"Form Three is all about defense and patience. Blocking a trike with as little energy as possible to tire out an opponent, before striking back." Vex's voice instructs. Kai continues to perform the basic Katas of the sword fighting form, following the calming, familiar voice that has been apart of his life for years on end. "Keep your elbows locked, the blade close to the body. Use your wrists more than your arms."
"Kai." Sensei Wu calls, catching his attention. Kai lowers the Sword of Fire, sheathing it across his back, deciding to cut his training short.
"You better get back to it later. We're only three forms in out of seven." Vex chides in his mind.
"Yes, Sensei?" He asks, tilting his head slightly.
"Where are the others?" Wu questions, only for loud voices to answer for him. Kai looks at him with resignation, following the elderly man to where the others sat, playing a video game. They were so focused on their game, that when Sensei Wu dashed right in front of them, to the other side where the power plug is, they didn't notice him. Before they could continue to play, Wu unplugs the TV.
"Aw, man!"
"What? What happened?
"It took us three hours to get there!"
"Why would you do that?" Cole and Jay both ask in frustration, while Zane sits with a massive grin, still pressing buttons on the controller.
"Just because Lord Garmadon escaped through a portal, doesn't mean he won't return one day for the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu!" Wu exclaims in frustration.
"But Sensei, ever since Garmadon escaped, Ninjago has had nothing but peace." Zane notes, finally noticing that the screen was turned off.
"Yeah! Peace is boring. There's no-one to save, nothing to do!" Jay adds his own comment into the mix.
"We can train tomorrow." Cole dismisses easily.
"Never put off until tomorrow, what can be done today" Both Kai and Wu state in unison, earning shared looks from the other ninja.
"Well, I was gonna eat this pizza tomorrow, but if that's the case…" Cole goes to eat, only for Wu to kick the slice out of his hand.
"No pizza for you!" Wu denies. "In order to reach your full potential you must train!"
"But Kai's already reached his full potential! He's able to take pretty much anything!" Jay exclaims, reminiscing about what Kai did in the Underworld, to decimate all the skeletons and spiders.
"That was not my full potential. Hell, the only reason I did what I did, was because it was faster than eliminating them all by sword." Kai retorts, earning shocked looks from the other three ninja. Wu then sighs, before speaking again.
"You four have barely scratched the surface of your true potential. You haven't even begun to tap into what powers your Golden Weapons hold. There are so many secrets you have yet to unlock."
"You talk about secret powers, eh? Watch this!" Cole uses his Scythe to pick up and plug the power cord into the socket, only for the plug to turn to ash. All eyes turn to Kai, who has his sword out, its blade glowing brighter than any of the others in the room.
"Grow up. We've had our childhoods pass on already. We're needed here, and now. We were meant to be Ninja to help the people of Ninjago." Kai scolds. Before anything else can happen, Nya rushes in.
"Guys! Lord Garmadon! He's returned!" She exclaims in slight panic. "He was spotted approaching Jamanaki Village!" While Kai was skeptical, with only a month having passed, among other reasons being his thought process, the other three immediately jumped up, got tangled with each other, than rushed off to their dragons, leaving Wu watching with a sigh of frustration. The Sensei then turns and looks at Kai, as if to ask why they are the way they are, though only gets a shrug in response, before the Fire Ninja follows the others at a casual pace.
"Oh, Sensei Wu! Remind me to by them a new power cord!" Kai suddenly calls back, before continuing his walk down to the dragon pens. By the time he reaches them, the others have managed to somewhat mount their dragons. Kai simply leaps onto Ash's back, giving her a gentle rub as a sign for her to take off, with the others forming up behind him. Once in the air, the four begin to converse.
"You think Sensei is right about our full potentials?" Cole asks.
"You lot haven't begun to manifest your elemental powers beyond using your weapons as a conduit." Kai explains. "Think of what I did in the Underworld, but magnified by 20."
"I suppose we've got a lot of training to do, then." Zane notes.
The sound of pained grunts and whimpers where what marked their landing in the village. No one was expecting it, but finding a young kid, dressed in black, being pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables was certainly something.
