A/N: Krovimastaa is pronounced Crow-vee-mast-ah. I apologize, I probably should have explained that earlier.

Also, there is a very important announcement in the note at the end of the chapter!

Spar

Down, Cafeteria

8:00 AM

Dr. Julien, London, and the Walkers were all talking over the remains of breakfast. Garmadon didn't even want to try to comprehend their conversation; the way they all discussed Shauto and Hidein like green magic that destroyed giant Elemental ghosts was totally normal… it made Garmadon's head hurt.

At least he knew Lloyd was safe. That they were all safe.

Garmadon swished the coffee in his mug absently, still blinking sleep from his weighted eyes. Misako sat next to him, her hair down, frayed with just-brushed morning static; and on Garmadon's left, Wu slouched over the table, cheek in his hand, snoring softly.

A man appeared in the doorway, catching Garmadon's eye at once. He was Amid, without a doubt; white hair, white brow, white eyelashes and mocha skin.

It had been a long time since Garmadon had met an Amidian. He was even more intrigued by the black tattoos peeking out from under the collar of the mans' shirt.

Garmadon nudged Wu, who awoke with a snort.

The man approached the table, handed London a thin stack of documents and slid into the seat next to her. "All known locations, arrests, suspected crimes, and associates," he explained, his voice accented.

Wu rubbed his eyes, casting Garmadon an inquiring look, but saw the Amidian and registered a double-take.

"Perfect," London said. She glanced through them. "... Is there any chance you didn't already know everything that's in this?"

The Amidian shook his head.

London looked up. "Have you been introduced?" she asked the Amidian abruptly. "Sorry. It's been a rough night for us all. This is Sensei Wu, Montgomery Garmadon, and Misako Garmadon."

The man nodded. "I know them."

London blinked. Then she gave a breathy chuckle, turned to Garmadon, and gestured to the man next to her. "This is Gahiji. He's Nik's nephew."

Two of Gahiji's fingers twitched in greeting.

Garmadon glanced from Gahiji to Nik. Um... Dr Julien isn't Amid. Garmadon decided to pry later.

"And everyone else knows each other, right?" London said. "Good. Excellent."

"So what do you have there?" Garmadon asked. He lifted his mug of coffee to his lips as he spoke.

London frowned at the stack of documents. "Information on our enemy, Hokori Wyche."

Garmadon spluttered. He wiped his mouth hastily and set the mug back down on the table with a sheepish clack.

"Someone you know?" London didn't look up from the paper.

Hokori Wyche. That was the name of Eboni's father, the same Eboni that was apparently Hidein. Aha. Garmadon had known Wyche might be involved, but he had never expected him to be running these shenanigans.

Garmadon crossed his arms on the table. "Met him once," he said finally. He searched his memory. "He was one of the go-betweens for the Skulkin Army. He hid them in his barracks for a few nights while they searched for the Golden Weapons's map."

This drew the attention of everyone in the room. "So you know where he's hiding?" Nikolai said.

"No. He's moved since then." Garmadon put his hand in his chin, thinking.

So it is Wyche that we're dealing with... why do I have this sinking feeling? I don't remember him being very much of a threat.

But he is a very successful thief, one of the most well-known in the Underworld. And he's a killer. Not to mention his associations with Krovimastaa, and his team of assassins and thieves. And his money—he has a lot of money.

... What was I saying about his not being a threat?

"What do you know of his army?" Nikolai asked, leaning forward on the table.

Garmadon blinked. "Nothing, really," he said. "I only ever met the head honcho. Well—" He hesitated, glancing down at the coffee in front of him. "—okay, for the purposes of this discussion, I met him."

This earned a pause. "Alright," Nikolai said. "How long ago did you meet him?"

"Huh. ... Five years ago."

"Five years?" London frowned. "What was he like?"

Garmadon thought. "Straightforward," he said. "Not particularly intimidating. Just really straightforward."

"Straightforward, huh?"

There was a moment's pause. Gahiji was the only person that didn't seem to be deep in thought—actually, he looked pretty distracted.

