3rd Person POV with Aeria

After too-many-hours-for-me-to-care-to-mention of leaping across dangerously balanced pillars of stone, trekking through the spider-infested jungle, and rocky cliffs, all while Master Wu was playing his upbeat music on his staff flute, we all finally collapsed as he finished up his perky little piece.

"Dope fluting, Master Wu." Cole complemented before slumping back down to the grassy ground.

"Thank you." He responded simply before we continued forward at a slower pace this time.

"I wonder how everyone's doing back home?" Jay questioned tiredly.

"I too ponder the status of our families' conditions." Xia added in concurrence.

"Yeah, I wonder if Morro managed to get out of Ninjago…"

"Whaddaya mean Ari?" Kai questioned as he wiped his sweaty forehead off and wiped it on a disgusted Jay's sleeve.

"He always said if something like Garmadon finally taking over Ninjago happened, we'd meet up at a safe house that's supposedly at the edge of the city." Aeria stopped to stretch her aching knee out before continuing worriedly, "If he's already there, he's probably wondering where I am right about now, having no idea I'm with my ninja team and master trekking to a weapon that can defeat a giant cat of all things!" Aeria started sounding more and more impatient with every word she said until Wu placed his staff in front of her to stop her in her tracks.

"Then, perhaps you should have told him about this team, you know he was my student once as well."

"Wait?!" The others were surprised by this new piece of information, but Aeria wasn't.

"Exactly, you know how he would get if he found out I'm fighting Garmadon every other day, he barely lets me go to the movies without my panic button and two forms of ID."

"But is it worth it for both of you to worry about each other this much by keeping this secret from him?" Wu questioned sagely.

"I guess not…" Aeria hissed silently pausing to stretch her leg as the stabbing pain worsened, making her start to worry about it being sprained or even worse.

"Students, your elemental powers come from this lush green world. Feel the energy flowing through you." Wu started to teach his students, making flowing Spinjitzu movements and they copied his motions but slower and more precise.

"Good. Good. The power is inside you." Wu made more fluid movements before telling them, "Now say to yourself,

'I've got the power.'" And tooting out the melody on his staff flute, making Cole beatbox to the beat as everyone sang out,

"I've got the power!" Before he abruptly stopped and asked,

"What was that?"

Edging closer to the brightly colored individuals, Garmadon crawled across the earth on all six of his limbs before sampling a small piece of the dirt that had been within a footprint on the path and saying,

"Mm. Ninja tracks!"

"I sense the presence of evil." Wu announced after sniffing the air and narrowing his eyes dramatically,

"Students, true ninja knows when to fight and when to become one with the elements. Quickly, blend in the shadows."

Everyone quickly hid as best they could: Nya grabbing two pieces of bamboo and hiding behind those, Lloyd hiding upside-down behind another stalk, Kai pushing his head into the ground, Zane and Xia hiding behind some big leaves, Cole hiding behind stalk, Jay curled up on his side on the ground, and Aeria rapidly climbed up a bamboo stalk toward the top.

"You are all terrible ninja. I will take care of Garmadon on my own." Wu told them as he jumped away on multiple bamboo stalks.

"I'm close." Garmadon crawls closer to the ground.

"He's close." Wu stands his ground with his staff raised.

"Real close."

"Really close."

They don't realize they're right next to each other until Garmadon reaches over and pats Wu's face and pulls his beard resulting in a chorused,

"You!"

Before they face each other in a snarl-off that ends with them literally in each other's faces.

"Oh, hello, brother." They pull away from each other as Garmadon asks, "Where are your little ninja ninja nin-ner- Where are ya little ninja nerds? *Pft* Nailed it."

"They are surrounding you, perfectly hidden. Ready to strike." Wu gestures around them before readying his staff for combat again.

"Oh, really?"

From where they're hiding, Jay unleashes a bad imitation of a bird call.

"Students, next lesson. How to fight like a true nin-OW!" Garmadon cuts Wu off by punching him in the stomach while looking at his son as he grimaced.

While the two brothers started to fight on the ground, up at the top of the bamboo stalk, Aeria was glancing in the direction of Ninjago, wondering where her brother was.

I'm alright… I just wish I could let you know… Aeria thought to herself as she felt a small breeze rustle through the tops of the stalks.

It wasn't until a bright red butterfly was sent her way, nicking her sleeve in the process did she see what was going on down below.

Oh boy… Aeria slid down the stalk almost landing on top of Lloyd before she jumped off and somersaulted on the ground to soften her landing.

"There you are!" Lloyd hugged Aeria as he and the others came out of hiding.

"You were hiding up there? Oh man..." Jay winced as he looked to the top of the bamboo where they all seemed to blur at once from his fear of heights before Nya calmed him down and told Aeria urgently,

"Come on we have to help Master Wu, he's fighting Garmadon by himself!"

"They're headed toward the bridge, let's go!" Kai yelled slightly impatient as they all ran toward the fighting just as Wu and Garmadon ran at each other. Wu was pushing back using his staff when one of Garmadon's lower arms ripped off Wu's robe.

"Really? Tighty-whities? Still?" Garmadon tossed them back in his face and the team looked away in disgust as Aeria commented,

"There's an image we'll never be able to unsee."

"Face it, you're out of moves, Wu."

"Oh, yeah? How about this one?" Wu stomped down on the bridge, making it ripple under the impact before jumping up as well.

"Oh."

Wu rapidly grabbed the airborne stalks and quickly assembled a cage out of them around Garmadon.

"I call it the Caged Monkey."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

The ninja all gasped while Zane and Xia both held their hands up to their faces and whispered,

"Gasp."

"And that, my students, is how you fight like a true ninja." Wu's hat flew back to him as he smiled before Garmadon chuckled, earning Wu's attention as he replied,

"Well, a true ninja would have counted all seven butterflies."

"What? I did. One, two, three, four, five, six…" Wu's counted on his "fingers" before,

"Seven."

One of the butterflies flew close to Wu's face making him panic, start waving it away from his face, and making him fall over the edge of the rope bridge toward the river below.

"No!" Lloyd tried to run forward to save his uncle and their master, but Aeria and Kai grabbed his arms before he got too far forward. Wu fell into the river and after a few seconds, his hat came up, making the others think the worst… until Wu popped back up above the surface, clutching his hat like a lifeline.

"Master Wu!" The ninja all shouted out when they saw their master was alright.

"Lloyd, always remember…!" Wu called up to his nephew.

"Yeah?"

"Stay on the right path to find your inner peace." Wu finished right before he was swept away by the rapids, out of sight within seconds.

"No, no, no." Lloyd struggled against Kai and Aeria and, while Lloyd managed to free an arm from Kai, Aeria kept a tight grip on Lloyd's other arm, keeping from falling into the river right alongside his uncle.

"Master Wu, we need you, please! Don't leave!" Jay cried out one last time

"Uncle Wu..." Lloyd whispered.

"Did he say inner peace?" Nya questioned before Jay cut in impatiently with,

"The right path? Why is he bringing these things up so late in our adventure?"

"Well, well, well." Garmadon's voice sounded from the cage and everyone looked to him in slight alarm.