Prologue - Transformation Pt. 1

Kai glanced back and forth, from one wall made of sky-blue crystals to the other wall made of sky-blue crystals. He shouldn't have been there. He needed to be back at Stiix…

The Preeminent was free, Lloyd was gone, and the sixteen realms were doomed.

And Kai wasn't around to help. He hated himself for not being there to save Lloyd after he promised the young boy that he would keep him safe. But Lloyd was absent, and it was all Kai's fault.

"Sensei? Misako? Where are you guys?" He called, but to no avail. His cries echoed through the caves unanswered.

Kai sighed, "If there really is something here that can help defeat the Preeminent, why haven't you found it yet? And what do I have to do with all this?"

Silence.

Again, Kai exhaled as he continued his march down the crystal-coated passageways. Every once and a while, he would look over to his reflection in the wall. For the first time, he realized that he looked very different compared to his appearance two years ago, when Sensei Wu first found him.

His eyes, which used to be hazel, now glinted a brilliant shade of amber to signify his elemental abilities. Along with this color change, his hair had grown a few inches since he cut it last… two years ago. The curled ends almost met his shoulders.

Yeah, I should probably fix that… Kai thought with the barest of smiles.

The thought of his appearance two years ago got him thinking about his childhood. He'd always felt the best part of his upbringing was when he was very young, around six… when he had plenty of unsuspecting friends to throw mud at, and only his three best friends would throw mud back.

He missed them… he missed him at that young, innocent age. Six-year-old Kai could skip around and chuck wet soil at his friends, or horse around with his little sister without having to worry about what horrors and villains tomorrow would bring.

But eighteen-year-old Kai had a lot to worry about… his sister, his adopted family, Ninjago, the other fifteen realms that existed parallel to it. Not to mention young, innocent Kai hadn't seen all the blood… all the death that older Kai had. In fact, grown-up Kai wasn't even afraid to witness death anymore; he was too jaded now.

Kai was jolted from his thoughts when he heard someone call out to him in the opposite direction he was pacing in.

So, by reflex, he rotated toward the sound of the voice, and before he was even allowed a reaction, a flash of red sped toward him at the speed of light and caught him dead center in the chest. For just a moment, he felt a brief but painful twinge before the cave around him swirled and his world faded into a dizzying blackness.

Pain. That was the first thing Kai remembered. Sharp, excruciating pain that flooded through his entire body. His head spun… he couldn't think clearly. So he didn't. Instead, he clenched his teeth and balled up his fists to keep from screaming in front of the two hazy individuals he'd seen sitting in front of him before closing his eyes to the pain.

After about fifteen seconds, both the aching and the dizziness faded. He was too afraid to open his eyes. What if the two people he had witnessed by his side were out to hurt him? And what about the sharp affliction he felt just seconds ago? Where did it come from? Would it come back?

But, despite his concern, it didn't. Instead, it was replaced by a unique, blossoming warmth in his chest. It burned like the fire he held in his hand; it did not hurt him, but it let off a special brand of heat that gave him the confidence that he needed to continue on with a battle. But now… not so much. It just bequeathed to him more questions.

"Kai? Kai, are you all right?" Asked an older woman's voice.

Kai remembered that voice. It sounded just like Misako herself, Lloyd Garmadon's mother.

Still hesitant, he ever so slowly opened his eyes. And once the fogginess of his vision dissolved into nothing, he realized that his earlier predictions were incorrect. Both Misako and Sensei Wu were leaning over him, barraging him with questions that were simply different ways of asking if he was okay.

"Yeah… yeah, I think so." Kai exhaled, feeling too drained to even stand up.

"How do you feel?" Wu's tone was very, very serious - though he had the slight smile on his face – and he gave Kai a sort of perplexed expression.

Is he… sizing me up?" Kai thought agitatedly, but he still felt that he should have answered Wu's query.

So, he took a moment to think about it. He felt feeble, fatigued, but the most prevalent wasn't the strange burning sentiment in his chest, but there was something eerily unfamiliar about his body.

"I feel… different." He answered apprehensively.

Wu and Misako glanced toward each other, then winced.

Kai was taken aback. "What?" The filter that had been keeping the anger out of his voice was beginning to fail. "What do you know that I don't?"

"Stand up, dear, and you'll see." Misako awkwardly sighed.

It took a minute (and some assistance) for Kai to find his footing, for he still felt slightly faint and unsteady on his feet.

For the first time since he awoke to this… situation, if that's what you would call it, he took a moment to take in his surroundings. He seemed to be in a cavern of crystals, just like he was when he and Skylor were captured by Chen and his Anacondrai followers.

But there were neither Anacondrai wannabes nor extremely attractive young women here… just him, Wu, Misako, and a cave made of crystals. He felt as though he had just been here minutes ago, but he ignored the sense of familiarity as another feeling pulled at him.

He peered to the closest wall, about three feet from him, and scanned his reflection. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had to do a double take just to make sure he wasn't crazy.

There was something significantly unusual about his body...

Dragon's wings, lit up in flames.

One green eye, one blue, both narrowed to fit the perfect look of a dragon's.

A blood-red tail, spiked and the end also on fire.

Small fangs poking out of his mouth, just big enough to form a slight overbite… with those two teeth, anyway.

And finish it off, pointed ears the color of a deep, bloody blaze, matching that of a dragon's.

Kai was utterly speechless. He couldn't breath. He was – partly, at least – a dragon, and he had no idea what or why or when or how.

"What did you do to me?" He growled at the two flabbergasted humans behind him.

They were too mortified to respond.

Kai was still unable to take his eyes off his own alarming image. After a few more moments of silence, he shouted angrily, "What did you do to me?"

Hey, guys! Hiro here! Hope you like my new story! Gotta jet! Bye! :D

-Hiro