Zane wakes up suddenly, and painfully, as his head hits the bottom of the bed above him, his hisses of pain audible to the others.
"Oh, sleeping in?" Jay taunts. "You're gonna be late for training."
"How come no one awakened me?" Zane questions.
"We didn't think you wanted us to. You looked like you were having some dream." Kai admits sheepishly.
"How do I know this isn't a dream." Zane questions, only for Cole to whack him with a heavy pillow.
"Does that feel like a dream?" He asks with a chuckle.
"No. Thank you for your help." Zane retorts sarcastically. As they make their way to the top deck, Kai notes that Zane is moving sluggishly compared to normal, and stays by his side.
"You alright? You seem rather slow today." Kai asks.
"I saw the Falcon again." Zane answers.
"Woah. Zane, every time you see that bird, something big happens." Jay notes. "First was Lloyds Treehouse, then the Bounty."
"Alright." Wu interrupts. "First, stretches. The Swooping Crane." As the ninja do their stretches, they continue to converse, though Kai begins to block out everyone but Zane, his descriptions of the Green Ninja resonating with him. All of a sudden, Wu is pulling on Cole's ear.
"What is so important to ignore my teachings?" Wu asks.
"Nothing." The ninja all seem to say at once as Kai sighs.
"Since you all appear to be lacking in focus, then you can all share in the punishment." Wu states, much to the disgruntlement of the others. "No free time and no videogames. The rest of the day can be used for training. And tomorrow for that matter."
"Training?" Jay asks in horror.
"For how long?" Cole questions.
"Until you can answer this simple riddle." Wu begins. "What is the best way to defeat an enemy?" The ninja immediately grind the gears in their heads and try to spit out answers immediately. Wu simply sighs. "Pace yourselves." He cautions, as he makes his way to the bridge. "You have a lot of training ahead of you. Make sure you sharpen your minds as well as your Spinjitzu." After he leaves, the ninja begin to argue which of them is the Green Ninja from Zane's dream, to which Kai simply sighs and walks away and begins to practice katas alone.
The alarm aboard the Bounty begins to blare, immediately alerting the ninja to danger, and enter the Bridge, where Nya awaits.
"Break it down for us, sis." Kai states with a gentle smile.
"Lloyd and a Serpentine have taken over Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys." Nya informs.
"That place is a cesspool for the crooked and misbehaved." Jay adds.
"Doesn't mean they don't need our help." Cole notes. Jay presses his favourite button, just like last episode, and the Bounty takes flight, Nya taking the helm and guiding them to Darkley's. The moment they are overhead, Kai barks out orders.
"Alright. Jay, Zane, Cole, force Lloyd and the Serpentine onto the roof. Wu, Nya and I will be there to capture them both. We're lot letting Lloyd get away this time." He cracks his knuckles in glee.
"Uh, Kai." Zane notes, looking below them at the boarding school. "Slight problem with your plan." He then gestures for Kai to look. Lo and behold, Lloyd was already on the roof.
"Plan B it is." Kai notes with a deranged smile. "Nya! Drop anchor!" He calls. His sister drops the anchor, letting it fall through the air, and then through the roof of the boarding school. The ninja all rappel down, coming face to face with Lloyd, and the last Anacondrai.
"Do something!" Lloyd orders the snake, only to be blindsided as the map in his pocket is taken, as the snake simply chuckled with malice. "W-what are you doing? I thought you were my friend!?"
"All you wanted was to make the serpentine your slaves! Well sorry, my dear boy, I have other plans." The last of the Anacondrai disappears from sight, his natural ability hiding him from everyone, leaving Lloyd to the mercy of the Ninja, as Wu and Nya level the Bounty to the roof.
"Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, you come here right now!" Wu orders, and Jay immediately picks him up and carries him onboard the Bounty.
"What are we going to do with him, Sensei?" Zane asks.
"I know exactly what we are going to do with him." Wu answers cryptically.