With a burning anger that no one had seen, Kai dashes in front of the kid, shielding him with his body until the villagers stopped throwing food.
"I'm disappointed." Kai's voice echoes through the village. "You throw food at a child, fully expecting for harm to come upon him. What is the meaning of such an act?"
"That so called boy is the child of Garmadon. A demon spawn, Hell's child! He deserves everything that happens to him!" A particularly angry villager shouts in response.
"The sins of the father are not the sins of the child!" Kai retorts. "Can you honestly say you would be much different in his position? Any of you?" No one responds, but the anger and hatred in their eyes is enough for Kai. "The next time something happens here, do not expect my help. You have brought it upon yourselves." Kai turns and begins to guide the boy away and into an alley near the dragons, the other ninja following him to the somewhat secluded area.
"Why'd you help him?" Zane asks, but with curiosity rather than any anger or resentment.
"I can answer you later. Take your dragons and return to the monastery. There's nothing here for you right now." Kai explains gently, watching as they notice a scroll bag, before taking flight, until only the boy, Ash, and himself remain. "You okay?"
"I didn't need any help!" The boy argues, earning a sigh from Kai.
"Whether you wished for my help or not, you received it, Lloyd." He retorts, his hand placed on the boy's shoulder. "What those villagers did was wrong, but you should not have tried to demand something without offering something equal in return either."
"I'm the child of Lord Garmadon! Those people should be cowering in fear!" Lloyd roars.
"Is that what you wish? It will not bring your father back." Kai states, only for Lloyd to push himself away.
"You know nothing of how I feel! Or what I want!" He shouts, before running off. Kai sighs yet again, turning away from where Lloyd ran.
"Maybe not. But I know that becoming a great blacksmith won't bring back my mother, or the man my father used to be." Kai looks to Ash. "Head back to the monastery. I told those villagers I would not help them if they are attacked, and I will keep my word. But I wish to watch as they suffer for their actions." Ash takes the sheathed weapon into her mouth and flies off, leaving Kai to wander the village, waiting for Lloyd's inevitable return for revenge.
Kai exits the electronics store, a new power cord in a bag to give to his teammates for when they behave and train like normal, Nya by his side, a bag of groceries in her hand, only for the two of them to come face to face with a swarm of Hypnobrai Serpentine, Lloyd Garmadon leading them. Noticing their movement, a number of the Serpentine look to him.
"While I can't answer for my sister." Kai begins. "I will not fight if you do not attack me." He then guides Nya into an alley, the Serpentine seemingly giving him space and not attacking.
"You sure you don't want to help them?"
'They're lucky. They could have been hypnotized to claw and tear away at each other. If it had been that bad, then maybe I would have acted, but only for those who had no part in Lloyd's 'punishment.''
Once the two are hidden in an alley, small food stalls and carts blocking them from sight, Kai speaks to his sister.. "If you wish, you could contact the ninja. Just know I won't participate in this conflict unless I'm absolutely needed." Nya nods, though confused and a little peeved that Kai was keeping away from helping people in need. But she trusted him, and would let him do what he believes needs to be done. She tries to activate the new alarm system she built, connected to her wrist band, only for electricity to spark and do nothing.
"Uh, Kai?" Nya begins. "I think I need to tweak the alarm system a bit more." She finishes sheepishly.
"I suppose the Village has some luck on their side then." Kai notes, looking to the sky.
"What do you mean?" Nya wonders, looking to where Kai is gazing. In the sky, the four dragons were closing in on the village. "Oh."
"Yeah. I wonder what alerted them though." Kai wonders aloud. They watch from a distance, as the ninja arrive, and proceed to run away from the Serpentine and hypnotized villagers, somehow making their way to the very alley the siblings were hiding in. "What took you so long?" Kai asks rhetorically. The ninja jump slightly, before looking at the two, sighs of relief escaping them.
"Nya. You're okay." Jay notes in relief.
"Barely. They've hypnotized the whole village, and Kai won't do anything about it!" Nya exclaims quietly.
"Well, he did make a vow in front of the whole village." Zane admits.
