Previously on Ninjago,
Ninjago Chapter 6: "Versed With a Curse."
"Are you tired of waiting, brother?"
Nadakahn sighs, "Ah, you've got me. I am growing somewhat impatient, since even as we are on the verge of triumph, I still feel an urgency to quash the Ninja hastily. Time is in their favor."
"Well, I think it fair to assume that between the two of us, and your previous encounter with this vermin, that time is not in their favor any longer, for behold!" Maridakahn gestures to Hiroshi's Labyrinth, for they have arrived.
Since Nadakahn is aware of how to retrieve the realm crystal, it take mere minutes for the two to snatch the crystal and leave.
"See, you have learned from your previous scuffles. Now, I hath our next step planned out, so are you prepared, brother?"
Lloyd's morning starts like any other, until he realizes what day it is; today is the anniversary of his father's death. The normally fairly upbeat Lloyd starts to sulk slightly as he prepares for his lesson with Wu. Lloyd arrives on time to Wu's Gallery.
"My pupil, I sense you are in mourning. Today may be a good opportunity for you." Wu greets Lloyd.
"How, Sensei? I don't want to forget my father." Lloyd replies slightly sullenly.
"No, not forget, rather, remember."
"Huh?"
Wu suddenly holds out a robe to Lloyd: his father's.
"Dad's robe. You want me to wear it?"
"Yes, today's exercise will be performed in his honor. You seem to forget, before he was your father, he was my brother…"
After practice of the refractor-into-Spinjiztu, Lloyd joins the other ninja at the breakfast hall while still wearing his father's robe.
"Woah ho! Looking sharp Lloyd!" Cole praises.
"Your father would be proud to see you in his kimono!" Kai smiles warmly.
Lloyd smiles as best he can. Misako hugs him to comfort him.
Lloyd sighs, then relaxes slightly, "Alright, fellas. What word do we have on the djinn and his releaser?"
"Nothing as of now, Lloyd. I scanned the local news, but nothing was amiss. Zane shakes his head. "Fortunately, this does also imply that no one is in danger yet either; we still have time," Zane brightens slightly.
At that moment, Jay burst into the dining hall with a smile on his face. "Guys, check it out! We got a letter!"
"Jay, we all get letters sometimes, don't overdo it." Nya groans.
Jay sputters, then jumps up to the group, "Look, I am fully aware of my overreactions to normally trivial things; someone even made a video remix of it on Us-Pipe! But, no! I mean, look who it's from! We may have just found our lead!"
The ninja look at the envelope, which has no return address. The letter reads that a mysterious admirer wants to meet with the ninja in the Ninjago City Park. The Ninja nod to one another, "Ninja, Go!"
The team races to the Ultra Stealth Raider, and blasts off to the city park.
Another day means another opening, of Curiosi-Tea that is. Pythor exhales with slight exhaustion, "Another day, another dollar. Humph, hopefully."
Akumu arrives soon after, along with Korin. Akumu also brought the ancient book from the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb. "Yes, and perhaps two cents to follow the dollar," Akumu quips as they enter.
Pythor grins, then sees the book, "So, what did that salty codger leave behind in his memento?"
Akumu frowns, "I have begun translating it, but it's a slow process since I barely understand the language. Korin has been a great help though." Akumu hands Pythor a transcript of the book.
"Hmm, he even goes into detail on his golden power, as well as a tad on the Overlord…" Pythor mutters. Pythor's eyes glint suddenly as his face shows interest, "Golden Forge? Is this the little trinket he used? Or even perhaps what the Overlord used?"
Akumu nods, "Most likely the former, which makes this discovery all the more fortuitous for us, now that I have hired more help in our research department. After all, Korin is wonderful, but she cannot decode this trove of a novel all on her own."
Korin looks slightly miffed, but remains quiet.
Akumu walks to the back room, and unlocks the back entrance smoothly, whilst Pythor and Korin watch closely. Akumu smiles, "Mr. Chumsworth, Ms. Chiura,…"
Korin flinches slightly at the mention of her surname.
