Working in the ruins of Ninjago City under the sweltering sun was far from Jay's idea of a good time, but he still leeched satisfaction from helping the community. He also drew comfort from being able to spend so much time with Nya, who was admittedly stronger, tougher, and firmer than Jay, but who still seemed to enjoy spending time with him, too. Since most of the workers were civilian volunteers, Nya had asserted herself as the chief of operations and spent most of her time giving orders and organizing people. Concurrently, Jay spent most of his time listening to her orders, but not actually carrying them out. He had a nasty habit of paying too much attention to the sound of Nya's voice than to the words that were coming out of her mouth, and he was always too embarrassed to admit this to her; he felt that Nya wouldn't be too impressed with him if she had to repeat herself just because he couldn't focus.
Thankfully, Jay was not alone. Cole, who Jay had originally thought would be extremely difficult to get along with, was close to becoming Jay's best friend. He always seemed to be there for him, literally. When Jay needed an extra hand to lift something heavy, Cole was there. When Jay couldn't figure out what he was supposed to be doing, Cole explained it to him. And when Jay was just bored, or needed someone to talk to, or wanted someone to talk to him, Cole was available.
All in all, working in construction in Ninjago City may have been brutal, but it was still fun. Jay at least had friends, and a girlfriend (he still wasn't entirely used to using that word), and the whole team was actually able to work together to achieve something that wasn't death-defying. That didn't mean everyone was happy, though. Jay may have been easily distracted and spacey, but even he noticed that something was off with Lexi.
It wasn't so obvious that anyone would be concerned; she was good at hiding it, and made in plain that she didn't want anything said about it. But ever since her father had left-- heck, ever since he'd arrived in the first place, she'd been acting slightly... off.
Lexi had cold eyes, it was just the way it was. But they looked icier, like they were dead, and not just cold. Jay wondered what exactly had triggered this-- Garmadon's arrival, or his betrayal? Saving the world, or leaving right after? Jay knew that if his father had treated him like this, he wouldn't appreciate it either. He didn't judge Lexi for how she felt, but he wished she'd be more open about it. He was constantly telling the team whenever something was wrong, and he talked about himself incessantly. Lexi may be more private, but no one could be that quiet-- it just wasn't human.
Regardless of Lexi's inner demons, the ninja had a job to do. Ninjago City had effectively been reduced to a pile of rubble and ash, and with the lack of actual construction workers (and the magnitude of the project) they needed all hands on deck. The ninja were currently picking their way through what remained of the Ninjago City Museum of Natural History, trying to salvage what little they could from the debris. The place was a disaster, but it was also kind of cool-- broken pieces of old statues and skeletons littering the rubble, heads and hands and stone swords poking out of cement.
"Hey, Lex," Lloyd called, "come check this out!"
He was standing next to a massive statue of a giant, bug-like animal. It was at least five times the size of Lloyd, and it looked deadly. It's eyes were slits, blackness showing through, it's mouth agape, filled with rows of serrated fangs, outlined by fat, wet-looking lips. Despite being a statue, it looked very real, and very dangerous.
"That's a Grundle," Lexi said as she came over, "they went extinct during the Dark Ages."
"Lucky thing," Lloyd said, patting the Grundle on the side of the face, "can you imagine if these things were still hanging around?"
"I doubt humans could coexist," Lexi said. "It looks cool, though."
Lloyd wrinkled his nose. "It looks ugly." He frowned, running a finger down the statue's side. "I wonder why it's not destroyed? It must be made of tough stuff if it survived all this." He gestured to the destruction around them, emphasizing his point by kicking at a piece of rock that had previously been a part of a statue of a screaming warrior. Lexi shrugged, patting the thick stone that made up the statue.
"They must have built this to last," she said, "some statues are; I saw a few more that survived as well."
"The ones the import from Lucadora are stronger," Kai said, and the twins turned to see him standing behind them, grinning. "How long have you been there?" Lexi asked, crossing her arms. Kai shrugged.
"A few seconds," he admitted, "now come on-- this museum isn't going to restore itself, you know." And Kai and the twins walked off, leaving the statue of the Grundle behind them, looming there, perfectly still but no less menacing, standing guard of the rubble until someone came along to claim it.
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The workers, much to Garmadon's dismay, did not leave the site under the sun had set, and even then it took them ages to pack up and go. So impatient was he to get to work, Garmadon didn't wait until the sound of engines was distant and the darkness would conceal him before he darted out from his hiding place and made a beeline for the Grundle. It was standing there, silhouetted by the moon, and the mere image of the beast was enough to give Garmadon second thoughts. The image of Misako was enough to make Garmadon erase these thoughts and go on with the plan.
