FINAL CHAPTER! Epilogue, I suppose.
Also, THAT SEABOUND FINALE Y'ALL! BEAUTIFUL! I cannot wait to see how Jay, Kai, and the rest of the ninja cope with the loss in the next season.
Please leave your reviews. I sincerely want to hear your thoughts and questions, as I am always happy to respond to them. And, as always...
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Epilogue: The Paths of Tears
*WEEKS LATER*
After handling the necessary paperwork and attending a depressing number of funerals for his own kin and those of the kidnapped children, Kai now piloted them in an airship towards the ruins of Ignacia Village. Since Bizarro Kai's attack, the villager's bodies were buried in Ignacia's cemetery, the buildings were left in a field of decayed ruin, with only the statues of Ray and Maya still standing untouched.
Once the ship had stopped on the outskirts of the village, he was the first to depart and walk towards the statues. Now wearing the robes of a Sensei, styles similar to Wu but with red accents for his own element and black for mourning those he had lost, he was especially careful not to cause any of the ruins to crumble even further, as he was sure the slightest movement could potentially set any of them off. Once he stood before the plaque, he wiped off the ashes to read the Ninjargon text:
In loving memory of Ray and Maya Smith.
Friends.
Teachers.
Warriors.
But Most importantly, loving Father and Mother to Kai and Nya Smith.
He smiled sadly as he read it. Statues of Nya and Cole will soon stand beside them, with their own plaque to commemorate their contributions to Ninjago's safety.
"What now, Sensei Kai?"
The Fire Master paused for a moment before turning and looking down to the child standing before him. The five-year-old Amber elemental stood there, holding little Maya and Cole Jr. in his arms. Behind him, the five-year-old Smoke elemental held the time twin infants, and the five-year-old Shadow held the Wind elemental and Metal elemental infants. Although none of them had exhibited any use of their powers yet, whatever the Skull did in the ritual awakened each element within them.
Yet despite his resolve, Kai still had trouble hearing that title, just as he knew Lloyd did when he took up Wu's mantle of responsibilities. What's worse, the new Amber elemental reminded him of Skylor, not just for the fact they shared the same element, but because his hair was the same deep shade of red.
With tears swelling up at the memories of his time with Skylor, down to the moment she murdered one of the namesakes of the infants her successor now carried. But he hastily picked up his niece and nephew from the young boy's arms, now clearly crying, looking over the site that was once Ignacia Village. As he did, members of the Ninjago military and volunteering construction workers departed from their own shuttles and began carefully breaking down the crumbling structures, making way for a new Monastery to be built around the center, styled after that which Wu had originally called home before any of the Ninja had. This was it. This was the fresh start Kai had been longing for.
"Now, little one... we begin your training."
Even with a cast still hung around his arm for injuries he had earned in the battle of Chen's Island, Lloyd still intended to see his duties done as he sat in his throne within the Palace, addressing the two young men before him as a dozen Royal Guards stood at attention on either side of the room. At the other end of the throne room opposite of Lloyd was Dareth, The Mechanic, Ronin, Zane, Pixal, and Cyrus Borg in his wheelchair.
"You have served your Emperor with honor by fulfilling your duties. Please, kneel." Standing up, he picked up his regal blade from the throne's side, golden in color as well as material, approached the kneeling figure, and perched the blade on the man's left shoulder. "I charge you to be Dutiful..."
He crossed the blade to the other shoulder with a steady hand. "I charge you to be Loyal..."
Then, he placed the blade directly between their faces, still holding it in a steady grip. "And most importantly, I charge you to be Merciful. Now rise, Scott: Master-at-Arms of Ninjago's Royal Forces!"
The 24 guards in the room simultaneously banged the bottom end their spears to the marble floor several times to commemorate their new commander's achievement, even smiling as they did so. Scott himself was still silently in awe at the whole situation, but gratefully smiled to Lloyd as he picked up the Golden Helmet that once belonged to Hutchins and placed it on his own head, completing his new look. "Thank you, My Emperor. I am honored to serve."
"No, I am honored, for I could have never imagined, nor hoped, that I would find someone so loyal and so brave for someone so young. Especially not this soon in my time as Emperor. Furthermore, you have done more than proven your mettle in battle. By taking the Bizarro's Zane and Cole prisoner you have proven your wisdom in the heat of the moment; a trait my progenitors would commemorate."