"Allow me to present our newest employee," Akumu gestures to the humanoid being standing by his side dutifully.
"Hello, again, Pythor. Refrained from swallowing pills for Golden Masters lately I presume," the feminine, robotic voice melodically greets her new employer with the slightest hint of sarcasm and haughtiness, and is followed up by a graceful bow.
The ninja arrive in the park as per request of the letter.
"Ok, we're here! Show yourself! We're the ninja after all so it doesn't make sense for you to be hidden!" Jay smiles with a somewhat eager, energetic surge, (lol electricity pun, so funny ha-ha!).
"Jay, there is no one here, so I regret to inform you, but you have accidentally wasted a perfectly good joke," Zane chides playfully, "Do you concur, Pixal?" All that greets Zane is silence. Zane shakes his head in surprise, "I'm sorry Pixal, if my own sense of humor does not amuse you…" Silence remains.
Kai looks around the park, but he finds no one. "Guys, I think that letter was a joke," he shrugs.
Cole looks around too, but nods in agreeance to Kai's observation, "Yeah, I guess this is a new twist on a ghost story, eh?" Cole nudges Nya in conjunction with his joke.
Nya sighs exaggeratedly, but smiles, "Actually, that was kinda good. Yet still bitterly corny. Is that why some kids called you Coleslaw when you were young?"
Cole blinks, "Uh, no."
Jay laughs, "Coleslaw, I like it! Kinda explains why you were kinda crunchy and bitter before."
Lloyd sighs, "Why would someone send us a goose chase like this?" Lloyd gasps, "Maybe it was Pythor! He might've set us up so he could attack the temple!"
"No, afraid not, children," a melodic, whisper floats into the park.
The ninja turn at the sudden voice, weapons raised.
A poof of smoke reveals two djinn towering over the six ninja, "So, these are the worshipped star children that you were so hasty to warn me of, hmm?"
"No…no…No!" Jay suddenly snaps up and launches a blast of lightning at Nadakahn.
Nadakahn poofs out of the way with an almost insulted humph, "Like I really learned nothing from our last encounter, Jay."
Nya too shoots a blast of water immediately after Jay's attack misses, which Nadakahn again swiftly avoids with an indignant glare.
"These children's belligerent spirits do pose an annoyance, but nevertheless an annoyance is but a small trifle in the grander scheme of our goals." Maridakahn sighs.
"You still doubt them?" Nadakahn growls slightly as he gives his brother a slightly agitated glance.
"In the face of our real threat, yes…" Maridakahn sighs again, and poofs to Lloyd, only to snatch him up and disappear!
Nadakahn flinches at his brother's actions, but then looks down on the remaining ninja with a scornful smirk. "Perhaps now, you all will witness what you are truly dealing with!"
"Lloyd!" the ninja's cry echoes throughout the park.
Back at CuriosiTea, (sick of the name yet?), Akumu looks up, as though in a slight trance, "It's him."
"Who?" Pythor notices Akumu's glazed eyes.
Akumu looks at Pythor directly in the eyes, almost startling him, "The enemy who freed the djinn, and who contracted Korin to keep watch on us."
"W…well what do you suggest?" Pythor flinches slightly at Akumu's unnerving stare.
"Nothing; we wait," Akumu turns away and walks out the door in an almost gliding manner. "I'm going into town for groceries, and will return shortly,"
Pythor nods, "Hmm, well then, moving on!"
Korin watches Akumu leave, with an almost wistful look; she too then returns to her work. "The anvil finally drops…" she thinks to herself.
Kai suddenly jumps at Nadakahn, shooting a solid stream of fire in front of himself. Kai misses, but uses his power to blast himself higher into the air and unleash his dragon.
Jay and Nya combine their powers to forge their dual-elemental dragon, and join Kai in the air to try and encircle Nadakahn.