Even without Skales having told him, he knew that the Devouror's venom lingered in his blood, and he also knew that the same when for the earth. The city where he'd killed the snake was full of the stuff, and it didn't take long before Garmadon found a pool of it sitting just below the surface. He scooped it up in his hands, grinning slightly at the thought that he alone could do this without being burned like it was acid, and then carefully carried the venom in his cupped hands towards the Grundle. He paused a moment, considering... he really didn't have to do this, he could save Misako himself, or Skales might be bluffing... and besides, why should he care what happened to her? Misako wasn't his wife any longer...
Garmadon spilled the venom over the Grundle's head, staggering back when the statue began to tremble, vibrating like the ground itself was shaking. It jerked, it's limbs suddenly splaying out, it's mouth closing over it's serrated teeth, eyes opening to reveal nothing but blackness...
Garmadon gasped, freezing on the spot as the Grundle came alive, staring right at him. For a moment, he thought this was it, this was how he was going to die-- he would be messily devoured by this prehistoric beast, they'd return tomorrow to find his bloodied bones mingled with whatever the Grundle couldn't stomach. But then, the Grundle turned, sniffed the air, and sprinted off away from Garmadon.
And towards the ninja, he realized, because that was the direction their truck had gone, wasn't it?
Garmadon stared after the Grundle, wondering if perhaps this had been a mistake. He decided, as he hurried away from the scene, being careful to wipe the venom that lingered on his hands off on the rocks, that this was no longer his concern. He'd done what he had to do to keep Misako safe, and whatever happened a result of it could not be blamed on him. He, after all, was not the Grundle. He was not responsible for the mayhem it caused.
Comforted greatly by this thought, Garmadon strode off into the night, his head held high, thoroughly pleased with what he had
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Lexi did not hear the rumbling in the distance, nor did she see the monster approaching. The roar of the bus engine (with the Bounty still grounded, they were forced to use the community bus like everyone else to get back and forth from the site) effectively drowned out all other noise, and it was dark enough outside that Lexi could not see out into the night, where the monster was waiting.
She did, however, notice when the monster attacked the bus. Everyone noticed that.
One moment, everything was still, people were sleeping or trying to sleep, the bus bumping and jostling their limp bodies. Then the bus was all of a sudden slammed into with the force of a cement mixer, lurching sideways and skidding madly. The vehicle spun, stopped in its tracks only by a large boulder, which punctured the engine and caused the entire front of the bus to burst into flames. Lexi had been thrown forwards and was scrambling to her feet to escape the flame when there was a sudden low growl, and from outside the bus, emerging through the darkness like a phantom, came the Grundle.
The statue had come to life, concrete and stone washed away to give way to flesh and blood and bone, and now it stood before them, salivating, ready to feast. Lexi didn't have time to think, or to wonder how the Grundle had come to life, before she was on her feet, hands raised, ready to fight.
The Grundle charged, knocking aside the entire side of the bus to get to her. The metal flew sideways and landed with a heavy crunch of the ground, crushing several people who were trying to get away. Lexi forced herself to ignore this, focusing instead of the monster that was charging her. She shot a blast of dark power towards it, and the beast staggered slightly, stumbling back and tripping. By this point anyone who could stand was dragging the injured from the wreckage of the bus and trying to get away. Several people had their phones out at were lamenting the lack of wifi as they tried to reach the police, while others were grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon from the crash. Lexi was about to hit the Grundle again when she felt someone grabbing her shoulder. She whirled around to see Nya, grabbing her shoulder and looking frantic.
"We have to get out of here," she said, "I think you stunned it, but we don't know how long we have."
Under different circumstances, Lexi might have argued, but she understood that this time, escaping was more important than fighting. She turned and hurried away behind Nya, rushing to where the other ninja were gathered behind a rock, sheltering some of the civilians. Lexi noted that Kai's head was bleeding, and she remembered with a pant of worry that he had also wounded his head in the battle with the Devouror. All of the ninja had, and they should all probably still be resting, but as always, the ninja had to be available, and they didn't have the luxury of being injured.
"What do we do?" Someone asked. They could have been addressing anyone, but Wu answered, looking solemn.
"Run like mad," he said wisely. The people scattered, racing in the direction the bus had been going, headed for the nearest town. Wu watched them go, turning to address the ninja.
"We cannot fight this," he said, "this is a Grundle, and I have never actually seen one alive before."
"So what do we do?" Jay asked nervously. The Grundle had begun twitching, trying feebly to rise. Wu sighed, carding a hand through his hair.
"We go to the only person I know who will be able to help," he said, "Mystake."