Finally, with the red-roofed building within her sights, could Skye understand why they called them the Mountains of Impossible Height. It felt like she'd been climbing all day, and it had been an exhausting hike. The large white walls of the Monastery on the mountain peak stopped Skye from seeing anything within. She considered taking a rest by the beautiful cherry tree that stood proud just outside, but decided against it as she made the last few steps upwards to the imposing red and gold doors with their large, dragon-shaped ornaments. Skye raised her fist to knock, jumping back just slightly when the doors swung inwards seemingly by their own accord. With a quick hand movement to make sure she still had all of her arrows present in her quiver, Skye stepped into the Monastery.
The inside was not what she expected. A large hexagonal courtyard was guarded by three walls, whilst the back three spaces consisted of the actual building itself. The floor was an ornate mosaic of colours. She could just pick out what looked like fire, water, wind and smoke patterns around on the floor, but without a bird's eye view, Skye doubted she would ever truly know. Her eye was then drawn to the wall directly on her left, in front of which was stood a red-headed girl in a school uniform. The wall was painted with a series of beautiful murals. Skye couldn't understand any them herself, but she could spot several reoccurring characters. Colourful ninja, a strange old man with black skin and four arms, snake people?
"Amazing aren't they?" The red-head said to Skye, "History, completely unaltered. No tampering, not faded to time. Pictures telling entire stories of the days when Elemental Masters battled great villains for the fate of Ninjago itself."
"Oh come on, don't tell me you actually believe all that past nonsense?" A brown-haired boy dressed in dirty and ragged clothes who was leaning against the opposite wall. "I thought you were just admiring the art, not fantasising about being a Ninja."
"It isn't nonsense. It's a part of our history. Have you not seen and heard of all the artefacts?" The red-haired girl shot back angrily, folding her arms.
"I've seen a lot of vehicles that were probably used in some big war. What, you want me to believe that because some ancient army liked lightning patterns that a man could run around giving people static shocks whenever he wanted. Get over yourself." The boy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, facing away.
The red-haired girl shook her head, with her and Skye turning back to face the murals, "I can't believe the lack of respect people nowadays show for our past. I'm Autumn, by the way."
"Skye. Nice to meet you. So, why do you reckon we're here? You, me and misery guts over there," Skye asked.
"Well, from what I can tell, we're going to be new students for Spinjitzu," Autumn said excitably.
"Spin-what-who?" Skye stuttered.
"Spinjitzu. I read about it in a book once, haven't you heard of it? It's this awesome ancient martial art where your body's energy is used to spin so fast you form a tornado around you. Couple that with some form of power, and I've heard you become almost unstoppable," Autumn ranted.
"Wait, is that what the weird guy was doing when he caught my arrow? He was, like, inside this tornado of gold and black energy," Skye asked again, looking over the wall again, spotting a couple of instances of similar tornadoes on the wall.
"Yup, sounds about right for Spinjitzu. I can't wait to see how it is we learn it ourselves. Oh, there are probably hundreds of scrolls or books back there detailing how it all works!" Autumn almost squeals in excitement, before both girls turn around as the doors open once again.
A boy with jet black hair wearing a finely tailored black suit stepped in, looking around as he removed a fancy set of high-tech looking sunglasses. He first locked eyes with the other boy, who seemed to snort in disgust and look away again. The suited boy then turned to the two girls and seemed to sigh in disappointment.
"He roped other kids into this, huh? Higher-ups are not gonna like this one bit." The boy muttered to himself, causing Autumn and Skye to glance at each other with confusion.
Before anyone had the chance to say anything else a pair of doors at the far end of the courtyard opened up, and the man they had all separately seen before stepped out from the shadow of his room into the sunlight, lifting his head to smile at the assembled teens. He opened his arms wide as a welcoming gesture as he walked down the small step into the courtyard itself.
"Welcome, students, to my Monastery. I'm so pleased to see that all of you arrived as you had promised. Now then, we have a lot of work to do and not much time to do it so I hope you all had the time to introduce yourselves to each other… My name is Master Tetsu G- Just Master Tetsu to you all. Now shall we begin?" Tetsu rambled quickly, seeming distracted as he stepped forward.
