Temple of Resurrection. Dark, ominous, haunted, birthplace of the second Lord Garmadon, it stands alone, the last pillar in a sea of crumbling palace bricks. Yes, her time of dominance ended with Garmadon, and yes, the Masters of Spinjitzu restore the royal walls around her, yet no element can harm this looming shrine of villainy, when resurrection, once symbolic of new life, was forever corrupted.
Tonight, darkness shrouds the temple, its halls blacker than the new moon, save for the emitting glow of a carried torch, carried by a purple-robed, masked warrior ascending the stairs. Around the spiral, the warrior climbs, each stair touched with the slightest tap of the foot. The eyes, peering through the mask's only slit, dart about, as if watchful of the shadow's every move. The robes, in pendulum, flutter with every jolt. The hands, clothed in unhealed cuts and scrapes, grasp the railings, inching forward for every step conquered.
At last, the warrior reaches the stair's end, stopping short of a large, arched gateway, its red doors torn off the hinges and piled in splinters on the ground. The warrior sighs, then steps forward into the temple's altar room.
"Everything is at it was," the warrior mutters. "Nothing's changed since I last visited, not even the altar. Surely the mighty Green Ninja had learned not to trust such ruins?"
The warrior removed from a concealed pocket a red scroll, its wax seal already broken and ripped away. Then, he slowly unraveled the parchment, uncovering scribblings written with a quick-paced hand.
"Let me see," the warrior mutters, scanning through a hundred lines of verse. "Ah, there, the description fits. 'One with Oni, three with one, three in triangle, triangle in altar, altar under jar, jar under moon, moon above in sky.'"
The warrior rolled the scroll up, then stuffed it back into the pocket it came from. He glanced again at the altar. Nothing appeared on the altar, let alone the blue china jar described in the scroll. He strolled forward to the altar edge, then grasped at the air above.
"Hmm," the warrior sighed. "Nothing. Not even the slightest trace. Maybe there's some clues around here that tell me where the…"
Whoosh! In an instant, the warrior jumped to the side, barely escaping the iron spear thrown from behind. The spear streaked through the air and into the altar, hitting with a loud clunk before clanking to the ground. The warrior turned around, certain that an enemy was very close.
Instincts paid off. A lone, mask-less ninja, suited in orange, stepped forward from the shadows of the doorway, her firm, serious expression illuminated by the streams of pale moonlight shining down upon her. The warrior pulled out his silver katana, smiling at the approach of his uninvited guest.
"Master Skylor, I presume," the warrior smiled. "You honor me with your presence."
"Quit the formalities," Skylor interrupted. "You shouldn't be here. This isn't the place to be snooping about."
"Snooping," the warrior gasped. "I wasn't snooping. I was only looking, yes, that's it. I was looking about, seeing if what they tell me about the place is true."
"Sight-seeing is over," Skylor answered. "No one is allowed in here. Ninja orders."
"No one," the warrior chuckled. "Then what about you?"
"I guard the temple," Skylor answered, "from snoopers like you. Or is snooping too low a word for thievery?"
"Stay out of my hair, master of amber," the warrior hissed. "I will do as I pleased."
"Then you leave me no choice."
Skylor entered a fighting stance, then immediately fired off two balls of lightning at the warrior. The warrior quickly rolled out of the way, watching the lightning splatter onto the walls in small, numerous bolts. As he rolled, Skylor surged forward, throwing a right-side punch into his head. He stumbled backwards onto his back, yet maintained a grip on his katana.
"Leave," Skylor pointed.
"Never," the warrior hissed, rising slowly to his feet.
Skylor answered with a salvo of fire balls, which the warrior deflected with his katana into the ground. She followed with a left-side kick to the right hip, but the warrior blocked the blow with a lower block. A series of punches and kicks ensured, Skylor and the warrior trading and landing blows as they fought across the courtyard. At times, Skylor knocked the warrior off his feet; other times, the warrior whacked Skylor to the ground. No one gained, no one lost; both were too skilled to defeat the other.
"You're stronger than you appear," Skylor commented while blocking a kick.
"That I am," the warrior smiled, deflecting another of Skylor's punches with ease. "I trained long and hard to outdo masters like you."
"But can you block this," Skylor asked.
Skylor jumped back, then shot a fire ball from the left hand and water from the right. The warrior swung his katana and deflected the bullets; at the same time, Skylor punched the ground, jolting the stones and knocking the warrior off his feet. His sword flew out of his hands and off the temple floor, splashing into the eel-infested waters below.
"Give up," Skylor ordered. "Surrender now and I will spare you."
"Never," the warrior swore.
"Suit yourself," Skylor shrugged. "Ninja go!"
She started to spin in a circle, going faster and faster with every turn, and as she spun, a tornado of amber energy formed, shielding her body until not a trace of her physical form remained. The amber tornado then raced toward the warrior, ready to dispel him into the eel-infested waters. But the warrior showed no fear, and let a cruel smile escape his lips.
He reached into his robes again, pulling out another weapon, a hollow shuriken with three spikes, each one a distinct color and a unique size. He positioned his hand and backed against the altar, then plunged the shuriken into the amber tornado. For a brief moment, the tornado rattled his arms, then the pain subsided as the shuriken's dark magic started to flow. The shuriken edges started glowing amber as it drained the energy in Skylor's Spinjitzu. For a minute, the tornado, though fading, continued roaring and spinning, but eventually it completely dissolved, having been emptied of its power by a now-full shuriken. Skylor collapsed to the ground, too weak to move another inch.
"What…what have you done," Skylor panted. "You…you sucked away my Spinjitzu."
"That's right," the warrior chuckled. "I have taken away your powers. Now you are nothing and I am something."
"You…you won't get away with this," Skylor gasped. "The Ninja…they will stop you."
"Will they," the warrior smiled, bending down to Skylor's weakened frame. "You place too much faith in those pathetic Ninja. But they cannot stop me even if they try."
He lifted the shuriken to his mouth, then pressed his lips tightly upon one of the blades. The amber energy poured through the blade into his body, pushing out small droplets of blood that dripped from his pierced lips. Soon, his whole body radiated with amber, while the shuriken's glow dissipated into thin air.
"Who are you," Skylor coughed.
"None of your concern," the warrior retorted. "Now go back to the noddle shop where you belong."
He raised his right arm into the air, clenching his fist to build up a funnel of wind. Skylor slowly rose helplessly into the air, wiggling to break free but incapable of escaping. The warrior met her fearful eyes with his, then released his fist. A sonic stream of wind burst from the hands, propelling Skylor out of the temple into Ninjago City, smashing her into a pile of garbage outside Chen's Noodle Shop. Then the warrior turned toward Borg Tower, facing the first beams of the rising sun.
"Ninjago, beware, for I have returned home."