Nadakahn poofs away from the ninja, and further into the park. Nadakahn disguises himself as Sensei Wu, and enters the local grocer: "Cold Cuts Deli/Market". "Humph, what is he planning?" Nadakahn hisses to himself while trying to blend in the crowd of shoppers. His wandering lands him at an aisle with noodle soup, ramen, and the like. "Hmm, we certainly never had food in this condition, but the cheap production must surely cause it to suffer." He continues browsing, but fails to notice a shadow creeping up underneath him, Akumu's shadow.
"Wonder who he thinks he's fooling," Akumu thinks to himself. Akumu glances around, then sighs, slightly frustrated, "Not a wise option to expose him here…" Akumu continues his shopping, instead sending a warning message to his associates at the tea shop. A response arrives shortly afterwards from Curiosi-Tea; Pythor says he's sending backup that should arrive momentarily in Akumu's fighter jet. Akumu sends a reply thanking him, and checks out at the register calmly and casually. He leaves minutes afterwards, and heads toward Ninjago City's park.
Nadakahn meanwhile has been trying the free samples the store has been offering, and received more than the average customer thanks to his cunning disguise. He grins and laughs to himself mentally, "Amazing this world has not been usurped and conquered by this age…" Nadakahn leaves the grocer, but is immediately surrounded by the ninja. He growls in frustration, as he can tell by their malevolent expressions that his guise is far from effective on them.
"Cute trick, now see mine!" Cole rolls up like a breakdancer, and flips up to Nadakahn, (who is still in disguise), and instead of punching him, waits and watches where he teleports to and finishes a very powerful, elemental, earth punch on him!
Nadakahn is blasted down the street, absolutely wrecking it with a deep groove in the pavement where Nadakahn skidded.
The onlooking townspeople see this, and mistake Nadakahn for the real Wu, and riot toward Cole for both destroying their roads and Wu.
"Wait, wait! That's not…Wahh!" Cole is lifted up by the riot and tossed into the road indention he created.
"Please, good people! He was merely trying to help you! That is not Master Wu! He's an imposter!" Zane yells to the mob while blowing cold wind to dissuade their anger and simultaneously gain their attention.
Nadakahn, crawls out of the crater he was in, and his disguise melts away as he starts floating back to the park, injured. He growls, but as he enters the park, a voice startles him.
"Are you terribly injured, Brother?" Maridakahn's vocal ringing has sympathetic tint to its usual hissy, gravelly pitch. Maridakahn appears in front of Nadakahn, with a concerned visage on his face.
"I have little strength, Brother. What of the ninja you captured?" Nadakahn gasps, as he struggles to look his brother in the eye. Nadakahn's movements have slowed drastically as he struggles to carry himself.
Maridakahn hisses a chuckle, and tosses a strange object down at Nadakahn's feet; it is the spirit of a young man, a defeated spirit.
The spirit struggles to get up off the ground, its face covered from view. It cannot, for its strength is all but spent. Maridakahn whips his ghostly tail at the young ghost, sending it sprawling a couple meters off and leaving another craterous skid mark on the city streets.
"How?" Nadakahn sees the whole display, and tiredly manages to convert his thoughts into words. Nadakahn turns to face his brother, with a very impressed grin.
Maridakahn then floats to his brother's side, and sprinkles some dust-like substance on Nadakahn. Nadakahn glitters momentarily, and sighs in pleasure as the strange power fills his injuries and mends them pleasantly.
Akumu sees this and mutters something inaudible under his breath; Korin must have sold the djinn some of their magical teas. Akumu remains out of sight, by reflecting the sun's rays to give him the appearance of being invisible. Akumu's attention then turns toward the ghost that had been brutally beaten and defeated several times over; the hair certainly raised suspicions, but Akumu couldn't quite make a good assessment of the identity of the stranger. Akumu slinks and dashes over to it, but as he is doing so, he notices that the elder djinn's hair is glowing, and so is his left hand. Akumu pulls out a small telescope that Pythor had given him a month ago, and sees that the djinn is wearing a strange crown that resembled nothing like anything he'd ever seen, as well as a ring on the djinn's right hand. Akumu's pondering is cut very abruptly as he feels a chill on his shoulder; the djinn is right beside him, hand on his shoulder. Akumu grits his teeth, and breaths in sharply with his pupils constricting.