"Okay, so what do we know?" Edna tapped the table. "We're fighting Hidein. We're assuming there's an army of them, led by Hokori Wyche. They have Whisperers. Do we know their goal?"

"World destruction," London said.

Edna stopped. "World—?"

"That's all we can think."

"That can't be," Sensei Wu objected, his eyes wide. "I don't believe a man could do that to his own world."

A silence. Garmadon glanced at Misako, who was listening quietly, her hand over her mouth and brow furrowed in thought.

Wu had a point. What Ninjagian would destroy a civilization, and what reason could be compelling enough to even consider it? Even Lord Garmadon hadn't been aiming to completely decimate the planet.

Gahiji spoke. "Consider."

He tapped the table with the same two fingers he had used to greet them with, eyes shadowed. "What was Wyche's last offense tied to?"

Garmadon frowned. Wyche's last offense? What...?

Oh.

Krovimastaa.

Ed gave a low sigh and touched his forehead to the table.

Wyche was Krovimastaa's master. He had used that... that… creature to obliterate half of NinjaGo within three years. Of course, what else could there be, with a weapon that powerful? With a killer like that, what else could you do but destroy the world?

Even if you decided to keep peace, would you have been able to stop someone like that from killing?

Nausea bubbled in Garmadon's stomach.

Could this be...

"Could this be the second attack?" Misako asked.

She gazed at the table, shoulders hunched—all eyes were on her. Then, lifting her eyes, she said, "Could... could this be Krovimastaa all over again?"

Garmadon glanced at London, who swallowed hard and looked at Gahiji.

The Amidian's jaw tightened.

"We can only hope it's not," he murmured.

A long pause.

"I hate to do this to you," London said after a silence, watching Gahiji run his hands through his hair. "But what can you tell us about Hokori?"

Gahiji shook his head. "He's not acting of his own will. He never has been."

Nikolai leaned over the table. "So you think there's even someone behind Wyche?" he pressed.

Gahiji's fists clenched. "Always."

"But you have no idea who?"

"None."

Nikolai's eyes narrowed in disbelief, but before he could push further, Gahiji crossed his arms over his chest and said, "This matters less than what we do to fight back."

"But what are we really fighting?" Nikolai asked. "Are we fighting Whisperers, Hidein, Wyche, or something totally different?"

"We are fighting Hidein who control Whisperers, as Ed has already stated. Everything is directed by Hokori." Gahiji's tone edged.

"But Wyche is directed by someone else entirely?" Nikolai persisted.

"Correct."

Silence seemed to be a favored topic this morning.

Garmadon took the new quiet as a chance for another long look at Nikolai and his nephew. Gahiji pointedly avoided his uncle's accusatory gaze. There was something lurking here that had nothing to do with their current conversation, and it made Nikolai look frustrated and Gahiji defiant.

It put everyone else on edge, too. London, sitting between Nik and Gahiji, anxiously flicked through her papers.

Nikolai leaned back in his seat. He swallowed a few times, crossing his arms over his chest, his fingers twitching. Then he turned to Gahiji again. "Are you sure you don't know who it could be?"

"I'm sure," Gahiji snapped.

London's head fell into her hands. "Nik," she said, "he doesn't know. He's already said this."

"But he does know what happened to Nya," Nikolai said, audibly struggling to keep his tone reasonable. "Don't you, Gahiji?"

Gahiji froze as Sensei Wu, Misako, Edna, Ed and Garmadon all turned sharply to look at him.

The Amidian gritted his teeth, shooting Nikolai a disgusted glare. "I do," he said slowly. "I don't know where she is, but she's not dead."

A collective sigh of relief.

"How do you know?" Nikolai asked.

Gahiji's arm shot into the air so fast that Garmadon and the others flinched.

He held his hand up in Nikolai's direction for suppression, his other fist clenched. Nikolai shut his mouth, subdued.

"If he wanted to kill her," Gahiji said, his voice notably calm, "he wouldn't have vanished her, and he wouldn't have vanished himself. Wherever Hokori is, Nya is there, too."

Garmadon's heart pulsed swiftly. "So how do we find him?"