Scott beamed with joy at the compliment.
"But be weary, Scott. This is no simple job, and there will be more fights to come, but I know that myself and this palace will be safe under your protection, Master-at-Arms.
Without another word, the new Master-at-Arms nodded before he walked forward and stood on Lloyd's right-hand side, giving the floor to the second man as the room silenced itself again. Giving the golden blade to Scott, Lloyd sat back down in his throne before speaking up again.
"Bradley Tudabone was more than just a servant of Ninjago. He was more than just a Senator, and he was more than just a Ninja. He was my friend; the very first one I had. And now..." Choking silently for a moment, the young Emperor collected himself. "And now, he is gone."
No one spoke up as he pondered his next words, a single tear falling down his cheek as he remembered his oldest memories with Brad.
"I will mourn him, but we must continue to look to the future. With the guidance of Admiral Walker and assistance of General Smith, Senator Tudabone's efforts as our Representative in the Senate built a healthy relationship between Ninjago and the greater galaxy. He was chosen for his role because we knew him to be a good fit. But you, sir, have been chosen by my advisor's because Clutch Powers recommended you. General Smith has retired to take on a more honorable role, and Admiral Walker has taken a leave of absence as he goes on a personal journey. His last act as Admiral of the Fleet before taking his leave was pulling Galactic forces out of the planet, so that we may maintain our sovereignty and deal with our own affairs."
This was news to all but the Assembly members. "You have big shoes to fill as Bradley Tudabone's successor, and you will have no close friends as you go in. We wish you the best of luck... Senator Johnson."
The skinny young man before him, who had been Clutch's personal exploring assistant over a decade ago, bowed at the honor of his new title, careful not to let his glasses fall off in the process. "Thank you, My Emperor. Please, call me Dwayne."
Resulting from Killow's breakout and the subsequent endangerment of the Coruscanti population, Jay and Lloyd managed to have the remaining Dark Army Leaders transferred back to Ninjago Kryptarium Prison shortly after the battle at Chen's Island, along with the remaining Bizarro Ninja, under MAXIMUM security.
Unlike the Coruscant Prison Complex they had previously occupied, the new Maximum Security wing of Kryptarium had placed each Faction Leader in their own dark, isolated cell, without seeing any other living souls. Only Commando droids came to deliver meals twice a day, all without saying a word.
And they have been doing so for over a week.
The former "Master" Chen sat in his new quarters, lit up only by a singly dim light on the ceiling, while the five others were either not working or intentionally shut off to his own annoyance. The latter, he surmised.
Despite his lack of powers, he was in the exact same type of cell as the other leaders: ray-shielding with vengestone-cased bars. Even if he had retained his Anacondrai form after the Dark Army's defeat, he wouldn't have been able to escape. Pythor and Aspheera would have otherwise. It was overkill.
So naturally, it was more than just an unpleasant surprise when the lights flickered out for several seconds, leaving him alone in a black void, only for all six of the lights to shine so bright he was blinded for a moment. After he rubbed his eyes and his vision was no longer blurred, he saw Jay standing right outside the ray shielding. The blue pirate-styled eyepatch that covered the gash where he previously had a cybernetic implant was only visible due to his shaggy red hair being held up by a similar blue bandana.
"You look worse for wear, sparkplug. Not so tough-looking without your fancy cybernetics or the powers you stole from the Overlord, eh? That's right, I heard a rumor that you don't have any of your fancy powers anymore... well, except for your element of Lightning. That figures. Not even you "good guys" lose your strength the same way as the rest of us. That is, with the rare exception of Nya and Cole, I understand."
Instead of a snarky comeback, or snapping at the mention of those he just lost, as Chen had expected him to, Jay simply stared at him in silence for a moment. With a small sigh, he shot a quick bolt of electricity from his hand into the cell's keypad, lowering the ray shield and raising the vengestone bars. This alerted Chen to shuffle backwards slowly.
