The world makes itself known to Zane like a jolt of lightning, first with a bump to the back of his head and then the shouting of those around him.

"He'll be fine, just get down there!" Ronin, sounding aggravated.

"Fine! Just, lower the rope already!" Skylor, sounding harried.

"I'd have to stop moving for that, or risk getting it caught and being pulling out of the air!"

"Well, how else are we supposed to get down there?!"

Zane sits up, groggy, eyes the two arguing while trying to get his bearings.

"I can put a shield up, for a short time." Viperae says calmly.

He was… in REX. They were on their way to fight Clouse after having been contacted by Pixal to help find their missing comrades and hearing about his plans from them. Pressing his hand to his chest, he does his best to push away the unnerving feeling of someone's hand pulling his soul out.

"How short?" Ronin demands.

"I'm not certain." The villain admits, face appearing a bit sour. "…Half a minute, I suppose."

"That's it?!"

"It's the best we've got." Skylor interrupts, her gaze landing on the master of ice as she turns to head for the exit. "Let's-, Oh, Zane, you're up!"

"Great, he rebooted." Ronin tosses over his shoulder sarcastically. "Why don't you fill him in on your way out?"

"No need." Zane says seriously. "I haven't forgotten anything..."

I've only remembered things… The vision comes to the forefront of his mind, but he forces himself to push it aside. He had to focus on the here and now. They'll be time to analyze what I saw later.

"Ugh, I don't care!" Ronin snaps. "Just get out of my ship so I can leave!"

The whole ship sways as he dodges a projectile.

"Viperae…" Skylor says seriously.

"Right, right." He replies dismissively. "Ronin, count to ten and then drop the rope."

Zane could see the criminal grit his teeth but he appeared to be doing as told.

"Come on, Zane." Skylor says urgently, moving to the exit.

He moves to stand next to her, and the battlefield comes into his line of sight as he does. What looks like hundreds of shadow warriors all swarming the few dots of color that were his teammates and sensei. Looking ahead, closer to the temple of light, he could see Clouse and Sensei Garmadon engaged in battle.

The rope drops and Skylor is immediately heading down, Zane following a second later. He doesn't have time to even think about his next move after his feet touch down and the shadow warriors are on them. Blocking an attack, he freezes one and stabs another with a shuriken. It dissipates in a puff of black smoke, only to reform behind the titanium nindroid, kicking him down to the ground.

He covers the ground in a thick layer of ice, causing the warriors around him to stumble, slip, and fall. Zane allows himself a small smile, as they wouldn't be able to swarm him as easily as they had his friends, but it drops when he notices Skylor struggling to stand as well.

Getting to his feet he easily makes his way over, freezing as many of the shadow warriors as he could as he went, since they couldn't dissipate and reform when frozen solid. The sound of shattering ice tells him they're aware of that fact, but he doesn't bother looking back as he grabs the master of amber's arm and pulls her away from the icy area.

"Sorry about that." He says, before having to turn and block an attack by one of the shadow warriors.

"It's alright!" She calls back, diverting the attack of another shadow warrior. "I'm starting to think I shouldn't have come here!"

Zane doesn't have time to ask any questions, as a blade barely misses his chest, instead scraping against his side. He's forced to give them his full attention, blasting as many with ice as possible and pushing his way forward, toward the temple of light.

Skylor was a capable fighter, hopefully she'd be alright fighting as long as she didn't have to worry about any environmental hazards caused by the master of ice.


Spellcasting without drawing the symbols took more energy, more concentration, which was getting to be harder. The closer they'd gotten to the temple of light, the more his head had hurt from the darkness that was concentrated there resonating unpleasantly with his own.

Still, he wasn't going to let that stop him. Viperae was determined to end that annoying little upstart before he gained any traction.

Casting the spell for the shield hadn't taken up too much energy, it wasn't a complex melody, after all, so he should be fine to keep casting.

"Pull the rope back up and prepare to head back." He tells the criminal. "The shield only has a couple seconds left."

"You're not going down there?" Ronin does as he says, despite his question.

"Unlike the others," He says easily, getting up and moving to the exit. "I have a landing strategy."

You know airjitzu? The little blue jay sounds surprised.

