamas, sat with his feet up and a bowl of cereal in his lap as he watched the morning news in his formerly evil lair.

Good Morning Ninjago started at its usual time with Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan smiling at the camera after their introductions.

"We have some breaking news for you today, Ninjago citizens," said Robin eagerly to start the show. "One heck of a mystery has been solved."

The words 'BREAKING NEWS!' flashed across the screen with accompanying voiceover.

"It seems the reclusive and elusive Professor Cyrus Borg has come out of hiding at last," said Michael as a picture of Borg appeared beside him. "Why was he in hiding? Well, rumor has it some insidious crime lord-"

"Not Garmadon, for once," Robin intercut.

"-Was threatening him," continued Michael without missing a beat. "But thanks to the heroic efforts of the Ninja Force, and apparently aid from the distant Serpentine kingdom, that crime lord is now behind bars."

"And," added Robin a picture of two samurai mechs appearing beside her, "With the help of the new Samurai Sisters. According to the Ninja Force's claims, this was the first appearance of the new vigilante duo of Samurai A and Samurai S. Just who are these feisty female fighters? And what will they do next?"

'BURNING QUESTIONS!' flashed across the screen.

Garmadon grumbled into his cereal at the lack of recognition for his part in Chen's take-down, even though he knew he couldn't get credit for it without admitting he'd skipped out on his house arrest… again.

He comforted himself with the knowledge that the Ninja Nerds' dimensional counterparts weren't getting any credit either. Not that they did too much anyway.

"And now we go live with Gayle Gossip at a press conference outside Borg Industries," said Michael. "Gayle?"

The scene shifted to show Gayle Gossip standing in front of Borg Tower. The area was full of other reporters and a podium had been placed with Borg waiting behind it, a blonde girl on his right and a redhead on his left. "That's right Michael," she said. "While Cyrus Borg has been rather secretive about what he was doing while in hiding, he says he has an announcement to make. What this has to do with the presumed space princess Skylor, and average school girl Penny Allons is unknown, though both girls have been seen in the presence of various Ninja Force members before now."

As if to answer those questions, Borg rolled his chair up to the podium, pulled a lever for it to rise upwards from its wheels, and raised a hand for silence.

"Thank you all for coming," the inventor said. "And I thank you greatly for your patience during my time away. I am extremely grateful to my dear friend Prof. Julien for acting as my go-between during that time, and to Lord Garmadon for acting as this city's technological provider in my absence."

"I didn't do it for you!" Garmadon yelled at the screen. "I did it 'cause my company's tech is more awesome than yours!"

Borg, of course, couldn't hear this criticism, and continued on, "I am very happy this day to make a great announcement. Not to unveil any new gadgets (though that is connected), but to introduce Ninjago City to my daughters."

The crowd of reporters burst into confused murmurs at this and eyeing the two girls behind Borg with new interest.

"As many already are aware, I have chosen to adopt Skylor due to her previous guardians being, erm, indisposed for the foreseeable future," said Borg gesturing in the redhead's direction. Skylor smiled and waved at the furiously clicking cameras.

"Is she really a princess from space?" one of the reporters shouted out.

"Was the crime lord after you from another planet?" asked another.

"Is she being adopted by you in order to build or repair a spaceship so she can return to the stars?" cried out a third.

Borg, seeming to have not heard these particular rumors before, blinked at them in bewilderment. "Wha- Erm- That is-" he stuttered.

Skylor, with a mischievous smirk on her face, stepped forwards and leaned over to speak into the podium's microphone. "No comment," she said. Despite that, she sent an affirming wink at the cameras that was sure to fuel the rumors for weeks to come.

Garmadon let out a guffaw at the sight of the wink and murmurs of conspiracy that it caused among the reporters. He knew he liked that girl. Fire Ninja Bodyguard kid had good taste.

Borg, clearly having no idea what just happened, decided to move on. "Ahem, yes, well," he said, trying to get back on track. "While my adoption of Skylor is new, my having a daughter is not."

He then wheeled his chair back, allowing Penny to step forward and speak into it.