London took Gahiji's raised arm and pushed it gently back to his side, earning an irritated look from the Amidian. "There are a few places that we can start looking," she said, "but we can't hope to get far when more than half of us don't know Shauto."

Garmadon fought the desire to scoff, biting his tongue. "Why is Shauto so important?" he asked. "Are we helpless without it?"

"Not helpless," London said, "but it would be really, really hard to defend ourselves. The Hidein use their power liberally. If you don't have Shauto to combat them, you can only dodge their Hidoi for so long before you're caught flat-footed."

Garmadon smiled ruefully. "Right. Can't do anything without Shauto."

"How long can we expect learning it to take?" Sensei Wu asked.

"For you three, I would say about a week."

Garmadon stifled a sigh of relief. At least it wouldn't be a month-long chore or something hopeless like that. "Do we have a week to spare?" he asked. "Now that Nya's gone—?"

"Not to spare," London said. "To prepare, though."

"So when do we start?" Misako asked.

London grinned. "As soon as you can kick the Ninja out of the PTR."

Down, PTR

3:10 PM

Cole skidded out of his Spinjitzu tornado and pushed sweat-slick hair from his face, inhaling deeply, heart thudding in his chest. He rolled his long-sleeves up over his shoulder so he could adjust his Shauto gloves. It was a lot of fabric to keep drawn up, but he was overheating and the gloves were sticking stubbornly to his perspiration.

Zane came to a stop next to him. "You seem sufficiently exerted, Cole," he said, glancing the Master of Earth up and down. "Perhaps you should rest."

Cole nodded. He had only been doing Spinjitzu for about fifteen minutes, but the repetitive maneuver started to wear him down after only five.

Zane flashed a smile and disappeared in a cloud of snowflakes.

Cole stripped his gloves from his arms. The swaths of white-and-green fabric were damp with sweat, and when Cole shook them, droplets flew. He grimaced and folded them, setting the gloves and the Shauto stones on the floor just next to the Spinjitzu Box of Doom.

"Heeey!"

Cole looked up. Azamat and Amilia entered the PTR, waving at the two ninja from the other side of the room.

The twins made their way through the training courses to the row of Doom Boxes in the back of the PTR. "Hi," Cole said with a half-wave; he didn't have to shout to make himself heard.

Amilia "ooh"ed. "You're doing the Spinjitzu training?" she inquired. "How's it coming?"

Cole shrugged as Zane slowed to a stop, waving subduedly to Amilia and Azamat, who both smiled at him. "Eh, could be worse," Cole admitted. "I think we're making progress, but there's not been much of an epiphany for anyone except Lloyd as of yet."

The twins reached them. "Ah, yeah—heard about Kai," Azamat murmured, shoving his hands into his pockets and regarding the far wall.

Cole glanced there, too, offering a dismal smile. "Yeeah."

"It's really too bad," Amilia said softly. "He was advancing in his recoveries. But it's no wonder his Spinjitzu gave out, after last night's trauma."

"I believe he was simply tired," Zane agreed. "We sent him to rest. Is he elsewhere?"

"Does doing the dishes count as resting?" Amilia asked, earning a feeble laugh from both Elemental Masters.

"Sure, as long as he's not working too hard," Cole said.

His smile faded; he watched Amilia's expression for signs of abnormalities. Her bronzy hair was tucked into a ponytail and her lips painted cerise, but besides this, Cole couldn't detect anything different about her.

"You feel better, then, Amilia?" he ventured in the following lull in conversation.

Amilia blinked, then grinned, making her freckled cheeks stretch. "Oh, yes! I do feel much better, thank you. Sorry, I guess I haven't seen any of you since yesterday."

"That's good to hear," Zane said. "We were all worried."

There was another pause.

"So, you're not making much progress in Spinjitzu?" Amilia asked after a moment.

"Ah, no, I think we are," Cole said quickly. "It's just that nothing really awe-inspiring has happened yet."

"It's a lot more work than any of us anticipated," Zane added, leaving his Spinjitzu Box to retrieve his water bottle.

Azamat snorted. "Is it much different than your regular ol' Ninja training?" he asked, stepping back so Zane could pass.

"Em—yes, I suppose it is. On the Bounty, we did a lot more sparring. None of us have trained in that fashion for days."