"Not at all…" He murmurs, leaning out to look at the battle that was beginning to shrink as they pulled away. "But I take it you do?"

Well, yeah, but-

He allows himself to fall forward, out of the ship, takes a second to enjoy the light feeling of falling, then pulls back and pushes the blue jay into control.

"Wha-, ahh, you-!" He flails, sputtering with equal parts rage and fear.

You might want to use your airjitzu now~. Viperae chuckles. Unless you'd like to know what it feels like to hit the ground from so high up.

He does as the villain says, cushioning their fall enough that they don't die on impact, instead they roughly land into a roll. Thankfully they were far enough from the battle that the shadow warriors hadn't immediately gone after them.

"You… don't… ever… do that… again." The blue ninja pants, one hand coming up to his chest. "I… don't care… if you can't… die… I'll kill you..."

Would it make you feel better if I said I knew you'd come through~? He says teasingly, noting that a few shadow warriors were heading in their direction.

"Oddly enough, no, it doesn't!" The little blue jay bites back sarcastically.

He doesn't fight when Viperae takes control once again, likely not wanting to deal with the pain once the adrenaline rush wore off.

Before that happens, he thinks. I'd better get started.

They'd get nowhere with these insurmountable odds. So what would they need to take on an army of shadow warriors? Some rudimentary Gollum would do the trick. It'd be a hassle to create them without being able to write out the symbols, but they only needed to follow one order before they fell apart.

His blades slide out smoothly, letting out a ring as if it were eager for the fight ahead, and he blocks the shadow warrior's first strike while beginning the spell. He parries, throwing the warrior's arm wide, slashes across his chest, and watches it turn into a puff of black smoke. It flows, going around behind him before reforming, and he easily spins to follow the movement and kicks its feet out from under it.

The first spell complete, he pushes the song down through his body and into the ground beneath his feet. It rumbles, lurching, and he quickly backs up as the dirt Gollum rises up and follows the command burned into its being.

Destroy all shadow Warriors.

It keeps the shadow warrior that had split off to come after them busy while Viperae prepares the next spell. This time he goes for something bigger, a more complex melody to create multiple at one time. They'd all be operating on the same command anyway, so it would be fine. Getting down to press his hands to the ground so it'd be easier, he casts the next spell.

About ten more Gollum rise from the earth, tearing it up as they do, and head towards the battle.

The shadow warriors were obviously more complex, the result of a magician being allowed to cast his spells with no time constraint uninterrupted. They weren't as polished as his own stone warriors had been, but it was clear that they wouldn't be overtaken by a few rudimentary Gollum on their own.

What would give them the edge is if he supplemented the dirt Gollum with some air Gollum. They'd be able to disrupt the shadow warriors when they turned into smoke, forcing them to take longer to reform, if not preventing it entirely.

To force a fluid to remain cohesive so as to maintain the Gollum's form. He thinks warily, already beginning to feel the strain of all the spell casting. It's going to take a very complex melody, and a lot of power.

Still, seeing the ten Gollum he'd made already being torn to shreds, he knew there wasn't any alternative if he wanted to win this. So he got to casting. Fifteen made, cyclones in the shape of a person tearing through the battlefield, and he's starting to feel the strain of expending too much energy all at once.

Hykos… The blue jay speaks up timidly.

"We can't stop." He says before the master of lightning even has time to say anything. "Not when your friends are still at risk of being overwhelmed."

He can feel the other steel himself, and nod.

You're right… There's still hesitation in his voice. I just… Uh, why don't you use the trees that were knocked over, too? They'd probably last longer.

"Of course~." Viperae says lightly, letting the other change the subject. Right now they needed to focus on the fight, so he wouldn't be able to help the child assuage his anxious mind. "It'd be a waste not to."

Plant matter was a bit more complicated than something simple like dirt or rock, but not as much as air would be, and it'd take a lot less power, too, although it was still more than an earth Gollum would use.

This'll show that damn upstart. The villain thinks, a vicious smile settling onto his face. I'll destroy his carefully crafted warriors with these simple, basic Gollum.

Since he'd promised Jun they'd kill that pathetic little upstart, he'd just have to enjoy seeing the man's pride be crushed before he was finally wiped off the map for good instead of dragging out his suffering.