"Hello, child…" Maridakahn's silky whisper caresses his eardrums almost hypnotically; Maridakahn's hand does not leave Akumu's shoulder.
Nadakahn floats up quickly, and in slight surprise asks, "Where did you…"
Maridakahn pulls Akumu's shoulder toward Nadakahn, startling Akumu into nearly tripping and barely keeping balance. Maridakahn looks down on Akumu, refusing to let go of him, "You do recognize me, don't you child?"
"No, I'm afraid not, your eloquence," Akumu replies tacitly as his eyebrows stiffen, and his muscles tighten.
Maridakahn smiles as he releases Akumu's shoulder, "Well, I've heard much about you…"
Nadakahn squints in recognition of Akumu, and folds his arms in contemplation, "This is the boy, then."
"What are you planning?" Akumu suddenly pipes up, still level in his tone but taking a very defensive posture.
Maridakahn and Nadakahn look at him curiously, but say nothing. Maridakahn tosses an open, full, water bottle at the nearby ghost boy's collapsed form.
Akumu sees this and swats the bottle away, but it splatters all over him. Akumu's face suddenly drains of all color completely, and tries to back away from the spilt liquid. Akumu whispers a very quiet curse under his breath; he'd been too quick to act.
Maridakahn grins as the look on Akumu's face suddenly finds itself at knee high to a water bottle, as does the rest of Akumu's body! Maridakahn leans down and pats the now miniature Akumu on the head like one might pat a sweet child's head to praise them, "You certainly resemble the adjective 'cute', without any dispute in the slightest, do no you not 'little threat'?"
Akumu growls as this happens, but soon is disoriented by taking in his new surroundings, and can only stutter, "Wh…what's…happened…to me?!" Akumu's attention suddenly is caught by a shining object in the corner of his eye: closer inspection reveals it to be a falcon, on the hunt. Akumu's eyebrows shoot up as he is swooped up and swallowed by the falcon before he can utter a peep. The falcon soars off into the distance.
Maridakahn smirks slightly and pulls out a transcript he had 'stolen' at CuriosiTea; this being the transcript to the book written by the First Spinjiztu Master. "Now then, according to this, an artifact that the First Spinjitzu Master used to create the elemental weapons, blades and other weapons is located deep in the heart of the Golden Peaks," Maridakahn reads to Nadakahn while gesturing to some glittering mountains in the distance.
Nadakahn begins to chuckle, but soon poofs away to avoid five elemental beams blasting him in the face.
"Where's Lloyd you two creeps?!" Nya shouts, enraged.
"Oh, is that all? Your disembodied leader is on death's door, and is on his last breaths. Any sprinkle of water could easily obliterate any remainder of his person, so do be careful…" Maridakahn replies coyly with a gesture toward Lloyd's collapsed, ghostly incarnation.
The ninja simultaneously gasp, and dash toward their fallen leader, only to be blasted into the ground by an elemental surge from Maridakahn. Nadakahn begins laughing tauntingly, "Well, well, now doesn't it feel nice? To be shot into the ground and gravel, I of course am referring to. I would know after all…"
The ninja groan, but help each other up and resume their duel with Maridakahn by simultaneously summoning their dragons and blasting him.
Maridakahn is long gone, and floats above them and blasts them with a wave of energy, weakening their dragons.
Cole's dragon vanishes since he loses focus, but is caught by Jay on his dragon. "Thanks, Jay; you Rock!"
Jay faces him, with a very, very pissed off glare, and dumps Cole off his dragon. Cole screams in terror as he braces to kiss the ground full-force; Cole is snatched up by his underpants by the claw of Jay's dragon, and is set on the ground after the wedgie.
All the while, Zane and Nya are encircling Maridakahn, while Kai is blasting toward Lloyd's fainted self. Kai tries to scoop up Lloyd, but misses since Lloyd's body is intangible; Kai becomes thrown off by this and crashes into a nearby tree, setting it ablaze.
