It was an unusually bright, tranquil day. Most of the ninjas were below deck of the new Destiny's bounty and glad they were not training like Zarriah, working underneath the sweltering sun. She could hear them like insects underneath her and she was getting unfocused. She kept missing her imaginary enemy and it was imaginary! She stormed below deck and just missed a black thing leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
Sensei Wu himself was aware of the strange occurrence though. His beard twitched and his eyes narrowed as he was meditating with Lee in his room, "I am sorry to leave you at this point but I'll have to see to something."
He strode to the console room and looked at hidden cameras hidden everywhere in new Ninjago. Some were blurry but on was ultra clear. It showed a wolf escaping from the zoo. A black shadow stepped in front of the camera and broke it. Through the remnants of the broken camera, WU could see the shadow mounting the wolf and speeding out of view. He frowned and walked back to his room for some more quiet meditating.
Underneath the Destiny bounty 3.0, there was a colony of these black shadows underground. They had normal life in their dark city, but they had a despicable ruler (named Night), who wanted to rid the land of colour and replace it with black. It was a poor objective and even the ruler could see why. He spent many months trying to get his people to see his point of view.
His next speech was not much of a speech. His shadow army, led by his general Dark lassoed some people and Night ransomed them for family services. Scouts have been around the area; everything was in order. He was up for a good day- I mean night.
Jacob was the first to hear the sirens below him. He put on his beginners ninja outfit and raised the alarm. Soon, they all were lined up upper deck with jetpacks on their backs, ready to jump.
"Remember, to not hold back with elemental powers and Spinjitsu." reminded WU as he strode along the line, inpecting the ninja, "I think this will be critical as I know this thing will not be what you are used to. Be strong. "
He pushed Lee off the deck. Leia followed. So did Jacob. Zane 2.0 fell quicker than the rest. At last, Zarriah was standing. Wu regarded her.
"Don't worry." he said, "You do have powers you just don't notice them. Maybe today you will find it out."
Zarriah didn't need to be pushed. She jumped.
Meanwhile, there was a huge commotion on the streets of new Ninjago. Tourists and civilians alike were swarming towards the scene of the crime. A black- thing had been seen running down the streets on a wolf which changed shape and colour as it ran. At the end of Dojo lane, it had been fully black and they vanished. Various sights around the city gave way to many rumours. They also looked the legends of the old town Ninjago; the five ninja which had protected it with their lives, leaving heirs and vanishing completely.
They didn't notice as five ninjas softly landed on the top of a building, surveying the city. Neither did they care. Those kids, the public had told themselves, were nothing but trouble, stopping a crime or two then destroying the place, unable to stop using their powers and losing control. No, they wanted the old ninja who had awesome dragons and cool weapons.
Zarriah noticed this and disregarded it. She put her priority on what she was meant to be doing, "2.0 can you tell us what's happened?"
Zane stood still for a while then produced information. The ninja stiffened when they heard about the teleportation, the only thing science can't do.
They took off their jet packs and ran around the city by gutter lines and roof tops. Suddenly, Lee gave a call to the rest of the ninja's, "I've caught sight of it! Quick, to Mirror way, no- Snake alley!"
In a few moments, the ninjas were there, looking into the almost darkness of the snake alley which was occupied by the old enemies of their parents.
"I-I don't like this." whispered Jacob as sparks flickered from his hands. No one replied, they all didn't either. Leia's hair turned soft blue with concentration ( she had emotional hair) and she spotted a thing running down the street as fast as it could. The ninjas breathed with relief and followed the figure. They could see it closer and it looked... human. The wolf was pitch black and snarling at them. The figure stopped and looked up at them.
Without warning, the shadow teleported to the ninjas and pulled off a mask of black cloth. Beneath it there was a girl with white hair and a silver crown. Her green eyes were constantly looking around, each weapon, their hands. Her hair whipped in the breeze, making Zarriah catch a whiff of a flowered tree. Over-scented.
Preferring to be safe, she made a few wild swings at the girl; who knew- she may have been an enemy and Zarriah was wound up tight. To her surprise and shock the girl, with a faint smile that twisted into an evil leer, split into two to dodge the swings.
With a hoarse bellow, Zarriah charged straight at the girl, swinging to make it impossible to dodge. The girl shifted again, and with both hands she held the staff and broke it in two. Utterly shellshocked, Zarriah looked at the splintered remnants of her last gift from her father.
Her fellow trainees was also shocked.
"No," whispered Zarriah in a deep voice, "NOOOOOOO!"
Huge bursts of dark energy burst from her soul and scattered around the ceiling, piercing it. In a few seconds, a person lifted her by the armpits and teleported away. Her face felt like it was being submerged in freezing cold water-like air as she landed face down on soft fleshy ground which felt like... skin.
"So, Zarriah Garmadon," drawled a spine-chilling voice coming from behind her, "I will need you for what's to come. DOn't refuse or there will be consequences."
Zarriah turned and immediately caught her breath to the nameless horror before her...