As Wu finished his story and put Lloyd to bed, the four Ninja simply watch, with Kai smiling gently. It was good for Lloyd to be treated like family, rather than be left alone and sent to a boarding school. As they returned the the main deck, Wu questions the four.
"Did you find an answer to my riddle?"
"No, Sensei, we didn't figure out the best way to defeat an enemy." Cole answers solemnly, as he, Jay and Zane lower their heads, walking off.
"Make them your friend, or ally, is the answer he was looking for." Kai admits, earning glares from the others. "Hey, I was told not to give the answer unless the day was over."
"Kai is right. Lloyd was never given a proper family, only his boarding school." Wu adds, earning saddened looks from the others. "But perhaps we can change that."
The next morning, Kai awakes to the sound of shouting, crashes and a bit of damage, somehow avoiding the most of it as he gets himself ready for the day. He heads into the common room to find his three brothers complaining to each other, arguing about some sort of occurrence they all dealt with. Kai simply chuckles, listening to their arguing as Wu walks in, opening the sliding door to reveal Lloyd, with a bunch of equipment by his side, as he laughs.
"You did this?" The three asked, with Cole stalking over to Lloyd.
"I call first dibs."
"No dibs." Wu denies. "I put him up to this task for today's lesson. I wanted to show you the destructive power of rumors, and that jumping to conclusions can only lead to trouble! Did you ever try to find out if the accusations were true?"
"No offence, Sensei, but let me jump to this conclusion; this lesson is crap." Cole notes.
"Yeah! Why couldn't you teach us how to paralyze an enemy with a single finger, or tell when a person is lying by the twitch of his nose?" Jay adds.
"Not all lessons are about fighting." Kai speaks up.
"And because I also misplaced my lesson book." Wu adds sheepishly.
"Try asking, or searching Lloyd." Kai offers, and Wu simply has to glare at Lloyd for him to return said book.
"It was the perfect plan!" Lloyd exclaims without care, starting to blab about world domination or something as Cole closes the door and blocks him out.
"If you guys are done fooling around, I could use you guys on the bridge. We do still have a snake problem to attend to. Over and out." Nya speaks over the intercom. The ninja and Wu then make their way to the bridge, where Nya is already waiting for them, a map of Ninjago already on the monitor. "Last we heard of Pythor, he took the map of dens from Lloyd, and is now on his way to open the last two Serpentine Tombs."
"Ugh, don't remind me." Lloyd groans.
"Pythor is our most dangerous threat. If he finds those tombs before we do, with his intellect and all four tribes unleashed, there's no telling what he'll do." Wu warns.
"But those tombs could be anywhere. Without the map of dens, we might as well throw darts at a map." Jay notes.
"Good idea, why don't we?" Nya asks, tossing two suction darts at the monitor, both landing atop of the two opened tombs. "As you know, these are the locations of the two opened tombs." She throws the third. "And this is Pythor's tomb. After ruminating about why the tombs were placed in these locations, I noticed a pattern." She takes a light, and shines it upon the monitor, showing a specific symbol. "If you notice, all three line up with the Ninjago Symbol for serpent."
"So the last two tombs should be here, and here." Jay gestures to the tail end of the symbol, the Toxic Bogs, and the head of the symbol, the Mountain of a Million steps. "You're so smart Nya."
"There's little time. Kai and Jay, you head to the Venomari Tomb. Cole and Zane, you take the Constrictai tomb. And take this." Wu hands the flute to Cole. "You might need it if you run into Pythor. Good luck, Ninja."
Kai and Jay reach the Venomari Tomb, using the trees for the last leg of the journey, less they try to drive through the acidic liquid that makes up the Toxic Bogs, but they find it already opened. Jay, busy with his own echo, doesn't hear the movement that Kai does. Alone, he goes to investigate, only for a Venomari to spit at him, the venom hitting his face and absorbing through his skin.