Zane is trying to calculate the best tactical option to stop this threat, but suddenly a signal interference disrupts his concentration. "What is that? A signal, so familiar, but I cannot recognize it…"
"Zane! Stay focused!" Nya barks as she dodges an incoming blast of energy from Maridakahn.
Zane snaps back to reality, and after miliseconds of thinking, realizes if Nya misses her mark, she'd potentially splash Lloyd, effectively killing him permanently. Before Zane can warn her to back off of Maridakahn and remain only defensive, his signal is interrupted again and distracts him. Zane does react in time to avoid a blast from electricity that Jay discharged but missed Maridakahn.
"Zane! Sorry!" Jay quickly apologizes while avoiding a direct punch from Nadakahn.
Maridakahn suddenly floats above the clouds, charging up his energy to end the fight. His idea fails quickly, as a sudden jet collides with him, with the impact sending him meteoring back down into the park with a large explosion of dirt and rubble. He tries to float back up, but suddenly clunked mid-air by a large anvil, and just above the anvil is Akumu. Maridakahn coughs as he hits the ground again, coughing in disbelief at Akumu's reappearance, much less as being back to normal.
The jet rockets back, and Akumu latches back on as it makes a u-turn back toward the fight. Akumu glares down, sprinkles a strange liquid over Maridakahn's location. Maridakahn feels the small droplets splatter on his skin, and hisses. Maridakahn watches as the whole world suddenly seems to explode in size around himself.
Akumu hisses a laugh, but soon just scoffs as Maridakahn floats up again.
"Ha-ha! Merely joshing!" is the energetic comment by Maridakahn as he restores himself back to normal and uses a strange beam to hold Akumu mid-air. Akumu cries out slightly as a strange, purple substances is drained from him to Maridakahn. Maridakahn's joy is cut short when the substance reaches him, causing him to cough and shout in alarm.
Akumu feels the energy return to his body, and uses airjitzu to soften his landing. "You do not know me…" Akumu grimaces at Maridakahn in regards to his attempt to drain Akumu's energy.
Nadakahn smiles a wicked grin, and floats up to Akumu. "You do have quite a force to be reckoned with, no? In honor of your valiant comeback, let me make you an offer," Nadakahn sidles up to Akumu very casually, only stopping to dodge and attack by the ninja surrounding him.
"Brother…No! You know not the consequences of what…!" Maridakahn pleads, but poofs to avoid an attack by Kai, who has recovered from his crash and is truly fired up.
"Do ignore him…" Nadakahn begins.
"How can I? What he just did to me was not only just outright disrespectful, it was completely dishonorable!" Akumu glowers at Nadakahn, while his eyes appear to adopt a purple hue.
"Hmm…yes…He does owe you an apology, does he not? Let me give it to you! A chance to make things right!" Nadakahn begins cornering Akumu, causing Akumu to start backing off, until he hits a tree and startles himself.
Back to the tree, Akumu has nowhere to run. "Make things right?" Akumu's voice cracks slightly out of tension as his hands start feeling his robe searching for something to defend himself.
"But of course! It is the duty, oh nay, the honor, the esteemed honor! Of a Djinn to grant the deepest wishes of others. So, do not lie to yourself," Nadakahn sidles back up beside Akumu, with a much less condescending expression on his visage. "Let me do the same for you; take a chance, for it may very well be the only time you can…"
Akumu looks at Nadakahn long and hard, "Hmm…" Akumu blinks, silently mulling it all over. In his thoughts, Akumu suddenly gets an "aha!" idea;, back in reality, he pulls out a sheet of paper, and begins writing a list.
"So, let me offer you: three wishes," Nadakahn puts his four hands together invitingly.
"Fine." Akumu looks at him with an enigmatic confidence.
Nadakahn smiles gently, "So your firs….!" Nadakahn finds the paper Akumu had been writing on shoved in his hands.
"Here are my three wishes."
Nadakahn frowns, but nods, "A little, how do you say, unorthodox, but I suppose it counts…" Nadakahn glows as he begins granting the wishes.