Both the twins' faces lit up. "Ooh, sparring? Like, kung-fu?" Azamat said.

Zane, who had just pressed his water bottle to his lips, held up his index finger apologetically as he drank.

Cole took over the explanation. "It's a mix of a lot of different arts; we pull from karate, jujutsu, hapkido, judo, aikido, and ninjutsu itself, to name a few." He shrugged his shoulders. "A lot of ninjutsu is basic survival and concealment skills, but as far as sparring goes, there's a lot to do with bojutsu, shurikenjutsu—uh, stuff with the bo staff, throwing knives and the kusarigama."

"So how much of Ninja training is hand-to-hand combat?" Amilia asked.

"Taijutsu. Uh, everything except ninjutsu. Well—okay, ninjutsu is kind of a blanket term for all the skills a Ninja needs."

Zane approached Cole, holding out the water bottle. Cole took it gratefully.

"That's cool," Azamat said. "All the Five know hand-to-hand. Uh, karate. Wait." He looked puzzled. "Karate isn't it."

"Taijutsu," Amilia offered.

"Taijutsu," Azamat said, shooting Amilia a sheepishly grateful look. "Nothing specific, I don't think, just basic offense and defense and throws and stuff. And we can do swords. And Amilia's really good at throwing knives. But yeah, Taijutsu!"

Cole put his hands on his hips, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Really? You wanna go?"

"Go—? Oh, you mean spar?" Azamat said, his lips parting slightly, taken aback.

Cole nodded. "Unless you don't want to?" he said, wondering if Azamat was nervous. Cole was all for the idea, if only to see how good Azamat was—but the kid might not be quite skilled enough to fight an Elemental Ninja. He was sure Azamat would say something if he wasn't up for it.

"No, no, I'll spar with you," Azamat said with a grin. Cole smiled back and gestured for Azamat to follow him into the Spinjitzu Box, which he did, looking numb, but excited.

"This will be interesting," Zane said, moving to stand beside Amilia.

Cole kicked off his shoes and slid into position, bracing his feet apart from each other and raising his arms. Azamat kept his shoes, eying Cole's discarded ones warily, but mimicked Cole's stance.

The Master of Earth noted the angle of Azamat's right foot and that his waist jutted slightly, but besides that, his posture was excellent.

"I'm probably not going to last long," Azamat admitted, bouncing a in place a little bit. "I mean, you're a ninja."

"You take the offensive, then," Cole said, flicking his hair behind his ears.

Azamat blew air slowly through his lips, looking Cole up and down; he looked relatively confident, but his eyes flitted to his twin sister.

Amilia gave him a thumbs up and flashed a brilliant grin. "Good luck, Azzy!"

Azamat swallowed and looked back to Cole. The Master of Earth gave him a sympathetic grimace. "Whenever you're ready," he said.

The teenager hesitated. Then he lunged, and Cole caught him by the arm, turned and propelled him over one shoulder.

He dropped to his knees at the same time that Azamat thudded to the floor to soften the landing. Azamat "Oof!"ed—he gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, finally finding breath, after a few seconds of windless silence.

"You alright?" Cole asked, grinning as Azamat cracked one eye a slit and smiled ruefully up at him. He helped Azamat to his feet, where the teen exhaled and dusted himself off.

"Yeah, I'm good," he said. "I wasn't prepared for that."

Then he threw a blow at Cole's shoulder, catching the Master of Earth off guard. Cole dodged, missing the strike by a hair, then had to block and skirt a barrage of attacks.

This kid is fast, he reflected as he repelled a punch with his forearm. He could see flaws in Azamat's technique, but he was hitting pretty hard, especially considering that Cole was by far and away the larger of the two. Azamat thrust his elbow at Cole's chest, making the ninja turn to Azamat's side by glancing off the back of his arm.

Azamat directed two attacks in rapid succession—Cole caught them in his palms and shoved him backwards. To his satisfaction, Azamat bounced in that direction with his feet apart and balanced, his brow lowered defiantly.

