Clay wasn't sure what he was seeing. Blackness, spreading across the countryside, enveloping everything in fog so thick and so dark that it looked like a wall. When he had gotten the distress signal, he had told the others to stay home, that he would handle it himself.

He had hoped it was his mother. This, however, was nothing like anything he'd ever seen.

It was far away enough that he could watch without fear of it getting to him, not that he knew what would happen if it did. He swallowed down a thick lump that had been growing in his throat. His fingers twitched uncertainly, and eventually he raised his hand to turn on his communication channel.

"Merlock?" He asked, barely able to hide the fearful shaking in his voice, "What is that?"

The other end of the radio fizzled for a second before his uncle's voice cut through.

"I have an idea of what it might be, and if it's what I think it is, then you need to get out of there as fast as possible."

Clay nodded, not remembering that Merlock couldn't see him, and turned towards his jet. His footing was unsteady as he walked. It felt unsafe to be turned away from that black wall of fog, like as soon as he turned his back he would be overwhelmed with it. But the fog stayed in its place, moving forwards at a moderate pace.

"You've got some explaining to do, Merlock."

All of the knights were now gathered in the capital, sitting together anxiously in what remained of Merlock's library. Ava sat behind a monitor, chewing on a thumbnail as she watched the progress of the black fog from numerous cameras throughout the kingdom.

Lance, who had spoken, had turned away from Merlock. Instead, he was watching as people from all across the country spilled into the capital through the entrance gates. Clay gave him a look, like he wanted to tell Lance off, but was too worried to actually speak.

Merlock wrung his hands together nervously from his podium, "I know, I know." He said, "And I will, but first- Ava, what do you see from the cameras?"

At the question, Ava sighed.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Most of them are out of commission, broken. By something. Not that I know what's breaking them or anything-" She cut herself off with an annoyed grumble, "For the first time in forever, I think I'm stumped."

Merlock nodded at her, inhaled slowly, and let out a nervous huff.

"I think I know what's going on," he started, "Wu had told me long ago about his grandmother's army. An army of darkness, bringers of destruction. I thought he had said that they were sealed away though, and I want to believe him. But the things he told me then and the things happening now line up too much."

Merlock squeezed his eyes closed, "This means terrible, terrible things for Knighton."

"Uncle," Clay stood up, frown on his face, "We've only met Wu once, when the ninja came to Knighton before returning to Ninjago, and even then we barely spoke to him. What do you mean his grandmother's army?"

"Yeah," Lance pitched in, "I'm not fighting anyone's grandmother if I don't have to."

There was a silence for a moment as Merlock collected his thoughts together. The only sounds were from the city below, and Ava flipping through camera views.

Things had finally been looking up for the knights. They had saved the kingdom, Jestro, and the only threat for the past few months had been Ruina. Now this… thing was there. And apparently it involved the ninja. Merlock's hologram flickered once as he got the memories he needed, and then he was gone. In his place, pictures of things that Merlock had seen long ago appeared.

"Wu's grandmother is the Oni Queen, a shapeshifting, all powerful being who controls the darkness in the realms. Wu had told me that she and her army of oni had been locked away by his father, but when she had been at war, her army could turn people to stone. Unlock the darkness of their hearts, and freeze them in place. They'd still be alive, just in a deep, mental sleep."

Nobody saw Clay's fists clench. Nobody saw how his breathing had a slightly broken pace.

"Her evil would cause everything to fall to her command. Only those with oni blood could walk through her black cloud without turning to stone, and that was how Wu's father finally defeated his mother. He was able to trap her into some… some place. I don't exactly know where, Wu never specified."

The images disappeared, replaced with Merlock. Merlock's eyebrows were knit together with a mixture of worry, and fear. Even he didn't notice how his nephew stood completely still.

"I fear that the Queen has broken out of whatever prison had been holding her, and that she is angry. Perhaps she wants vengeance against those who wronged her."

"But why would she want to attack us?" Everyone turned to look at Robin, who's hands fidgeted nervously with a metallic tangle, "If it's revenge she wants, then why doesn't she go after her… her son? Why us?"

Merlock shook his head, at a loss for words. Silence pressed on the group. Outside, a wide frame of black had started spreading across the horizon. More and more people filled the city.

Ava's typing stopped.

"I- I got a working camera." She said, just above a whisper.

Everyone watched as she flipped her monitor's display around to show what she had found. Nobody saw how Clay stopped breathing for a second.

The view was of a city street, Waterton, maybe. There were people strewn about, some fallen over, other's standing. Frozen in a position that said that maybe they had been running from something. The area was covered with a fog, but it was somehow brighter inside the cloud that outside. Something struck all the knights at once. A sad, horrified thought.

When Clay had been turned to stone, he had done so in the middle of a fight. A fight he had been winning. He had frozen in a position that might have been victory, like a memorial. Like something beautifully sad.

These people didn't have that. These people weren't winning, they were losing. They were scared when they were turned, one might even say petrified if they wanted to be funny. It was harsh, and it was scary. Clay collapsed onto the floor, his hands pressed hard into his eyes. There, he shook silently to himself until Macy urged Ava to turn the video feed away.

"I can't do this again-" He croaked to himself, suddenly unaware of the other people in the room, "I don't want to not feel again. I- I don't want this."

The knights shared a glance with each other, and then Aaron was at Clay's side, gently wrapping his arms around Clay's wide shoulders.

"Hey," Aaron said softly, "We're gonna be ok. Nothing's gonna happen to you again, especially not that. We'll figure this out."

He paused before adding, "Take all the time you need, by the way. We're here for you."

Clay nodded into his hands. He wasn't crying, but he was shaken. A bit too much, probably. Aaron rubbed his back a couple of times, before standing up and running his hands through his hair, knocking his headphones down in the process.

The room was quiet. Deadly so. The sounds from outside had quieted considerably so, almost like the people out in the streets could tell that this was a serious situation. A sharp inhale came from Ava, and the knights turned to look at her.

"Something's moving out there." She said, "I think- Oh god what is that?"

She didn't flip the screen around, instead, the knights and Robin squeezed in behind her to watch.

Through the fog, a large black shape moved. It had horns, long and pointed upwards, and stood on two sharpened hooves. Large fangs jutted out from its lower lip, and its eyes glowed an eerie purple in the fog. It turned to look at the camera, and it's eyes narrowed.

With one, clawed hand, it reached out and crunched the camera into pieces. The feed cut out, and silence hung over the room once more.

Macy swallowed, "I don't think… I don't think we're gonna be able to win this one, guys."