Lloyd and Skylor summoned their elemental dragons and followed the Time Twins as they flew over the forest. Lloyd tried blasting them with his powers, but the twins easily dodged the blasts.
"Where do they think they're going?" Skylor asked as she and Lloyd followed them.
"I have no idea."
They had almost caught the twins when the pair pulled out some rocket boosters and sped away.
"No!" Lloyd said.
"We'll never catch them now," Skylor said.
As they watched the Time Twins fly off, a large vortex opened in the sky. Six dragons emerged from the vortex. Krux and Acronix turned sharply to avoid colliding with the dragons. When the dragons turned to chase Krux and Acronix, Lloyd noticed people riding the dragons. He smiled when he saw who the dragon riders were.
"Guys!" Lloyd yelled.
"Oh, come on! Not even a 'welcome home, we missed you' before we have to jump into action?" Kai asked.
"Guess not," Cole said as they followed the twins. The real dragons were much faster than Lloyd and Skylor's elemental dragons and easily caught up to the Time Twins. Firstbourne used her large wing to knock the pair out of the sky. Before they fell to the ground, she grabbed both of them in her teeth.
"Guys! You're back!" Lloyd yelled as they flew back towards the monastery.
"Kai!" Skylor maneuvered her elemental dragon next to Kai's dragon and jumped off.
"Hey!" Kai exclaimed as she landed in front of him. He hugged her with his good arm.
"What happened to you?"
"What, this? It's nothing. I'm fine."
Skylor kissed him.
"I think someone missed you," Cole said.
Lloyd shook his head. When he looked at the dragons again, a few things caught his eye. First, Nya looked absolutely terrified and was clinging to her dragon. He saw bandages on Cole's hands and feet. Jay had a wheelchair attached to his dragon. And Zane was stuffed in a bag while Alt-Lloyd rode the ice dragon.
"I have some questions," Lloyd said.
"And we'll gladly answer them after Mystaké has fixed us," Cole said.
"Mystaké?" Lloyd looked over and saw Mystaké riding behind Faith on Firstbourne, still in her Oni form. When she waved at him, he saw her wrists were bound together.
The dragons landed in a small clearing next to the monastery. The alt-ninja plus Wu, Garmadon, and Misako ran over to greet them. Firstbourne kept the Time Twins in her mouth. Skylor slid off of the fire dragon and Kai carefully lowered himself to the ground. Skylor took a step away to check on the others.
"Not so fast." Kai pulled Skylor close and kissed her. They sank to the ground.
"I missed you so much," Skylor whispered.
"I missed you too. I thought I'd never see you again."
"I knew you'd find your way back. You always do."
"Well, if these past few months have taught me anything, it's that the next time I get trapped in another realm, I want you there with me. Marry me, Skylor."
"Kai?"
"This isn't just the emotion of getting back talking. I've thought about this long and hard. You're the only one for me."
"Kai…"
"I want you in my life forever."
"Kai, will you shut up already so I can say yes?"
"Yes?"
The two kissed.
"I actually do have a ring," Kai said as he pulled the ring box out of his pocket.
Skylor gasped when she saw the emerald set on the gold ring.
While Kai slipped the ring onto her finger, Faith pulled Mystaké off of Firstbourne and approached the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master. The alt-ninja gasped when they saw the Oni.
"M-M-Mystaké?" Garmadon went pale.
"Hello, boys," Mystaké said with a smile.
"I-I-I-"
"Did you honestly believe you could get rid of me that easily?"
"I killed you!"
"You tried."
Wu put a hand over his mouth to hide his laughter.
"This Oni is banished to this realm. The ninja have sworn to take responsibility for her. Good luck." Faith shoved Mystaké towards the brothers. Once Wu took the cuffs off of her, Mystaké changed back into her human form. She glared at Faith as she adjusted her hat.
"What the heck is going on?" Alt-Jay asked.
Alt-Cole shrugged as he and his friends spotted alt-Lloyd. They quickly surrounded him.
Faith walked back over to Firstbourne. Jay was the only one still on his dragon.
"Get off. We are leaving," Faith said.
"I would if I could," Jay said.
"I guess you are taking those two back with you to the First Realm?" Wu pointed to Krux and Acronix, who were still in Firstbourne's mouth.
"What?!" Krux yelled.
"Who am I to argue with a dragon?" Faith shrugged.
"No, no, no! Wu, make this beast release us!" Acronix said.
"Why should I?" Wu asked.
"Because without us, you'll never find the Time Blades," Krux said.
"Hermes has them," Lloyd said.
"Why does Hermes have the Time Blades?" Cole asked.
"Don't go there."