Cole, as the master of earth, felt it before the others. Like the way your stomach lurches before the fall on a roller-coaster, the earth lurches beneath him before the rumbling begins.

The temple of Light must have fallen. Cole thinks with a curse. We have to hurry and stop Clouse before the two islands collide.

It only takes a second for the black ninja to decide what to do. He goes intangible and invisible, and ghosts his way through the battlefield, looking for his friends. As he goes he can't help but notice the Gollum that were tearing through the shadow warriors like paper and whipping them about only to fling them away. With their addition, the battle wasn't so one sided anymore, and despite himself he found himself grateful that Viperae was on their side for now.

But if this is how powerful he is when weakened, will we have a chance against him at full strength? Doubt creeps into his thoughts, but he quickly pushes it away as his invisibility fails him before he's ready. A blade passes through him harmlessly, since he's still intangible, and a shiver goes down his spine at the feeling.

Shaking those thoughts off, he focuses on the task at hand and ends up finding Kai first.

"Kai!" He shouts, catching the red ninja's attention. "Head for the temple of Light!"

"Already on it!" Kai replies, blasting a shadow warrior with fire, causing it to disperse. Before it can reform a whirling cyclone of a Gollum is on it, scattering its form once more.

Turning Cole heads for where he thinks the next closest person is. He finds Skylor, then Zane, and then Nya. He tells them all the same thing, and when he's certain that they're going he turns and heads that way himself.

He wasn't sure how fast the Dark Island was moving, so there was no telling how long they had to act before it reached Ninjago. There wasn't a second to spare…


The Destiny's Bounty looked worse for wear, which worried Lloyd. He quickly tied his ship up next to it and boarded it. The inside was almost as bad as the outside, looked almost gutted, missing almost all of their stuff.

"Hey, is anyone here?!" Had something happened to them?

"In here!" Ronin's voice, surprisingly, calls out from the bridge.

Hurrying in, he's surprised to find the criminal playing around with some of the buttons.

"Ronin?" Lloyd can't help but say in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He raises an eyebrow at the green ninja.

"I… That isn't important." Lloyd shakes his head. "Where are the others?"

"They're currently off fighting Clouse."

"Clouse?" Lloyd asks, surprised. "Why are they fighting Clouse? Just what's going on?"

"Why don't you grab a seat?" Ronin sighs, turning back to whatever he was doing. "It's a long story."


"Face it," Clouse gloats, blocking Garmadon's attack. "you've lost."

Garmadon lets out a growl of anger, his emotions ruling his actions rather than his mind, which had made him sloppy. There was nothing Clouse had wanted to see more, his old rival unraveling before his eyes as Clouse destroys him, crushing him underfoot as he rises to his rightful place as Lord of Ninjago.

"You've always counted your eggs before they hatched." He bites out, eyes flashing in anger. "Now is no different."

He sidesteps another punch, before sweeping the other man's legs out from under him. Garmadon rolls back and onto his feet in a second, not wasting any time before coming at him again. Commanding his shadow warriors to step in for a moment, Clouse prepares a spell.

He waits, timing it so it that it hits the other man in the chest just as he defeats one of his shadow warriors, blasting him back. He rolls to a stop, grasping his chest and groaning in pain.

"Brother!" The shout alerts the magician of the incoming attack before it can land, so he easily dodges the staff and faces the new arrival. "Clouse… your plan ends here."

"You think you can beat me now?" He scoffs. "Have you forgotten our last encounter?"

"This time is different." As he says this, a fireball streaks in the magician's direction, forcing him to block it with a magic shield, only to be hit with a blast of water from the side. "This time I am not alone."

He grits his teeth, trying to ignore the stinging pain of the water and focus. He instructs his shadow warriors to his side, to fend off the ninja who were now surrounding him. He steps back, only to find himself slipping on a sudden layer of ice, and then Wu's staff hits him hard. He's sent sprawling.

Climbing to his feet, he grits his teeth and begins summoning a shadow mech like before. His shadow warriors converge on him, trying to coalesce into the mech, but there's suddenly a wind Gollum, blowing them apart and scattering his warriors. Another blast of water hits him, sending him sliding back on the ice cover ground.