"But-"
"Enough, Nya." Kai cuts her off. A vague shape forms out of blue fire to Kai's right, somewhat humanoid in shape. "I may have said I would not do anything, but that doesn't mean I don't have loopholes around it." Kai then smirks to his sister, before looking to the ninja. "The Serpentine in charge holds the staff. That staff, holds the antivenom, and can cure people of their hypnotism when it's active. To avoid being hypnotized, be wary of when they rattle their tails, its a sign of their intent. It's meant to draw your attention to them."
"That'll help. Now, for this, we need to forget about the Green Ninja thing, let's just make Sensei proud." Cole states.
"Nya can be our honorary member!" Jay adds.
"Gee, thanks!" Nya crosses her arms as sarcasm drips from her voice, but a fierce determination set into her eyes. Kai knows the look, and figures he will be spending some extra time with his sister later. As the group of four moves, Jay immediately jumps down to fight a group of serpentine, covering himself with the vortex of spinjitzu, only for it to send him into a wall.
"You guys are really out of practice." Kai sighs. Vex materializes beside him, summoned into being. To anyone else, his form would simply be a blue and white flame, humanoid in shape. "Mind lending them a hand?"
"Been a while since I've done some hand to hand combat. Sure, I'm game." The 'spirit flame' jumped down, dashing for the closest Serpentine to Jay as the ninja of lightning picks himself up. With surprise on his side, Vex grapples the Serpentine, hands grasping their neck, before twisting it suddenly, the loud crack of the spine breaking echoing in the small area, as their head is bent at an odd angle. Seeing their comrade die so quickly, and to something so paranormal, the other Serpentine freeze momentarily, allowing the same to happen to yet another of their kind, before they begin to focus on the flame. With their attention divided, Zane manages to stop Lloyd, who then calls for a retreat, the General echoing his order.
As the General attempts to fall back, Cole jumps down, drop kicking the Serpentine, forcing the staff out of his hands. Cole then grabs the staff, when another Serpentine begins to hypnotize him. Noticing this, Kai finally acts, unsheathing one katana and hurling it at the snake, who nimbly dodges, and retreats along with his brethren. Vex soon dissipates, the fires simply extinguishing, once there were no more foes. Cole wanders aimlessly for a moment, before Kai snaps him out of his trance.
"Cole! You have the staff!"
"Use the antidote in the fountain! The resulting mist should De-hypnotize the village!" Nya adds, urging Cole forward. He places the staff atop the fountain as instructed, and a faint blue mist washes across the village, dispelling any active hypnotism from the village. This wouldn't help with any who were hypnotized and then temporarily released, but it was a start. Kai then takes the staff and hands it to Sensei Wu.
"With the serpentine unleashed, it won't be long before we are forced to fight them again." Kai notes. "And we will need a large amount of tea or coffee made with the antivenom, to help fully clear the hypnotism from the villagers."
"Indeed, on both accounts." Wu agrees, taking the staff, and Nya, along to the nearest tea shop. The other three ninja then join up with Kai.
"You broke the vow you made." Jay states in astonishment.
"Actually, I didn't." Kai retorts with a chuckle. "I said I wouldn't help the village. But, Cole is not a part of this village. Helping him did not break my word." Jay then chuckles, a little exasperated at Kai's actions. Wu soon returns from the tea shop without Nya.
"We've got a lot of training to do after this. We won't be caught off-guard again. Help us train, Sensei." Zane states, looking to Wu for an affirmative.
"Hmm. There is much to learn. We must return to the monastery with haste." Wu leads the three ninja to the monastery. Kai stays back, waiting until Nya returned, the antivenom tea having been finally handed out. They recollect their purchases and head to Ash, mounting on her back. As Kai nudges Ash into the air, he glances back to his sister, seeing her in deep thought.
"I know that look." Kai notes with a smirk. "I guess we'll be using the shop for a week or so."
"No..." Nya denies pitifully.
"Relax. I think I know what you plan. I'll stay quiet." Kai assures gently.
"Thanks." Nya responds, giving him a quick hug. "Best brother ever." She giggles.
"I try." Kai smiles, a rare, genuine smile of content.