'Kai! KAI! I need you to give me temporary control! I can withstand the venom for a while and get the antidote!' Vex cries in urgency. Kai doesn't hesitate. The difference between being able to fight and help, rather than let his friends, his brothers fight without him, was a no brainer.
"JAY! The spirit's voice mingles with Kai's, the sheer volume alerting Jay to the serpentine that were appearing, his echo unable to drown out the voice. 'Kai' sheaths his Sword, and a portal opens beside him, as he reaches in and grabs a cylindrical item, activating it to reveal a yellow/gold blade of pure energy. "Let's see if this still works here." 'Kai' wonders aloud, dashing to the nearest serpentine and cleaving off it's head, the separate pieces instantly cauterized.
"Kai?" Jay questions, not understanding what he sees.
"He's not home right now, Jay. Don't let the Venomari spit at you. Their venom is a hallucinogenic that forces you to see the things you fear most." 'Kai' warns, to which Jay simply nods his head, taking out his weapons, as Cole and Zane arrive. Jay is immediately unsure as to the change with Kai, but with them being surrounded, he pushes it to the back of his mind for the moment.
"Anyone order a little kick-butt?" Cole asks, his voice echoing through the empty tomb, making Jay laugh childishly. Pythor then jumps out, scaring Jay back a few paces. Zane goes to play the flute, managing three notes, before the Anacondrai snatches it away with his tail.
"Oh, let's not have music ruin things, hmm?" His seemingly demonic voice taunts.
"What about Ruination? Can you let that ruin things?" 'Kai' questions, as the earth around him begins to fracture and split, his eyes becoming an aqua/blue/green, the glow hiding the whites of his eyes. As the ground shakes and dismantles, the closest floating pieces begin emitting a glow of the same colour, while the mist darkens from a grey, to near void black. 'Kai' then disappears, his body vaporizing to nothing, before reforming in front of the Venomari General, taking the antivenom from the staff and merging some of it's properties into his body, making him effectively immune to any future venom attacks, before dashing to Pythor in the same way.
"What's with Kai?" Cole asks, only to earn a shrug from Jay as an answer as this all happens before them. A number of Serpentine try to attack them, resulting in their retaliation.
"What are you?" Pythor questions 'Kai'.
"I am an envoy. A watcher. A protector. Someone who gives hope to those who have none." 'Kai' answers cryptically, slashing towards Pythor, who uses his staff to try and deflect, only for the blade of energy to cut through it. 'Kai' then swings the blade around and slices through the tail and flute, causing Pythor to scream out in anguish. "If we cannot have the flute, then neither can you. It can not be used to unite the four tribes." Before 'Kai' can do anything else to Pythor, who begins backing away, let alone any of the other Serpentine, a mechanical suit lands, startling the Serpentine, launching nets at several groups, before facing Pythor.
"Pythor, target confirmed. Time to bag, and tag." The modulated voice states. As the wounded Anacondrai slithers away, collecting the two pieces of his staff, the mysterious figure fires a barbed dart that pierces the serpentine as he continues to retreat, the other serpentine either captured or doing the same. As this happens, Kai begins to take control back.
'I've done what I could, the effects should be gone.' The voice assures Kai, who simply collapses in exhaustion, his vision darkening.
"I wish I didn't have to deal with these after effects." Kai mumbles, before unconsciousness takes him away.
Kai awakes back on the Bounty, in his bed once more. The room is dark, only the light from the dining room giving a faint glow to his room. He picks himself up and heads towards the sound of laughter, and conversation, joining up with the others and taking a seat. Eyes all turn to him, as Jay speaks up. "Now that we're all together, mind telling us what the fuck happened at the toxic bogs, Kai?"