No… He thinks, anger bubbling up. You can't win.

This was it. His birth right. He was going to be the ruler of Ninjago!

Snarling he begins to cast spells half-hazardly, forcing them back. He blocks against any further elemental attacks, while instructing every single shadow warrior to converge on their point. He doesn't expect someone to grab him from behind, realizing a second too late that he'd forgotten Garmadon after assuming his last attack had taken the other man out, and feels the other pull him back. He rolls back and Clouse is flipped back, hitting the ground hard.

"Now!" Wu yells out, and then he's blasted by a barrage of elements.

The area fills with steam from the mix of fire, ice, and water, which he uses as a cover to try and make his escape. He wasn't going to die again. Something hits the back of his legs, he trips and stumbles, something catching the back of his clothes and he's blinking at water rushing an inch from his face.

In the confusion he'd ended up running towards the river… Glancing back he sees Garmadon glaring down at him.

"Before you do anything rash," He tries to reason with the other man. "you're a changed man, aren't you?." He remembered how pathetically haughty he was during the tournament of elements, feeling like he was so much better than Clouse just because he'd decided he couldn't handle being a lord anymore. "You wouldn't just kill an enemy, right?"

Yes, Garmadon was a 'good guy' now, which meant that he'd have to drag Clouse to prison rather than kill him. This would give the mage a chance to escape. He feels a momentary relief when he sees the small smile cross the other's face as he pulls him up a bit, only for dread to build up when he doesn't pull him up enough to get away from the rushing river.

"You should have left my family alone, Clousey-Clouse." He sneers, igniting Clouse's anger.

"I am one of the most powerful mages in Ninjago!" He yells, struggling to try and get his feet securely on the bank and hoist himself back up. "You'll regret ever underestimating me!"

"No, I won't." He says simply, before he releases his hold.

Fear fills Clouse as he plunges into the rushing waters and is pulled under, pain invading his every sense as he's tossed about until everything turns black.


There's no satisfaction as Garmadon watches the other man disperse in the water, pulled apart molecule by molecule. No, it just leaves him feeling hollow.

"Brother…" Wu says tentatively, approaching him to lay a hand on his shoulder. "It's over."

"No, it's not." He shrugs the other man's hand off his shoulder. "We still need to stop the Dark Island from merging with Ninjago."

"I'm afraid that's impossible now." Viperae calls out, casually picking his way through the remains of the battlefield. The shadow warriors had all vanished after their master had died, and the Gollum the villain had made were collapsing as their task was done.

"…Why is that?" Garmadon asks the man, feeling too worn out emotionally to react much.

"The temple of Light on the Dark Island, and the temple of Shadow on Ninjago… they were made to artificially keep the balance of the two islands in check so that the land masses would remain separated." Viperae smiles, and it looks vicious… and victorious. "The temple of Shadows was already damaged in the Overlord's last attack, and now that the temple of Light has fallen, there's nothing you can do to stop what's happening."

"You'd like for us to believe that, wouldn't you?!" Kai yells. "For all we know you're lying so that we won't even bother trying!"

"Well, you can waste your time trying to move tons of dark matter if you want~." Viperae shrugs.

While the ninja moves to do try and do just that, Garmadon takes a moment to examine Viperae. He looks exhausted, the shaking in his hands having moved up to his shoulders and down his legs. The spell casting must have taken a lot out of him.

"Hykos-" He begins, only to be cut off by Wu.

"Brother, we need to talk." Agitation works its way up his spine, but he does his best to push it down, motioning for the younger to speak. "I… Lloyd?"

Following his brother's gaze, he's surprised to see his son, dressed in his ninja gear with the hood pulled up, making a b-line right for them. He pulls a staff from his back, spinning it in hand and pulling off the cloth covering it in one fluid motion, revealing a golden staff that was far too familiar.

There was no doubt that was the Ultra Weapon that Viperae had created, but when did Lloyd get it, and what was he doing here?

"Careful, Pup…" Viperae calls out, voice guarded. "You wouldn't want to die because you made a silly little wish."

"So it's you, then?" Lloyd says back, eyeing the villain.