The android girl looked nervous through her hologram but seemed determined to speak. "Hello," she said into the mike. "Many of you who go to Ninjago High School may know me as Penny Trixie Allons. I would like to apologize because that was a lie. It is an identity I crafted for myself to pass unnoticed while myself and my father were in hiding. The truth is…" she dropped her hologram, letting the world see her for the shiny metal android that she was. Smiling at the camera with glowing green LED eyes, she said, "My real name is Pixal Borg. It is nice to meet you."

There was a deafening silence in the face of this realization.

Then...

"THEY ARE FROM SPACE!" one reporter shouted.

The rest of the reporters burst into questions after that, now more convinced than ever that Borg and his new family were actually aliens.

Garmadon could only laugh at Borg and Pixal's dumbfounded faces at the din as Skylor seemed to be struggling to hold in her amusement. The former warlord didn't even care he'd spilled most of his cereal out of the bowl at this point as he was so caught up in his mirth.

As such, he wasn't pleased to have his fun interrupted by Dr. Gary bursting in while waving something that looked like a particularly bulky cell phone in his hands.

"Lord Garmadon! I've done it!" Dr. Gary said gleefully.

Garmadon groaned at the sight of him and sat up in his chair. "What do you want, Gary," he said dryly.

Undeterred, Dr. Gary practically shoved the cell phone in his hands under Lord Garmadon's nose. "I've done it, sir," he repeated gleefully. "I've finally discovered how to create a device that will allow communication between dimensions. Think of the possibilities we could accomplish with this."

Garmadon stared cross-eyed at the device, before taking it out of the excited inventor's hands and studying it.

Then he turned to Dr. Gary with a deadpan look. "You couldn't have made this thing a week ago?" he asked in exasperation. "When we actually, ya know, needed it? There was a whole lot of mess that might not'a happened if the Ninja Nerds could just call each other."

That took the wind out of Dr. Gary's sails, and he backed off and said sheepishly, "Er… Better late than never?"

Garmadon threw his cereal bowl at the inventor's head.

Meanwhile, on the TV screen, a laughing Skylor pulled a bemused Pixal and a bewildered Borg into a hug.

It was clear all three on the screen were glad to be out of hiding, and were looking forward to being a new family.

It was a future they all intended to polish until it shined.

A/N AND IT'S DONE! Another story finished. I hope you all enjoyed In Need of Polish. It was fun to write, and I appreciate all the comments and reviews. This still isn't the end of the series, however. Now that this is over, more Greener Pastures chapters will come out, and eventually another sequel. The next one will be called One Heck of a Wedding, make of that title what you will. Greener Pastures will update next Friday, so be on the lookout.

A special thanks again to Kay Hau who has been such a big help in offering suggestions, beta reading, and just helping me brainstorm. Without her help, this fic wouldn't have been possible or at least might have been dropped before it finished. I super appreciate the help. Also, Dr. Gary's cameo at the end and the vent session between Jay and Cole were both her ideas. Skylor being adopted by Borg might also have been her idea as well.

Special thanks to Kay Hau, Luna Lillyth, ItsYoGreenGirl, BlendedInBlack, Kifo Entiegon, Fiiiyaaah, Watcher321, Carrie2sky, Queen of Camouflage, CheezPretzel, Ninjagotime123, Harley Allison24, Squidzi Galaxi, squibkindabomb, BOOM Fanfic-a-latta, Akira, Bookkeeper2004, NinjagoLloydLove, gwencarson126, Lluvia-the-Wolfgirl, Bananaboat2009, anonymoise, SkyboundScars, poot da destroyer, AangxiousKittyCornNerd, Silene-A, ProfessorYeti, Fanficmaniatic, Luna Eevee, Delta prime2, kaiawesomlymonsterous, SunShine282, Angel Talon, SilverCerulean, samdragon57, EMPFangirl02, NinjaNeverQuit, EchoAndAli'sWackyFics, Evelyn Rogue, Champion of Justice, RememberTSA, Katla1, ThreeAM, TrinityCrystalPrincess89, FallingToast, Trixebelle, Beaner97, Aspen Bavery, Anonymus, and Guests for all the reviews and feedback. It was a great help and I'm always happy to get them.