"Now hold on a second!" The black-haired boy interrupted. "I can't speak for these three children you've tricked into being here, but I didn't promise anything. I only got sent here by my CO because we all think you're up to something shifty, and they reckon I can find out what."
"Hey! Who are you calling a child? You don't even look old enough to shave, don't get all high and mighty because you can dress up in daddy's Sunday best." Autumn shot at the black-haired boy, storming closer to him, leaving Skye unsure as to if she should follow.
"Says the girl who literally turned up in her school clothes? I happen to be an Ultra Agent of Astor City. But tell me, what time is your curfew?" The boy stood his ground against Autumn, even holding up his ID badge to prove his point.
"Ugh, you two are giving me a headache already. Hey, old man, can we kick them out and just get on with whatever this all is?" The brown-haired boy said flippantly.
"ENOUGH!" Tetsu shouted, slamming his staff down on the floor in such a way it felt like his voice echoed and forced a blast of air to draw the squabbling teen's attention away from each other and back to him. It was also enough to bring the four of them slowly into a line before him. "Skye, Autumn, Blake, Caelum. I didn't just gather the four of you for the fun of it. Each of you possesses an innate quality, like the heroes of old. You are all Elemental Masters."
Tetsu had paused to let the dramatic line sink in, but he didn't have the reaction he had hoped for. At least Autumn had gasped and looked on in excitement. Skye simply looked confused, Blake crossed his arms and Caelum let out an exasperated cry of "Oh come on you've got to be kidding me!"
"Master Tetsu, do you know what Elemental Powers we possess? Are we descended from the original four Ninja?" Autumn asked politely.
"I do not know. But that is what I hope to find out. I've had a vision of a great darkness creeping over Ninjago, but I am not sure what or when it is coming. Which is why we must dedicate our energy into getting you four trained up as soon as possible before the worst comes. I don't know what would happen if we were to fai-" Tetsu started to explain.
"You don't know, you don't know, you don't know!" Caelum interrupted. "For crying out loud is there anything you do know?"
"I know you're unbelievably rude..." Skye muttered to herself, earning a glare from the boy.
"Students, please, settle yourself. I know this is highly unusual, but I promise everything will make sense in the end. But first..." Tetsu's eyes started to glow and for a split second, it looked like he had burst into flames before he was swallowed by a gold and black tornado.
All four teens flinched as the spinning energy breezed past them, spinning them in the process. When they finally gathered their bearings, they all realised they had suddenly been placed in black ninja gis with katanas placed in their hands. They all looked around to follow the tornado as it swerved over to a small dragon statue by the door, where Tetsu stopped spinning.
"...We need to start your training proper." Tetsu said smugly, as he tapped the statue and pressed the hidden button which had revealed itself.
The four teens barely had time to register anything as the courtyard transformed around them. The floor they had previously been stood on opened up, and a large mast-like pillar rose from the floor, complete with a hanging sandbag and large flail. Four spinning discs shot up, each complete with their own obstacles. One had training dummies that came complete with swinging swords, the next had a deadly looking pair of spinning swords. The third had a trio of chopping axes to dodge, and the last had more flails. In between the spinning discs, a series of wooden poles rose from the ground, clearly designed to provide extra obstacles.
"Now then, are there any questions before we begin?" Tetsu asked proudly.
"Uh, yeah, I have a question you creep! Where are my normal clothes?" Caelum asked.
"What did you do with guns? My ID? My suit?" Blake asked.
"Is my bow okay? You didn't destroy her did you?" Skye asked.
"When do we get started?" Autumn asked.
Tetsu simply looked over the teens and sighed. He hadn't expected this to be easy, but to have only one be receptive to his offers was a rather deflating feeling. It all made him question if his ancestors had to deal with such issues in the past, or if their students had been entirely receptive from the get-go.
