"Ugh. We just got done walking up and down this stupid mountain. Why do we have to climb it now?" Alt-Kai whined.
"Because Sensei Wu said so," Cole said.
"How is this supposed to help us learn Spinjitzu?" Alt-Lloyd asked.
"It's not," Kai said.
"So what's the point?"
"To keep us busy."
It was just after ten in the morning and Wu had decided that the monastery wasn't big enough for the twelve of them to be lounging around.
"This is going to take forever," Alt-Jay whined.
"It shouldn't take more than a few hours. Six at most," Kai said.
"Six?"
"That's about how long it took me the first time Wu made me climb this mountain, and I had zero climbing experience. I'm down to about two-and-a-half hours now."
"It took me nine my first time. I can do it now in about three hours. Shut up, Cole," Jay said.
"I didn't say anything," Cole argued.
"How fast is Cole's time?" Alt-Lloyd asked.
"My record is three minutes and eighteen seconds. The first time, I think it took me about forty-five minutes. But I had experience doing ropes and bouldering and stuff."
"What's bouldering?" Alt-Kai whispered.
"This. Climbing without the use of ropes. Though, usually, you don't climb anything this high," Alt-Cole explained.
Everyone took their spots at the bottom of the mountain.
"Do we want to race for second place or not?" Lloyd asked.
"Not," Nya said. Everyone else agreed with her.
"Okay. Cole, can you please wait for us at the halfway point?"
"I guess," Cole said.
"Thank you. On three. One, two, three."
Everyone began to climb. Cole, unsurprisingly, sprinted up and out of view in a matter of seconds. A minute later, they heard rocks sliding against each other above them.
"What was that?" Alt-Jay asked.
"Cole's probably making himself something to sit on while he waits for us," Lloyd said.
"He's already halfway up?!" Alt-Kai said.
"Well, he is the Master of Earth. We are, quite literally, in his element," Zane explained.
As they climbed higher, three groups began to emerge. In the first group were Lloyd, Zane, Alt-Zane, and Alt-Cole. A little ways below them were Jay, Kai, Nya, and Alt-Lloyd. Quite a ways below them were Alt-Nya, Alt-Jay, and Alt-Kai.
Lloyd was glad when he finally saw the halfway point. His muscles ached and he really needed a quick break. As he climbed closer, he saw Cole sitting on his shelf, eating a sandwich and talking on his phone. There were a bunch of water bottles and some protein bars next to him. Lloyd didn't dare look at his watch.
"Oh, gotta go. They're finally starting to catch up. I'll call you in a little bit." Cole hung up his phone.
"Where did… sandwich?" Lloyd gasped. He pulled himself onto the shelf.
"From the kitchen. Misako's getting lunch ready." Cole climbed off the shelf as Alt-Cole and the two Zanes approached.
Lloyd grabbed a water bottle and leaned against the mountain. He was too tired to tell Cole to wait for the rest of them. Zane and Alt-Zane did not need to rest, but Alt-Cole decided to take a break.
"How often do you guys climb this mountain?" Alt-Cole asked.
"Not very often. Cole will do it for fun, but the rest of us would rather do almost anything else. Wu made everyone climb it on their first day, and sometimes if we're getting too rowdy he'll make us climb it as an alternate to training. If he's really mad, then we have to do laps."
"Hm."
"You can go on ahead. I'm going to wait for the others."
"I HATE THIS STUPID MOUNTAIN!" Jay yelled from somewhere beneath them.
"Cole?" Lloyd said into his comm.
"I know, I'm coming." A moment later, Cole carefully surfed back down the mountain.
"Show off," Lloyd said as Cole slid past them.
"Woah," Alt-Cole said.
Jay was stuck about a third of the way up the mountain. Kai, Nya, and Alt-Lloyd were about twenty feet above him.
"When you're done with him, can you check on my teammates?" Alt-Lloyd asked.
"Sure. What's the problem, Jay?" Cole asked.
"What does it look like, Dirt Clod? I'm stuck!" Jay spat.
"Move your left foot up."
"Where?"
"There's a crevice right next to you."
"You mean the thing that's almost at my head?"
"Yes."
"Cole!" Jay yelled.
"I'm not going to let you fall. Put your left foot there and put your left hand on this ledge right here and you can pull yourself up."