Maridakahn thought he'd finally gained an advantage over his ninja enemies, but their tireless loyalty to Lloyd inspired some wicked combos: Kai and Jay combined their powers to create a flaming thunderbolt that truly sizzled on Maridakahn's remaining flesh. Nya, Zane, and Cole combined their elements to concoct a massive glacier of stone, ice and with an additional water shell covering it; it scarred Maridakahn's transparent tail, and the glacier itself left its mark on Maridakahn's torso, and chest. Maridakahn, quick to take the hint, quickly teleports over to his brother in an attempt to stop him from granting Akumu's wishes; it's too late.
Akumu is now holding a strange sack of shards that resemble an unidentifiable weapon of some kind. He is also sporting a cold glass of water, quietly sipping it with a slightly more relaxed grin.
Korin suddenly perks up, and runs to her scroll, picking it up and reading it. The scroll glitters momentarily, and a sentence that was written in red ink suddenly transforms into normal, black ink and the scroll stops sparkling. Korin feels her back tingle, and it too begins to shimmer on her two shoulder blades. "…I don't believe it," she thinks to herself in definite surprise, and blinks, "…he succeeded…" She smiles, albeit only for half a second, but a small smile nonetheless graces her face.
Maridakahn begins berating his brother in a very harsh, hoarse screech, "This is how you were so easily banished! Your arrogance! Your absolute degenerate mindset gave you nothing but an entitled attitude which is COSTING YOU!" Maridakahn begins poofing around Nadakahn, "You let her go…and now…how are we supposed to keep watch on him?!" Maridakahn gestures furiously at Akumu, who smirks.
"Oh, do forgive me…And yet, I do seem to notice that you LOST to the children you were so unconcerned about! Am I surprised? Not a bit! Any arrogance I have, I clearly had the way paved for me in advance!" Nadakahn counters with almost equal fury, "Father chose me for a reason, Brother!"
Both Djinn suddenly disappear in a blind rage by using their respective realm crystals.
The ninja sigh in disappointment in not being able to apprehend the twosome, but finally turn their attention to Lloyd, and start calling out to him to try and awaken him.
Akumu turns to leave the scene, since he cannot do much at this point. He suddenly closes his eyes, as a strange vision fills his mind: Nadakahn had disguised himself as Wu, but that was nothing but a foreshadowing of the Djinn's real target, Sensei Wu. Akumu's communicator buzzes him; Pixal's voice crackles as she is very quick to explain, "Someone has invaded Pythor's old laboratory, and they have Sensei Wu with them…"
"Get me there, now!" Akumu airjitzus into the air, and catches a ride on his jet.
Zane suddenly perks up from his attention to Lloyd, when he sees the jet as his signal is suddenly disrupted. Zane zooms in on the jet's occupants, and sees Pixal. Zane gasps, and tries to summon his dragon to pursue, but the other ninja stop him.
"Zane! What's the matter with you?" Nya complains, turning back to Lloyd.
"Yeah, Zane! What's got you so distant?" Jay inquires, slightly hurt.
"I saw Pixal! In that fighter plane!" Zane points, but the plane is long gone by the time the others look.
They look at him, confused.
"Look Zane, worry about her later; Lloyd is our focus right now," Kai scolds calmly, but firmly. Kai uses his fire very delicately as he tries to awaken Lloyd.
Cole leans down, putting a hand on Lloyd, and finds that Lloyd is tangible to him! He rolls Lloyd over, and they see that Lloyd had been brutally abused in whatever scuffle he'd had with the Djinn.
"Cole, how'd you do that?" Nya's eyebrows tilt slightly.
Cole shrugs, "Might be because I was a ghost once, but regardless, now we need to find Wu."
Zane tries to contact the temple while the others watch over Lloyd, but Misako reports that Wu's been in the city for the entire evening and had sent no word regarding his whereabouts. Zane is frozen in realization of the scenario at hand, "…Oh, no…."