"Well, it was bound to be figured out sooner or later." Kai sighs. "Remember that blue Flame Spirit?" Kai asks, to which everyone nods. The Flame Spirit then appears, or for Kai, Vex appears, his ghostly visage invisible to the others. "Well, I didn't exactly tell you the entire truth. You know how there are realms connected to this one, right? Well, that's just a single cluster. There are millions, if not billions of clusters like ours, all connected to each other." Kai's words amaze the ninja, but Wu and Nya simply listen. "Among these realms, is the Null. It's a kind of afterlife for creatures that are mostly believed as myth, or even ones unknown to a majority of humans and humanoids. Vex, is a humanoid demon, who passed away several lifetimes ago, who has been guiding me since my own father tried to kill me."
"Wait, what do you mean dad tried to kill you?" Nya asks suddenly, earning a grimace from Kai. "I though he and mum just vanished one day."
"Our mother did vanish, Nya." Kai admits. "But dad didn't. He blamed me, having seen the flame visage of Vex many times before. He believed me and you to be cursed." Wu looks to the siblings with sadness, now understanding truly why he only found them, and no sign of Maya or Ray. "Since then, I've tried to keep Vex as hidden as possible, to avoid any similar reactions if something bad happens when I'm around."
"Then... what happened to dad?" Nya asks.
"I killed him." Vex's voice comes out rather distorted, but clear enough to understand. "Kai was frozen in terror, and I took over his body, rolling away, grabbing a knife and driving it through his heart. I did it to protect you and Kai, because he would have gone after you next, Nya." Vex seems to look toward Nya, an apology written on his face in Kai's eyes. "That said, I will say, do not expect me often. If Kai is in mortal danger, I will try to help, but it is up to Kai now, whether he gives me control to act or not." Nya looks to Kai is sadness, to which he simply lowers his head.
"Well, I thank you, for saving my students. Both times." Wu admits in sorrow. "But was it really necessary to destroy the flute?"
"I can answer this one." Kai speaks up this time, raising his head to look at Wu. "Pythor could challenge the General's to their rights as leaders, and use the flute to beat them. We wouldn't have had much chance to get the flute back either, so it was best to destroy it, rather than let it be used in the wrong hands."
"I see." Wu sighs. "I suppose, there was no real 'right choice' in that situation. No matter what, you did well, all of you." He compliments.
"You should save your compliments for the Samurai. They did all the work in forcing the Serpentine to retreat." Kai admits. "Vex wouldn't have done much and left me back in control after the venom was removed. I still would have been knocked out, and the others would have still been in the same situation."
"Nevertheless, they are not here, and you are." Wu retorts. "They have my thanks, but they are absent and do not receive them. Simple as that. Now, get some sleep. We'll be back to hunting Pythor tomorrow."
"Yes, Sensei." A chorus of voices reply. Once the ninja are gone, leaving Kai, Nya and Wu, along with Vex, Kai speaks up again.
"I'm sorry I never told you." He admits. "But you have to understand that I was afraid you would react similar. That's why I explained it as my elemental powers."
"It's okay." Nya admits, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I understand, I just wish father never did this to you. I wish he could see what I do." Before they leave, Wu silently gives Nya back one of her weapons she used as the Samurai, miming his mouth being zipped shut. Both Kai and Nya then depart, with the flame visage of Vex staying beside Wu.
"Are either of them actually Cursed?" Wu then asks, concerned for his students.
"Kai is." Vex admits. "But he already knows it and uses it to his advantage. Nya can see how things go together mechanically, which makes her such a bright inventor, but she is not cursed. Simply gifted."
"I see. Do you know what Kai missed?" Wu then asks.
"If you mean the prevention of Pythor's first attempt to unite the tribes? Yeah. I may be focused on protecting Kai, but I have a few ways of watching over the others too. I know it would devastate Kai if I didn't do anything to help them if they were in mortal peril while he is knocked out from letting me take control." Vex admits sheepishly.
"I'm glad you're watching over them." Wu states with gratitude, before the spirit vanishes into nothingness.