Jay shook his head.
"Okay, then you'll have to climb down a little bit so you can move over to the right and go up that way," Cole said.
"Climb down?"
"Yes. Which way do you want to go?"
Jay looked around for a moment before he slowly moved his left hand up. He closed his eyes and lifted up his left foot. When he didn't move, he felt Cole's foot underneath his foot, lifting it up to the crevice.
"I can't pull you up," Cole said when Jay didn't move.
Jay took a deep breath and forced himself up. He found a spot for his hand and grabbed on for dear life. Once he was sure he wasn't going to fall, he looked up and saw a path towards the top. He slowly began to climb.
"Okay. I need to go help the other Jay now." Cole slid down until he reached Alt- Jay, Alt-Kai, and Alt-Nya. They were only about a quarter of the way up.
"This is stupid," Alt-Nya complained.
"You do this for fun?" Alt-Kai asked.
"Why would anyone do this for fun?" Alt-Jay asked.
"I love mountain climbing. That's what I was doing when Wu found me," Cole said.
"Of course you love this stuff. Just look at you. You're built like a mountain," Alt-Kai said.
"We have to be almost there, right?" Alt-Nya asked.
"Uh…" Cole couldn't even see the halfway point from where they were. If he looked hard, he could sort of see Kai's bright red uniform in the distance.
"Right?" Alt-Nya repeated.
"Look at it this way: if you hurry, you can make it up in time for dinner," Cole replied.
"What happened to lunch?" Alt-Jay asked.
"I brought you guys some protein bars and water bottles. They're at the halfway point."
"That's not lunch," Alt-Kai said.
"Well, Misako is preparing sandwiches for the people who finish in time. If you want lunch, you have to go faster."
"This is seriously pointless! I mean, it doesn't even help us learn Spinjitzu, so what is the freaking point?" Alt-Nya complained.
"We told you, it's to keep us busy for a few hours. My guess is Wu and Garmadon want to talk without anyone around," Cole said. He created a ledge just big enough for him to sit on above the group.
"Hmph. I still say he's evil."
"He's not evil, and this isn't the first time he's been purged of his evilness."
"It's not?" Alt-Kai asked.
"No. When Lloyd defeated The Overlord, he also inadvertently removed all of the Great Devourer's venom from Garmadon's blood."
"So how did he become evil again?"
"Well, in order to defeat Chen, Garmadon sacrificed himself to the Cursed Realm so the spirits of the Anachondrai could handle Chen. Then, Harumi got it into her twisted little mind that Garmadon was the hero of the Devourer incident, so she resurrected only his evil Oni side," Cole explained.
"And Harumi is…?" Alt-Nya asked.
"Lloyd's evil ex-girlfriend. She needed him to help her get an Oni Mask, so she convinced her parents to use us as bodyguards for the royal family, but then she killed them in a Sons of Garmadon attack, so that kind of defeated the purpose. Like, she could have just killed them and then called us to investigate."
"I'm just going to pretend that what you're saying makes sense," Alt-Jay.
Cole rolled his eyes and used his powers to move his shelf up a few feet. Every time the trio got close, Cole would move up a few feet and wait for them. After almost an hour of this, Cole became extremely bored. He played on his phone for a bit until he got a text.
"Where are you going?" Alt-Kai asked when Cole began to climb away.
"I'll be back. Just keep going," Cole said.
Alt-Kai, Alt-Jay, and Alt-Nya looked at each other, but they couldn't stop him from leaving. An hour or so later, they reached the halfway point. There was no sign of Cole. They grabbed the last three water bottles and sat down on the ledge.
"I can't believe he abandoned us like that," Alt-Kai said.
"Ugh. These are warm," Alt-Jay whined.
"They've been sitting in the sun all day. What did you expect?" Alt-Nya said. She picked up a protein bar. Through the package, she could feel that it had melted.
Alt-Jay sighed and took another sip of water. Almost forty-five minutes later, they still weren't ready to move on.
"We're going to be so sore tomorrow," Alt-Kai said.
Alt-Nya was about to say something when they heard voices coming down the mountain. Lloyd and Alt-Lloyd were walking down the stairs.
"There you are," Lloyd said. He and Alt-Lloyd slowly climbed over to the trio.
"We aren't used to this," Alt-Nya said.