Akumu and Pixal arrive at Pythor's lab with time to spare, or so they think. It's abandoned, and there is almost no evidence of anyone having occupied the lab for at least several months. Akumu shakes his head, clenching his fist which engulfs in a purple flame as he does. Pixal frowns, but puts a hand on Akumu's shoulder to try and ease the burden of the situation.
"Worry not, the ninja will stop them, and save Master Wu."
Akumu faces Pixal, deadpan and dead in tone, "That will not be enough; they took him, and rebuilt him."
Pixal's expression stiffens, and she, and Akumu, return to the jet, and rocket back to the park.
They arrive, but they are indeed, too late. Sensei Wu, formerly so at least, is currently assaulting the ninja with very poignant, accurate, and powerful strikes from the Golden Staff of the First Spinjitzu Master. The ninja are trying to be gentle, but have no will to fight back anymore.
Akumu sends out a small, snake-like contraption which ensnares Wu. Wu struggles, but looking behind himself, sees Akumu, "Milord, you've returned. I apologize for my fruitless efforts to curb the djinn menace, but will soon have dispatched our only other threat."
The ninja see Akumu, and give him mixed expressions.
"He pretty much literally killed Lloyd, but why? And what has he…" Akumu is jumpscared by Wu escaping the snare and standing right in front of him at attention. Akumu lets his breath escape his lips, but glances Wu over, noticing only minor changes aside from Wu's newly-black beard. Wu also has very piercing purple eyes, and these same eyes pierce Akumu, unnerving him.
"Milord, it would seem that my loyalties have changed; I serve you fully, and wholly. Those ninja will never believe that you didn't cause my change, for that is what he wants. Even my word will do no good; we must finish them," Wu pulls his weapon out, brandishing it.
"No! That is not the answer!" Akumu argues, taking a step back.
"Very well, if we must do it that way…" Wu uses Spinjitzu, now purple, and engulfs Akumu. Akumu is sent sprawling at the ninja, with his eyes now too purple like Wu's, and they are just as piercing; Akumu's expression betrays his utter confusion, and fear.
"Please, try to understand…thh…this was not my…" Akumu tries to plead his case, but is interrupted by Maridakahn' sudden appearance.
"No…but you would have eventually, for your destiny doth foretell such a fate for those around you." Maridakahn tries to blast the ninja, but Akumu stops the blast mid-air, eyes glowing. The blast suddenly morphs into a darker, purple engraved form of energy, and is suddenly absorbed into both Akumu and Wu. "You are linked now. Your bond is due to your power's instinctive nature; I must display my gratitude for your refusal to give it to me, for it is truly naught but a curse," Maridakahn glowers with a very threatening wheeze of amusement, but despite this, his words completely free from falsehood. He floats around Akumu, who suddenly stops using his strange energy, and pulls out his sword. "Your parent's death, and your little brother's death. On your honor?" Maridakahn quibbles accusingly.
"And you're blameless? You think that your efforts for the cursed realm have gone unnoticed? And clearly you've other ventures you have yet to disclose," Akumu slashes at Maridakahn's head, but hears a 'klink' as his sword strikes metal. "That crown…" Akumu mutters as he suddenly has to fight off Maridakahn's six-armed blade frenzy.
In between retaliation slashes, Maridakahn chortles, "Thou doth admire my trinkets, does't thee?" Maridakahn's strange crown, and the ring on his left hand, the one closest to his ghostly tail, glow and his entire body erupts in a red, raging aura. Maridakahn's attack quickly overwhelms Akumu, and he is sent flying with a few gashes from the cutting blitz. "Your invaluable assistance will be a great asset to mine ideals, child. While it is true that thy goals are noble, thou cannot conceal what thine own fate shall reveal…" Maridakahn begins to float away in parting, but suddenly gets blasted by a white, firey beam. Maridakahn retreats, but not before casting one last scorning leer at his attacker, Korin.