They regarded each other for a moment. Then Azamat launched forward, catching Cole's outstretched arm with his fist. Cole collapsed the limb to shield his head as Azamat leapt forward, letting Azamat lean a little too far before he whirled and pushed with the back of his forearm.

Azamat, off balance, was shoved into the air—his feet left the ground and he cartwheeled into a roll, using his arm as a push off point to return to his feet.

Cole reassumed his ready stance. "I'm impressed," he said, smiling. "You're strong."

Azamat's jaw was tight in concentration, too caught up in the fight to respond. He jumped forward, throwing a punch at Cole's neck that the Master of Earth caught and threw to one side. Then his leg connected with Cole's side in a forceful kick.

It would have had more effect on someone Azamat's weight or lighter. Cole felt the impact, grabbed the teenager's calf—Azamat blanched—and caught him in the stomach, shoving him to the hardwood.

Azamat grunted when he landed, then swerved to avoid Cole's knuckles; he kicked Cole's feet out from under him, prompting the Earth Ninja to roll onto Azamat to cushion his fall.

"Gah!" Azamat wheezed beneath Cole for a moment, grappling with the Black Ninja's sheer size, then surged upwards to whirl on top.

Normally, he wouldn't have been able to do this successfully, but Cole assisted him by grabbing Azamat's shoulder and obligingly falling to his back.

Azamat was now on top, breathlessly triumphant. His fist flew for Cole's face. Cole grabbed his arm and held it pinned against his shoulder, leaving Azamat's body twisted away from Cole.

The ninja lifted one leg, caught his opponent in the chest and thrust Azamat back to the floor.

Azamat huffed upon impact. Cole used the force from his shove to return to his feet, completing a reverse somersault and skidding to a ready stance.

Azamat got to his feet, staggering a little before reassuming his offensive position.

"You alright?" Cole asked. Azamat waved one hand, and Cole felt a smile tug at his lips.

"You're pretty good," he said, straightening to a casual gait and approaching Azamat. The teenager backpedaled, but Cole gently patted his arm. "S'alright, we'll take a minute."

Cole crouched and touched Azamat's foot. "Turn your knee sharper," he said. "It'll help when you're moving back and forth."

Azamat shifted the angle of his foot inwards, towards his body, until it was parallel with the glossy floorboards. Cole stood and pushed the boy's hips farther in, too. "Keep your waist here," he said, "and you'll maintain better balance. How much do you weigh?"

"One sixty," Azamat said, jumping experimentally in his improved stance.

"Aha. I'm one eighty-four. Those twenty-four pounds between us made all the difference there, could you feel it?"

"Yeah," Azamat said, smirking. "You helped me on top there, didn't you?"

Cole returned the grin. "Sorry, you probably didn't want a lecture."

"Naw, this is cool," Azamat said. "So, if it were a real fight, and you were under a guy who weighed twenty-four pounds more than you, what would you do?"

"I promise, pulling your waist in will help," Cole said.

As Azamat corrected his posture, Cole tapped his chin and said, "I'd crack his nose with my forehead and push him off."

Azamat laughed nervously. "Okay. I know what to do next time."

Cole spread his feet apart and raised his hands. "I'm gonna take offensive this time," he said. "Don't worry, I'll hit soft."

Azamat blinked, then nodded.

Cole heard Amilia and Zane commenting appreciatively on both opponents' overall technique, but he didn't have the concentration to divide it between their discussion and Azamat.

"You ready for me?" Cole asked, checking to see if Azamat was still keeping the posture flaws Cole had pointed out.

"I'm ready," Azamat said, licking his lips.

Cole sprung forward, lashing out with his fist; Azamat dodged and responded in kind. The Master of Earth kept his blows slower than he would usually deal them, trying to gauge how fast Azmat could react to each before Cole really tried to land a punch.

Cole sped his attacks. Soon Azamat was puffing, sidestepping and swerving faster and faster as Cole's punches flew harder and quicker, with more complexity, forcing his opponent to jump farther and duck lower. The time window Azamat was given to react grew narrower and narrower.

At last, Cole thrust his foot behind Azamat's and leveled a punch in his chest—Azamat tripped and toppled over backwards, barely catching himself in a roll and returning to his feet unsteadily.