Faith climbed onto the lightning dragon and shoved Jay off. Luckily, Alt-Lloyd was right there to break his fall. Faith tossed the wheelchair onto the ground. Once she was back on Firstbourne, the dragons took off. Krux and Acronix screamed as Firstbourne opened a portal back to the First Realm and the dragons flew through it.
"Do I want to know?" Lloyd asked as Alt-Lloyd struggled to open Jay's wheelchair while supporting Jay. Lloyd took the wheelchair and opened it.
"We'll tell you later," Kai said.
Skylor saw Nya standing a little ways away and ran over to her. Nya went stiff when Skylor hugged her.
"Nya, look at this ring your brother got me." Skylor held out her hand.
"Um, it's pretty, but that's my brother." Nya pointed at Cole.
"Cole?" Lloyd asked.
"No, Kai."
Cole rolled his eyes as he slowly made his way over to Nya.
"Who are all these people? Why are there duplicates of everyone?" Nya asked as Cole put his hands on her shoulders and led her over to Mystaké.
"Yes, yes. I just need to grab a few things from my shop," Mystaké said.
"I actually have your entire inventory here," Wu said.
"Oh. That makes that easy. Give me an hour, ninja."
Everyone made their way over to the elevator. As they passed the Bounty, P.I.X.A.L. came running out.
"Zane! You're back!" P.I.X.A.L. stopped when she saw Zane was in a bag on the back of Jay's wheelchair.
"P.I.X.A.L., it's okay," Kai started.
"What happened to Zane?"
"The short answer is, a kraken tried to eat him. And me," Jay said.
"A kraken?" Lloyd asked.
"How about we tell you everything after Mystaké has a chance to heal us?" Cole said.
"I guess."
Everyone piled into the elevator. When they reached the top, Wu stopped and looked down the stairs.
"Lloyd, did they ever finish their laps?" Wu asked.
"No. They only finished six," Lloyd said.
"I see. You four need to finish your laps before you are allowed to come inside."
The alt-ninja groaned, but Wu put up his hand.
"How many laps do they have to do?" Jay asked.
"Forty-four more," Lloyd said.
"What did you do?" Kai asked.
"They tried to steal the Realm Crystal," Lloyd said before any of the alt-ninja could speak up.
"And for that, they get fifty laps?" Jay asked as Alt-Lloyd pulled his wheelchair up the remaining steps.
"Yes."
"Now get going." Wu stared at them until the four started back down the mountain.
Alt-Lloyd decided to join his friends for a few laps so they could catch up. However, he quickly tired of walking up and down the mountain and went inside after only two laps. Wu, Garmadon, and Misako were sitting on the couch talking. Ray and Maya were also there.
"Where is everyone?" Alt-Lloyd asked as he sat in the recliner.
"Mystaké gave them some healing tea mixed with something else. They all passed out about twenty minutes ago. Except for Lloyd, who still has to count their laps," Wu explained.
"Is that why he's sitting in a lawn chair reading a comic book?"
Wu sighed.
"What happened to them?" Misako asked.
"Well, a lot happened. Mystaké had a reason for why everything happened, but I didn't fully understand it. But basically, they threw my dad into jail and the world didn't like that. There was an earthquake and the warehouse where my team keeps our mechs collapsed. Nya was caught in the rubble and got amnesia," Alt-Lloyd said.
"My poor baby," Maya said.
"Then, the earthquake triggered an eruption in the volcano where my dad had his HQ, so Kai and Cole went there to rescue all of his minions. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I think Kai convinced Cole to try and manipulate the lava or something."
"Ooh, that doesn't work like that," Ray said.
"So Cole got third-degree burns on his hands and second-degree burns on his legs and feet. Then they got a tip about Zane's dad and he and Jay went to go investigate that. They went to an island that was guarded by a kraken and it attacked them. Jay is paralyzed and Zane stopped working. Though Dr. Julien did try to fix Zane. While that was happening, Kai went to investigate the ghosts under town hall, which turned out to be his parents who were held prisoner by a sewer monster. He dislocated his shoulder and broke his arm in like five places, but he did rescue them."
"It's a wonder they're still alive," Misako said.
"Yes. That world was built on chaos. When the ninja put an end to the chaos, the world itself reacted," Mystaké said as she came in. She was carrying a cup that had black smoke pouring out of it. She stared at Garmadon.
"Dare I ask what is in that cup?" Garmadon said.
"No, but you are going to drink it."
"Why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
"Is there any way I can get out of this?"
"No."
"Just drink it, brother," Wu said.
Garmadon took the cup and chugged the contents.
In his cell, Garmadon stabbed at the newspaper with his pencil. He hated being locked up. It was boring and the crossword clues were dumb. He sighed and sat down on his bed. Suddenly, his insides felt like they were on fire. He screamed and grabbed his stomach.
"Help me, you imbeciles!"
Guards came rushing in as he passed out.