Korin hears Maridakahn's voice inside her mind, "Now that you are free, tell me: was it worth the effort? I promise thyself one thing: ye will fall apart, and will distance thyself from those whom should be held most near… Your fate…is as hollow as his…" She looks at her scroll, but it offers no comfort for it shows nothing additional in her future. Shuddering in frustration, she regains her bearings temporarily to focus her energy staff and aim the barrel at the ninja, in whom she detects large amounts of hostility.
Akumu sees her, and waves to her to disarm her weapon. Akumu then turns to the ninja, mournfully; however, Wu suddenly starts attacking the ninja once more. Akumu's eyes glow, as he very calls out in a resigning voice, "Stop."
Wu stops, and faces him, eyes also glowing. The ninja sigh in relief, and try to approach Akumu.
A burst of wind engulfs Akumu, whose eyes have not changed, nor his expression. The turbulence increases, as Akumu performs Spinjitzu and entraps the ninja in it; when he stops, the ninja are launched in all directions, with minor scratches and bruises from the Spinjitzu tornado. Akumu slinks off into his jet in a hurry, with Wu following close behind.
"Wu!" the ninja call out while in hot pursuit of their master. Wu turns around, and points his staff at them as a warning.
"Sir, we are ready for takeoff," Pixal reports hurriedly. She looks outside the jet's cockpit window, and her eyes lock with Zane's. "Zane…" she whispers, but then looks away quickly.
"Pixal!?" Zane calls out, seeing this as almost an act of betrayal; he suddenly shoots ice at the jet to stop it.
Akumu shoots out fire to intercept the frosty blast, but the second the ice falls as water, the water suddenly turns a darker, syrupy navy blueish-black and pools into an acidic puddle.
Zane gasps and leaps to safety.
The other ninja are quick to act in retaliation, and blast the jet with their respective elements, but Akumu's energy absorbs their blasts and discharges it which knocks them back on their backs.
"I told you; it is useless to reason at this stage," Wu comments mechanically while monitoring Akumu's actions. "Let's finish this."
Akumu looks at the ninja, and focusing on their emotions, feels the confusion, rage, and instability of their thoughts. Akumu looks at the ground, and closes his eyes, "Make it quick."
Wu nods, and starts using his now-purple-and-golden Spinjitzu, "Combine your energy with mine! It will be enough to knock them all unconscious!"
Akumu grunts his affirming agreement, and starts using Spinjitzu alongside Wu, and then merges with Wu's tornado. Their combined Spinjitzu tornado's gravity effortlessly intertwines the ninja inside it, and regurgitates them in mere seconds with enough force to knock them all unconscious, as Wu had predicted. Akumu and Wu then board the jet with Korin and Pixal. The jet blasts off into the evening sun, out of view from the city.
Lloyd is the first to awaken, and he runs up to his friends, one by one; his friends awaken too and are relieved to find their friend to be alright, at least as much as a ghost can be anyway.
"Alright, Lloyd; spill it: what just happened?" Kai interrogates surprisingly harshly.
"Guys, we need to head back to the temple and regain our bearings. I can practically see the anxiety in all of you," Lloyd advises, and tries to summon his dragon; he fails to summon it.
"Here, Lloyd; I'll give you a ride," Jay summons his dragon weakly, and he and Lloyd climb aboard it.
The other ninja follow suit, and return to the temple. After resting for several hours to regain their sanity, and recuperate from their last battles, the ninja sit in the dining hall.
"Wu…was corrupted by the djinn? But by what means?" Misako whimpers as she drinks tea to try and drown out her worry.
"And how'd you become a ghost? What'd that guy do to you, man?" Cole gently, but still intensely asks.
Lloyd's expression darkens, his eyes now lifeless, and gazes on his friends with a truly dead expression, "…I…wanted to see my father…" Lloyd tears a hole in the ghostly remnant of his father's once-prestigious robe, and suddenly breaks down in pure anger with an explosion of roaring and smashing the ground underneath himself. His eyes fiery, but still totally drained of life as his ghostly wail impaled the eardrums of the ninja, with an outcry of pain; the pain belonging to one who had been hurt, repeatedly, mercilessly, and then left to burn away…