Cole leapt on his weakness. Azamat blocked each punch, his expression contorting as Cole wore at his stamina.

Then Azamat's leg snapped impatiently upwards in a crescent kick, and the Black Ninja hopped backwards to avoid getting his chin split open.

Azamat took the offensive. He threw four solid punches in barely two seconds, forcing Cole to dodge awkwardly and lose his balance. Seizing the chance, Azamat pivoted and thrust his hand into Cole's chest.

Gravity, combined with the force of the blow, made Cole tumble backwards and roll to his feet.

When Cole whirled to face his opponent again, Azamat's face was alight and victorious. "I knocked you over!" he said, beaming with the thrill. "I actually knocked you over!"

Cole laughed breathily, giving Azamat about two seconds to relish the accomplishment, then pounced on him, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.

Azamat yelped. Cole spun him around, making him bend over, and put all his weight down onto Azamat's back.

The boy crumpled to one knee, gasping, leaning sideways in an effort to push Cole over onto the floor. Instead, Cole removed his weight, gripped the back of the kid's neck, and took Azamat gently by the ear, careful not to pull too hard on his earrings.

"Ahhhhhh!" Azamat shouted, bringing his hands up and clutching Cole's wrist desperately. "Ah ah ah!"

Cole tugged softly, making Azamat's jaw clench, less from pain than from apprehension. His nails dug into the skin of Cole's hand, and the Black Ninja laughed apologetically.

"I'd recommend taking out your piercings before you fight someone," Cole said. He released Azamat's ear and helped him to his feet. "One good yank, and you'd be out for the rest of the fight."

"No kidding," Azamat said hoarsely, rubbing his ear.

Cole frowned. "Did I hurt you?"

"Naw."

"Hey, that wasn't a bad fight, kid. You're pretty good."

"Th-thanks."

Cole stepped apart from him and bowed shortly, looking up to see Azamat doing the same. The teenager's shamrock eyes glittered with exhilaration, his shoulders heaving for breath.

Cole himself was struggling to keep a steady breathing pattern against the pounding of his heart. It was more than just sparring rush—he felt somehow stronger, with more purpose, complete. Like he could fight Azamat over and over, and by so doing push limits and bend boundaries to the breaking point.

Fearless.

He chalked this up to returning to the routine of fighting. He hadn't sparred in a while, after all, and truth be told he missed the training.

But still...

... His heart thudded with a stirring thrill of victory.

Amilia and Zane applauded them as the two fighters approached the sidelines.

"I am impressed," Zane said to Azamat, clapping one hand to the boy's back. "You held your own quite well, considering your opponent was much stronger and more disciplined than you."

"And faster," Azamat said breathlessly. "And bigger. And smarter. And cooler."

Cole passed his water bottle to the flushed boy. "Immeasurably," he said, with a sly look.

Azamat shot him a good-natured glare and tipped his head back, draining the container.

"Good job, Azzy," Amilia said. She directed an eager look Cole's way. "Perhaps at a later date, I could try, too?"

Cole nodded, glancing incredulously at Azamat as he continued to guzzle water. "Of course," he said. "Give me a couple minutes to rest, and I could spar with you."

"Oh, I'd better not, not now," Amilia admitted. "I've still got a headache, and Gahiji's asked me to rest for at least one more day. But we've actually become a little side-tracked here. Azamat and I came to ask if either of you knew where Lloyd is."

Cole blinked. "No," he said, turning to Zane, who also shook his head. "Why?"

"London wants to teach him how to Rescue," Azamat said, tapping the water bottle to his cheek. "She says that as soon as he learns, he could run his first Singe."

"Wha—that's great!" Cole cried. "So soon?"

"Yup," Amilia said. "We thought he might be in here with you guys."

"Wow. You guys really got sidetracked, then," Cole said with a chuckle. "Y'think Mom will be mad?"

"I'll get back to you on that one," Amilia said flatly, provoking laughter from both Cole and her twin brother.

"Have you checked with Garmadon and Misako?" Zane suggested.

"Probably should have done that first," Azamat pointed out to Amilia.