Something's… off. Garmadon realizes. It's like he doesn't even recognize Jay.

"Lloyd?" Wu calls out, but he doesn't even react.

"Wu?" Garmadon questions, pushing aside all his anger out of fear for his son. "Do you know what's going on? Just what is he doing?!"

"I don't know, but we have to stop him." Wu says urgently.

Garmadon didn't have to be told twice, he was running towards his son as soon as the words left Wu's mouth. He wasn't going to stand by and let Lloyd accidentally kill himself. He'd already lost Misako, he couldn't bear the thought of losing Lloyd too.

"I wish your souls weren't entangled." Lloyd says before they can reach him, the Ultra Weapon glows with power, the glow flowing through the blond before a golden orb of light shoots out and hits Viperae, appearing to go through him, forcing something to fly out of his back.

Garmadon slows to a stop before his son, grabs his shoulders and watches him fearfully for any signs of pain or the contract taking hold, but the feeling of something being off only grows as Lloyd shrugs off his hands and glares at him.

"Lloyd…?" He questions.

"I'm not Lloyd." The boy spits out (and now that he's no longer panicking about his son possibly dying, he notes that the boy's voice sounds different than Lloyd's), and pulls down his hood. He had the same intense green eyes and the same blond hair as Lloyd, only styling slightly differently, but the two look like they could be brothers. "My name is Idris… and I'm here to fulfill the prophecy."

Idris…? The name sounded familiar, yet he couldn't place where he'd heard it before.

"What prophecy are you talking about?" Wu asks, looking just as thrown as Garmadon felt.

"The prophecy of the green ninja." His grip on the Ultra weapon tightens. "I'm going to defeat the Overlord."


Senses come back to Viperae rapidly as his body is rebuilt. Muscle grows over bone, and pale skin grows over muscle. His hair falls over his shoulders and down his back, as black as night. He gasps out a breath, coughing a bit as they adjust. Blurry vision focusing into sharp clarity.

He feels weak, his head aching, his ears ringing, and the chill of the air on his bare skin makes him shiver. Carefully he moves into a kneeling position, his shaking arms barely supporting him, and looking up he ends up meeting the eyes of the one who was wielding the Ultra Weapon.

This isn't the dragon pup. He thinks, dread creeping up his back. I shouldn't have let my guard down.

He'd gotten cocky, and now his own weapon was being used against him. Worse yet, he could see the blue jay's prone form. Had enough of the dark matter spread to him to keep him from dying?

"Jay!" The real dragon pup calls out as he rushes out from the trees and towards the little blue jay. "…He's not breathing!"

"What…?" the imposter pup breathes out in shock. "But-, wait, shouldn't he be alright?"

The other ninja, summoned by the dragon pup's shout, crowd around the master of lightning.

"What happened?" The ghost questions.

"Idris here," Sensei Wu explains calmly. "detangled Jay and Viperae's souls… and that has caused Jay to pass on from this world."

The color slowly drains from the imposter pup's face, he drops the Ultra weapon, and a look of horror slowly takes hold.

"I… I swear I didn't-, they told me that it'd fix everything-, I didn't think he'd die…"

"Isn't there something we can do?" the matchstick questions, looking around at his companions.

"It's too late, Kai." The water nymph shakes her head, biting back tears. "He's already gone."

Silence rings louder than any sound at the moment as reality sinks in.

Jay walker is dead.

End chapter forty nine


AN: Hey! I have a few things to mention in this note. First, the temple on Ninjago isn't actually called the temple of shadow, it's the temple of strength. I thought temple of shadow was more fitting, given that the Dark island and Ninjago are made to be very similar to the yin yang symbol. Second, We're getting very close to the end, here. I don't think there's that many chapters left (although the characters could drag this out father than I expected, like they've been doing from the start). which leads us into the next point. Third, this is the last chapter I had pre-written. From here on out I'll be writing the chapters as we go, hopefully before Monday comes, but I don't think I can make any promises about that. I'll try to keep the uploads around every other week, if I can't upload every week. Finally, to end a long note, a thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and followed this story so far! I hope you're all enjoying this story and are looking forward to the end. ^u^

-Kit