The two Templar guards never expected the attack. Everything had been planned to the last second, from beginning to end, and little did the guards know that they had a very short role in this plan... and were never going to be used again.

Both of them were guarding a high-tech, highly sophisticated office building located in the now-quiet business district of Ninjago City. The building's full name was the Ninjago Biochemical & Nuclear Research Institute, but everyone in the city simply called it RIBNN, after switching around some letters.

None of this mattered to them, though. They were only holding this job for the huge payout it would amount to. Anything else could go die, and anyone who stood in the way of that would die.

One of the Templars opened his mouth to say something to his partner. He never got to speak. His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed right there. His partner immediately bent down to inspect him for signs of what had happened, and what he saw made his blood freeze.

A silver throwing knife was embedded in the first guard's neck.

Hearing a noise behind him, he slowly turned to see a young man wearing ashen-colored robes, a blood-red sash, and various weapon pouches standing behind him, whose face was partly concealed by the hood of the robes.

It was the last thing he ever saw.

Before the surviving guard could yell to his colleagues inside the building, the hooded figure flicked his wrist, revealing some sort of hidden blade, and shoved the weapon through his skull. The victim didn't even scream. He simply collapsed beside his predeceased partner.

The man bent over the first Templar's corpse to retrieve the throwing knife. No doubt his friends were done with the remainder of the guards inside. He removed his hood and revealed himself to be…a teenager. The boy grinned. He knew their mentors would be pleased with the success of the mission. The boy pressed a button on the hidden communicator in his earlobe. "Kai?...Evet, I'm done with the ones outside…Si. We will regroup at ilnascondigliodell'AssassinoOK. Just make sure to tell me if those dannati Templars ambush you…Arrivederci, mio fratello." With that, the teenager replaced his hood and , just as quickly as he'd appeared, disappeared into the shadows of the night.