"Right. We'll be on our way then," Amilia said, waving. "Thanks for your help!"

Azamat returned Cole's empty water bottle to him with a sheepish grin. "Thanks," he said, and hurried after Amilia, a happy rhythm in his step. Amilia snarked something indiscernible and they both laughed on their way out the door.

Cole caught Zane's eye and smiled.

"That sparring match was enjoyable to observe," the Nindroid said. "Not only to gauge technique, but to observe expression. He has a solid hand."

"Yeah, he's pretty good. Honestly, I'm interested to fight Amilia, now. Did Azamat say she was good at throwing knives?"

"I would like to observe her shurikenjutsu as well," Zane affirmed. "It is intriguing to share this knowledge among people outside of our general circle."

Cole nodded. Then he snorted, and burst out laughing. "Stop sounding like Sensei."

"I will, if you do the same."

They both chuckled. Oh, it felt good to laugh.

Cole stretched. "Ah, man. I would'a thought I'd be tired, but I'm not. I'm ready for more Spinjitzu." He picked up his gloves and tugged them back on, flexing his fingers in the still-damp fabric.

"Then by all means," Zane said. "We must learn Shauto as soon as possible."

He tossed Cole a Shauto stone, then summoned another haze of frost and wind that carried him back into his own Spinjitzu Box. Cole spread his feet apart, preparing to spin, wondering why his heart was still battering his ribcage. It should have slowed by now.

Then the Shauto stone in his hands shimmered and ignited, making Cole shout and fling it.

It missed Zane's whirlwind by a thread, hit the far wall and shattered, fragments skittering across the floor and filling the PTR with a splitting crack.

It shocked Zane out of his tornado. "Cole?" he inquired, gasping for breath. "What's the matter—?" he exclaimed, seeing the gray shards divided among the room and faint dust puffing from the dead Shauto stone.

Cole swallowed, his mind racing, fluttering from one conclusion to the next.

"Uh—let me see your rock, Zane."

Zane turned back to Cole incredulously. "Don't break it," he warned after a pause. He held it out to the Master of Earth, who cradled it in his shaking palms.

Cole bit his lip, listening to the blood singing in his ears, elation pulsing violently through every part of him. Zane leaned forward, eyes wide, and they both gazed down into Cole's hands.

A low thrum emanated from the stone.

The Connection Rivers on his glove burst to life, glistening with an intense green glow that flowed from the crook of his elbow to his fingertips, inciting a fire in the Shauto stone. The inked markings on the rock began to emit a profound, lush light that illuminated their shocked faces and warmed Cole's hands.

All he felt was Shauto's purr and his own heartbeat, the glow welling in his hands, surging through him with a terrifying, exquisite strength.

Cole could do nothing but stare at the stone and breathe.

"Cole," Zane said at last. "Cole—that's Shauto. You've unlocked Shauto!"

Breathlessly, Cole lifted his head to gaze at his teammate, who looked absolutely electrified with excitement. "You've unlocked Shauto!" Zane repeated. "Quickly! We must tell Azamat and Amilia!"

He caught Cole's wrist, and the two of them whisked through the PTR, past training equipment and out the door faster than Cole ever thought he could run. Shauto's light pursued them, radiating intrepidly from Cole's hands.

Shauto blossomed in Cole's chest. He couldn't process it properly, not with the effort it took to keep from losing himself in the beauty of his discovery.

I've unlocked Shauto, was all he managed to think as he and Zane darted into the hall and shouted for the twins at the other end of the corridor.

I've unlocked Shauto!

*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!*

I have decided that I'm going to take six months, buckle down, and write the rest of Whisper. That way, instead of posting inconsistent chapters, I'll have it all ready to upload. And plus, I really need to make sure this next bit/the final battle bits go right.

In this period of time, I won't be uploading much to the story. I'll still be around (especially on DeviantArt, so check that out), but the updates to FanFiction will be few and far between.

I'll be back sometime around February with the rest of Whisper. In the meantime, thanks to all those who review/favorite/follow this story, to those guests out there reading and commenting, because you guys are seriously so great! I can't believe you'd stick with this story! *IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER.*

See you guys in a few months!