About a week later, our new uniforms arrived. Once we donned them, admiring the new workmanship, we went about our duties, with Cole dropping Lloyd off at the arcade in the morning. The day was quick, with no sign of Pythor or the Serpentine. When Kai goes to pick up Lloyd, he finds the young boy missing. Searching through security camera feeds, kai finds him following a group of Serpentine while wearing a disguise. Going around the back of the arcade, Kai notes the tracks on the ground, only a single set of tires on the floor.
"You think you could get me to where those tracks end?" He asks the spirit within.
'Since when have you doubted my abilities?' Vex asks with a chuckle. 'Yeah, I can get you there. But you'll be out like a light for a few hours. I'll find you somewhere safe.' Vex assures, taking control. His eyes begin to glow the same colour as when he unleashed the Ruination, before he vaporizes. Deep in the desert, he reforms in an old, empty and desolate building, Vex letting Kai take back control. As Kai begins to pass out, Vex begins to watch over him, ensuring his safety.
Kai groggily wakes up, looking around, finding only a few Serpentine corpses, fresh ones, mind you, littering the floor.
'I see you're awake.' Vex notes with relief. 'Not sure how many more I would have to kill, nor how long before someone noticed them missing.'
"It's all good." Kai says aloud, stretching his aching body. "Where are we?"
'Well, we're in Ouroboros. You know, the lost city?' Vex asks if Kai knows of it.
"Oh. Well, I guess it isn't lost anymore."
'No. Especially since the Serpentine are here. Oh, and while you were out, Nya has been captured, in her Samurai-X gear. The other ninja tried to hunt for Lloyd and got caught too. Though I do believe they are worried about where you are.' Vex informs him.
"Fuck." Kai curses aloud. "I don't think we'd be able to free all of them if they are separate. Could you get the ninja? I'll free Nya."
'You sure? I could get Nya while you get the ninja, and they would never wonder why it was me who was freed.' Vex notes.
"You're right." Kai sighs. "It would be better that way. Just... Be careful."
'I know.' Vex assures solemnly. 'I'll probably have to detonate the mech though.'
"The mech can be rebuilt." Kai waves it off. "Now, You best get going. I'll see you when you're done." Kai then dons the ninja hood, and dashes out the doorway. Vex floats to Nya.
"Kai?" Nya asks quietly.
"Not quite." Vex admits, his form actually visible to Nya this time, though he was still somewhat ghostly. "How did they get to you?" He questions, his voice as quiet as possible.
"I tracked Pythor to here, but there were so many serpentine, they managed to overwhelm me." She explains warily.
"I see." Vex sighs. "I can get you out of here, but you'll need to let me take control of your body for a moment."
"Why should I let you?" Nya asks, backing away towards the mech in fear.
"Because I am not a physical form. I can't break you out without a vessel." Vex explains.
"Then why not get Kai to do it?" Nya asks back in biting fashion.
"Because he is busy getting the Ninja free." Vex answers. "He asked me to get you free so he could concentrate on getting them out, rather than be too busy worrying about you." Nya stutters for a moment at that, before resigning herself.
"Fine. But be quick about it." She huffs.
"Well, the mech will need to self destruct. If you want me with you for as little time as possible, then you could probably set that up yourself." Vex notes. Nya nods, before working to start the timer for the self destruct sequence. Once done, she nods to the form of Vex, who takes control of her. They turn to dust, and reform all the way back on the Bounty, in her room. Vex then lets go, letting her take back control, as she passes out on her bed.
"I'm sorry you had to have that happen." Vex apologises, before teleporting to Kai, who is halfway through cutting a doorway into the other cell. The Sword of Fire in his hands is glowing white with heat, as it works on the project before them. Kai takes note of Vex and nods his head in thanks. In another five minutes, the doorway falls open, just as the mech self destructs.
"What was that?" Jay asks.
"Just a little distraction I set up." Kai retorts with a smile, the other golden weapons suddenly floating towards them, courtesy of Vex. "Helps us get these back." The ninja take their weapons and turn them into their vehicles, making their great escape.