Chapter 23

The End?

Wu ran down hallway after hallway, searching for a sign of life. Finding his way had turned out to be impossible, and his only hope was apprehending a Skulkin who knew where the weapons were being held.

Two Skulkins came into view ahead of him, and he made his attack before they had time to think. They were pinned instantly, then Wu demanded information. The soldiers were terrified and told him right away. Wu disappeared so fast afterwards that they wondered if maybe he had been a ghost.

In the back of his mind, Wu's thoughts were with the children. He had never intended for anything of this magnitude to happen to them, and if they were hurt in any way, he knew he'd never be able to forgive himself. Especially young Jay, whose parents had trusted him with their son's life. It hadn't been easy to convince them all those years ago, and the pain in their eyes the last time he saw them...

No. He needed to focus on what was happening right now. He needed a clear mind, free of guilt and doubt.

A door approached him, large and round. He slowed his pace and stood for a moment, bracing for another confrontation. There was a small golden flash from his hand and then he opened the door quickly. He threw several small objects in at once, and the room began to fill with smoke. After diving in, he hid behind a large statue of a past Skulkin king and waited for the sound of whizzing arrows, but it never came. Instead, there was silence.

Then, a voice.

"Hello, brother."

Wu closed his eyes in dread, then opened them again as he ventured out from behind his hiding place. The room was ablaze with purple light shining through the thick layer of smoke in the air, but in the midst of it all was a pair of bright red eyes.

"Garmadon," said Wu stoically. Wu's brother sat on a large thrown looking far too happy to see him. "What have you done with the other weapons?"

Garmadon laughed coldly. "It's not what I have done, little brother. It's what you have done."

"And what is that?" Wu asked.

"Reunited them."

From somewhere beyond the mist, another figure emerged. He came wielding three of the four weapons in his decaying hands and tried to cut down the old Sensei with the Scythe of Quakes, but Wu leaped to safety, holding his sword high.

"Samukai," Wu exclaimed. "I would never have expected someone so prodigious to be grovelling at the feet of my brother."

Samukai did not look happy to be serving Garmadon, but he spoke no words of protest. He only lunged again, sending a wave of ice toward the old man.

To describe this battle in full would mean filling up at least two pages, but suffice to say that it was one of the most difficult that Wu had ever engaged in. King Samukai was a far greater opponent, especially while armed with the enchanted weapons, but Wu was quick and strategically minded beyond his years. However, the presence of golden power meant that one person was greater than the other. In truth, Samukai had very little experience with the elements, and so Wu was able to counter every attack of that kind, but when it came to weaponry, Samukai was unmatched. He had lived for far longer, and had fought in many more wars than Wu.

In the end, Samukai landed a blow with the Nunchucks into Wu's face and he fell to the ground. He was too weak to get up this time, allowing the Skulken king to come forward and take the Sword of Fire, finally completing the set.

"You were so naive, Wu," said Garmadon, still not rising from the Skulkin throne. "Did you truly think that you could outsmart me? Outmatch me? Defeat me? You were always a pain. A pain that never knew when he was in over his head."

Samukai slowly marched over to the Dark Lord as he spoke and Wu looked up to see his brother slowly rise to his feet.

"Hand them to me," Garmadon ordered the king.

King Samukai looked from Garmadon to Wu and back and hardened his expression.

"No," he replied in his gravelly voice. Garmadon's glare could kill, but he said nothing. "You arrogant whelp! You think of yourself quite highly, don't you? You act as though your blood makes you royalty, but you have much yet to learn, boy. I am the king of the Underworld, and with the four Golden Weapons at my command, I shall soon be Emperor of the cosmos!" With each word, the Weapons began to glow brighter until it hurt your eyes to look at them.

"You're the fool, Samukai," was all Garmadon had to say in reply.

Suddenly, the Skulkin king began to cry out in pain. The light of the Weapons seemed to be burning him away. One moment their was light, the next, darkness, followed by the sound of metal hitting the ground. Only Garmadon and Wu remained.

Wu looked up and saw Garmadon walk over to where the Golden Weapons had fallen, the smell of ash hanging in the air.

"Are you mad?" Wu cried. "You've just killed the king of an entire civilisation!"

"No, I bore witness to the untimely death of a king who fell at the hands of a certain, human warrior." Garmadon gave a smug glance at his brother who was still lying on the floor. He then stooped down and picked up the Sword.

"Garmadon, you know that the Weapons will destroy you!" said Wu, desperately trying to get back up to his feet.

"Poor, little Wu. Always one step behind," Garmadon chastised. "Father said that if any mortal tried to wield them, they would perish. You and I both know that we are far from mortal."

Wu watched, horrified, as his brother held each and every Weapon in one of his four hands. He waited for the worst to happen, but apart from what looked like minor burns, Garmadon was still very much alive.

"Bow before your new emperor," Garmadon said, glaring at Wu.

"I do not now to lesser men."

Garmadon was fuming. He raised the Weapons high above his head, ready to wipe Wu from the face of the earth, when suddenly an invisible force stopped him. He seemed frozen in place, unable to deliver the final blow. There was a stiff wind blowing around them, too, and not from any natural source. That's when Wu noticed the Weapons were glowing a deep red colour.

"What is this?" Garmadon shrieked. "Some sort of trick? Are you doing this?"

Wu was at a loss for words and stared as a large, swirling vortex began to appear out of thin air. It churned and gurgled and grew large enough to fit three men inside of it, then it seemed to pull Garmadon backwards toward it. He screamed in protest, but nothing he did—no amount of superhuman strength—could stop it. Bit by bit, his body was engulfed by the swirling, inky material, until finally his head and arms where the only things left.

"This is not the end, Wu! I will conquer Ninjago, and the day I do, you'll die an unimaginable de—"

Garmadon's body vanished from sight, but the weapons didn't seem to go with him. They were unable to pass through the portal and Garmadon lost his grip on them. Now they fell to the floor again, lifeless and dim, just like the portal as it slowly faded away. But Garmadon's final words still rattled through Wu's head for several minutes afterwards.

But the fight was over, and now was a time of rejoicing. The leader of the invading army was dead, and his followers would likely scatter soon enough, and... who was Wu kidding? Despite all of the awful circumstances, he had just witnessed his brother get sucked into a portal, presumably leading into another realm. It had to have been one of his father's safety measures. There were so many things that he had not told the two boys... so many secrets... Wu wondered if perhaps some events could have been avoided if his father had only been more honest with them.

Wu got to his feet slowly and gathered the weapons, careful not to let them touch his bare skin, and preventing himself from using their power, even a little. Now he needed to find the children and get back to Ninjago before the Skulkins found out about any of this.