"Y'know, Chen... I've realized that we never officially met, nor had a real conversation. Your strife was really against Lloyd and Kai, the latter of which I can surmise was mostly due to your daughter's manipulation of him and subsequent defeat by his hand. And sure, I helped deliver your armies total defeat by bringing an army of my own, then I oversaw your transfer to the prison on Coruscant, and then from there back to here, but still... I was never able to get a read on you. Never personally saw you or your cronies in one-one-one action."
He stepped into the cell, causing Chen to back up into the wall as he continued to stay on the ground, clearly trying his best not to look intimidated by his surprise visitor.
"But your men have proven their value as villains. Your lieutenant, Eyezor? A true believer, that one. Fights with all his might, both as a human and a psuedo-anacondrai, knowing each fight could be his last. As it turns out, he was a valuable asset to the Bizarro Ninja and their efforts. But not because of his skills in the battlefield, but for his knowledge..."
Chen's eyes widened slightly as he realized where this conversation was going.
"You see, without access to you, and with Clouse dead, he and Zugu were the only leads with a vast amount of inside knowledge of your island, and my guess is that they knew Zugu isn't the brightest between the two of them. And now, Eyezor has evidently escaped capture along two more of your men, as well as a Son of Garmadon and the Hypnobrai I let escape."
He took another step forward, focusing on the topic at hand. "Eyezor knew all of your island's nooks, crannies, and private quarter locations. With his help, my... twin... discovered something. Evidence of a lie, which you helped manipulate into existence, along with your sorcerer and the very person this lie is about. A lie that was so powerful it caused him to somehow lose all faith in his cause for revenge."
Jay's fists tightened as he stared down at Chen's cowering form. "A lie that I was unaware of until fairly recently, but my friends had believed for several years. And I was more than willing to let this lie be the end of it, before I discovered what it really was. I wouldn't have ever found out about this on my own..."
The frail man began to sweat. Jay smiled inwardly, knowing he was getting to him. "After all, we Ninja have lost so much, we are all orphans now... that's why we cherish each other like blood. But you would know, you've studied all of them..." He uncrossed his arms.
"Lilly Brookstone, taken from Cole by sickness." His fists tightened.
"Dr. Julien, passed away from old age." His eye and hands began to glow a bright blue.
"Ed and Edna Walker, murdered by The Overlord and Pythor." Sparks emitted from them, flying off and dissipating in the air.
"Sensei Garmadon, killed by Harumi." The lights began to flicker sporadically.
"Ray and Maya Smith, slaughtered by Harumi and Lord Garmadon." The flickering accelerated.
"Misako, killed by Lord Garmadon." Jay's hair began to levitate, as if static electricity was in the air.
"Lou Brookstone, killed by a dark army patrol while you and your allies raided these lands under your control." The lights were now completely cycling on-and-off.
"And the one I most recently learned about before my latest adventure... Cliff Gordon, my birth father. Died from disease as well, but never got the chance to tell me about himself, because he thought I was dead. But you already know all of this. And I was resolved to leave it at that, because I wasn't aware there was more to it..."
The lights turned back to normal. Jay's glow dissipated, the sparks stopped. His hair fell back down, leaving him staring at a petrified Chen.
Tears slowly began to form under Jay's eye. "But now that I know... you are going to help me. Just me, Jay Walker, the Master of Lightning. Not as the Admiral of the Galactic Fleet, not as the Savior of Ninjago... just as me. No powers of a cosmic god, nor the skills of space wizard. No armies, no friends, no tricks, nor lies. You will help me, because I am determined to bring the truth out of the shadows, and into the light."
Still sitting, Chen managed to feign a scoff. "And... how exactly am I to help you... may I ask?"
A small smile crept on Jay's lips as he crouched down to meet him at eye level. "Oh, that's simple. You're just going to answer a single question for me. The only question, in fact, that makes you still worth a damn in my eyes." With his lightning-fast reflexes, Jay pulled the man from the ground and held his frail body inches away from his own, so that he could see the conviction in Lightning Master's cobalt eye.
"Where is she, Chen? Where. Is. My. Mother?"
THE END
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This wraps up the "Dark Army" arc, as they are officially dissolved because of the Bizarro Ninja. All Dark Army members are dead or imprisoned, except for Eyezor'rai, Kapua'rai, Chope'rai, Mohawk, and Mezmo.
Book 4 will start soon, either next week or the week following.