"How about we save the start of training until tomorrow? I imagine it's been a long day for you all, getting up here. Sometimes it never does to rush these things." Tetsu said almost sadly.
"Best thing you've said so far," Caelum said with another roll of his eyes, "Now where is my room?"
"Isaiah..." Came the dark whisper, once again.
"I told you, I'm not listening. So you may as well quit."
The tired, greying archaeologist had been dealing with this for several days now, alongside a painful blackening of the skin on his left arm. Ever since he had woken up on the jungle floor after his cave encounter, the annoying pest of an orb had been trying to worm its way inside his head, spinning impossible stories and lies.
"Why treat me with such hostility, Isaiah, after I returned to favour you granted me. You freed me from that eternal prison, and I rescued you from it in return." The orb whispered slowly.
"And yet you won't explain what you did to my arm. Why can't you just fly off and let me get on with my work?" Isaiah hissed, growing even more frustrated as he knocked an inkwell off of his table.
"Because I too have work to do, Isaiah. And destiny dictates that you are the one who shall help me." The orb whispered again, floating around to hover in front of Isaiah's face.
"Really, you have 'work' to do? And what would that entail?" Isaiah questioned the orb. Maybe if he indulged it a little, it would leave him alone?
"Conquest, domination, darkness!" The orb hissed angrily. "For too long the balance in Ninjago has been swaying once again towards the light. But a change is in motion, a new day is upon the horizon. And with you as my herald, we will bring about the Ninjago that should exist."
"That sounds nice and all, but it isn't for me. I just want to find something of the past, something that nobody else can find of the old days." Isaiah said, turning away to a different table.
"Oh but you have Isaiah. In fact, you have found the Ninja's greatest nemesis… For I am the Overlord!" The orb declared triumphantly, causing Isaiah to turn back.
"You're the being of pure darkness that almost brought Ninjago to its knees twice? You're nothing but a floating ball of gas with a breathing problem." Isaiah said before he clasped his arm in sudden agony.
"You will show more respect for the being who is going to give you everything you desire!" The Overlord hissed again, seeming to grow larger and more red as he did, before reverting to his previous state. "When I was last defeated, everything but my essence was destroyed. It has taken me a very long time to form even this spirit body again. Everything I had built beforehand has been lost, however. You can relate, can you not?"
"I… Don't understand?" Isaiah asked, confused.
"I saw your mind, Isaiah, your desires. Those who were below you claimed everything you had built and rose above their station, throwing you to the dirt. You lost your credit, your power, your family. Isaiah, I can reclaim everything you lost and more, if you just work with me. We will recreate Ninjago in our dark image, where you and your family can rule in my name!" The Overlord whispered.
Isaiah stopped to think, imagining a world where everyone respected him again. The man who brought peace to a dark Ninjago, where those who betrayed him would pay for their crimes against him. A world where he could provide everything for his daughter, a world she would never struggle in. And before he knew it, a small laugh had escaped him. He tried to shake the thought clear of his head, but like snake venom from a bite wound the thoughts were seeping into his mind, poisoning him. And worst of all, he liked it.
"If I can kill those who stole my findings, my creations. If you can return my daughter to me, I'll help you conquer Ninjago. But I have a better idea. Why just stop with Ninjago? There are twelve other realms just ripe for the taking out there!" Isaiah chuckled, looking up at the Overlord.
The Overlord started pulsing violently as he laughed in turn. "Ambitious, I like it. We will sway the balance of all the realms, and conquer their power for ourselves. We have an agreement. I grant you my power to use as you will but know I will be watching. Listening. Guiding."
Isaiah didn't have time to ask what the Overlord meant, as once again the orb flew straight at him, seeming to absorb itself right into his chest. Within that moment he felt the spirit grow within his mind before searing pain forced him to his knees as the searing pain in his arm flared up again. Isaiah could only watch as the black patches started to spread like a virus, burning his skin until his entire left arm was blackened and scaley, with claws in place of fingertips. As he watched, purple lightning danced over his arm, just a taste of his new dark powers that were mirrored in his glowing purple eyes.