"Where's Cole?" Alt-Jay asked.
"He had a meeting," Alt-Lloyd said.
"His grandfather is getting us hooked up with a lawyer and he had to go. Wu sent us down to help you finish," Lloyd explained.
"I don't think I can make it," Alt-Kai said.
"I know, but you're halfway there."
"My arms feel like noodles," Alt-Jay said.
"There's ice and pain pills waiting for you at the top," Alt-Lloyd said.
"It's too far. We're going to die out here."
"You're not going to die. You've already come so far, and when you reach the top you'll be able to say, 'I climbed one of the tallest mountains in Ninjago,'" Lloyd said.
"I'm not sure that's a fear I want to accomplish," Alt-Kai said.
"And this has nothing to do with being a ninja," Alt-Nya complained.
"There's more to being a ninja than just saving the public from various threats. You have to be able to handle whatever is thrown at you. Part of that is doing different things during your training time. You might think some of Wu's ideas are stupid, and some of them are stupid, but he always has a point. At one point, Wu wanted us to not rely on our powers as much, and the next thing you know, a crazy ghost takes them away," Lloyd said.
"What?" Alt-Kai asked.
"Never mind. My point is, Wu has a reason for wanting you to climb this mountain, so you better listen to him."
"How did a ghost take away your powers?" Alt-Lloyd asked.
"It's not important," Lloyd said.
"But what if that happens in my world?"
"All our powers are connected, okay?"
"Connected?"
"Yes. So, you guys ready to climb the rest of this mountain?" Lloyd asked.
"I guess," Alt-Nya mumbled.
The three alt-ninja grabbed the mountain and slowly began climbing.
"Your powers are connected?" Alt-Lloyd asked.
"It's a bit hard to explain. I can technically use the four Primal Elements, but I'm never going to be as good as them when I use their element. Kai will always make hotter fires, Jay will always have faster lightning bolts, Cole will always be stronger than me, and Zane will always make more ice than I could ever hope to. However, when I use them combined, that's how I get my explosive energy beams. And when they rely on me, their powers get stronger. They can use their powers without me, but they aren't as strong on their own. When Morro happened, the combination of their worry plus the physical interference nullified their powers for a bit. We are literally stronger together," Lloyd explained.
"Interesting. That actually makes a lot of sense."
"Glad you think so."
"So, assuming we have the same powers as you guys, can I give them some of Cole's power?"
"No. I wish, but no. They have to climb this mountain without the use of his superstrength."
"This sucks," Alt-Kai said.
"Just keep looking up," Lloyd said.
The sun was just starting to set when they finally reached the pathway that led to the forge. The three ninja collapsed on the ground.
"Get up, we're almost there," Lloyd said.
"I can't go on," Alt-Kai said.
"I didn't know it was possible to be in this much pain," Alt-Nya said.
"But now we can use the stairs."
"I can't move, can you bring the stairs closer?" Alt-Jay asked.
"Come on, guys, get up." Alt-Lloyd pulled on Alt-Kai's arm.
The three slowly got up and trudged over to the stairs.
"Eeehhh," Alt-Jay whined when he saw the stairs.
"You'll be okay," Lloyd said.
The three were gasping when they finally reached the top of the stairs. Lloyd and Alt-Lloyd ushered them inside the monastery. Everyone else was in the living room watching a movie.
"Hey, look who finally made it," Kai said.
"I…" Alt-Kai gasped.
Nya handed them cold water bottles.
"Is Cole still out?" Lloyd asked.
"He's having dinner with his grandparents and he didn't invite us." Kai crossed his arms and pouted.
"Because his grandmother hates you," Nya said.
"I don't know why. I'm great."
"You did something to offend her."
Wu and Garmadon came out of the kitchen.
"Good, you finally finished. Dinner is just about ready. Tomorrow, Garmadon will oversee your training," Wu said.
"Where will you be?" Lloyd asked.
"I have an important errand to run."
"No. There's no way the evil warlord is training us." Alt-Nya crossed her arms.
"He's not evil anymore, and he's actually a really good teacher. Even when he was evil, he was a good teacher when he wasn't trying to take over Ninjago," Kai said.
"I'll believe it when I see it," Alt-Nya said.
"I wouldn't be so closed-minded if I were you. You never know what you may learn," Garmadon warned.