After the defeat of the Overlord, much of Ninjago City was in ruin. It was time to rebuild. Reflect on our past. Build for our future. Under the guidance of Cyrus Borg, Ninjago City became New Ninjago City. It became the center of great technological advancements. But without an enemy to fight, the age of the Ninja seemed to come to end end. The Ninja were doing what they could, by teaching the new generation… all but Kai, who continued to train. To better himself, and for good reason, as time would soon show.
"We got clearance for a field trip to Borg Tower." Nya explains to Kai, who was fighting against one of Borg Industries new training droids.
"It will be good to see Cyrus again. I haven't seen him since he told me he had everything under control and that I should stay with my family." Kai admits. Cyrus was acting unusual that day, and Kai not only felt it, but since even before then, he began to have visions. "I'll come along, considering it specifically said for the ninja to be present. But I'm worried, sis. Something feels off."
"You're not the only one to notice something unusual." Nya sighs. "Something about the letter was odd. I do agree, we need to check it out."
"You gonna warn the others?" Kai asks, deactivating the dummy with his powers.
"I'm not sure. I feel like they might over react if they hear about it." Nya explains, earning a sigh from Kai.
"Yeah. Well, if that is the case, you mind if I bring someone along as extra backup?" Kai asks.
"Sure. Just make sure they are kept in check." Nya warns.
"Not gonna be a problem." Kai assures.
Watching a robot call Cole a mere pedestrian made everyone laugh, even Skylor, which made Kai happy. He never got to see Skylor show her happiness before, and he felt concerned, and overly protective of her. Something he had a feeling ran deeper than normal friends or even potential lovers.
"Well, I prefer the old fashioned way. Travelling by foot." Wu admits. "Besides, it's not like it is difficult to find our destination." Directly in front, stands a tower, right where the Overlord was once defeated, as high as the fortress was.
"Rather noticeable isn't it?" Skylor asks rhetorically.
"The bar doesn't really give much of a view of this place, though, I will admit." Kai notes.
"Bar?" The others ask in alarm.
"Relax. I work there part time. I like to meet other people and help them drink away their sorrows." Kai retorts.
"He's pretty good at his job." Skylor backs him up with a shrug, taking the looks off of him. The kids begin to make their way to the tower, forcing everyone to keep up less they get lawsuits, or worse. As everyone walks in, an androids walks up and introduces themselves.
"Welcome to Borg Industries, or Borg Tower, whichever you prefer. I am P.I.X.A.L, Cyrus' Primary Interactive External Assistant Life-form. I am sorry to hear about the traffic accident." She monologues.
"Wow, news travels fast." Cole notes.
"Cole, it wasn't even a block away." Kai sighs.
"Everything in New Ninjago City is fully automated and interconnected." PIXAL explains, immediately ringing alarm bells in Kai's mind from some of the training memories Vex would show him. "Your antiquated bus should be fixed shortly. You are Zane, a droid like me. What does Zane, stand for?" She asks.
"I stand for peace. Freedom. I protect those who cannot protect themselves." Zane answers, only for Jay to scoff.
"She means what does your name stand for, tin can." Kai then puts a shoulder on Zane.
"What he said is exactly what his name stands for. It doesn't have to be an abbreviation of something long winded. A name is what makes us differ." He explains.
"Permission to scan?" She asks.
"Permission…. Granted?" Zane allows, much to Jay's amusement.
"While your hardware is outdated and your processor being slow and incompatible with more recent gear, you seem to run as efficiently as myself, and I have to recharge, yet I can not locate your energy cell. How are you powered?" She questions further.
"I… Honestly I don't know." Zane admits sheepishly. If the nindroid was able to blush, he would have been.
"Mr. Borg would like to see the Ninja on the 100th floor. If the others would follow me for the rest of the tour." PIXAL guides Wu, Nya, and the students, while the ninja make their way to the elevator, and head for the top floor. As they enter the elevator, however, Kai notices a scanner light up. He becomes more suspicious, as he watches Skylor go with the others, ensuring extra safety.
"I would have guessed the ninja to sneak through the window, rather than use the elevator." Cyrus admits with a chuckle, with Kai following suit.
"Maybe. But at the moment, until needed, we aren't here as Ninja." Kai admits, walking up and shaking Cyrus' hand. "It's good to see you again, old friend."
"It's good to see you too." Cyrus assures.
"Are you? Are you really?" Jay begins to scream in fan boy mode.
"Cyrus Borg? Yes, but, when my parent's gave me the name, it uh, determined my fate." He reveals his new 'wheelchair' that works as insect legs to help him get around. "I've been disabled all my life, my only real friend when I was younger was Kai, who supported me when others would not. I feel indebted to him. Because of his kindness, I am where I am today."
"No. You would have made it here today, we just wouldn't be on the same terms." Kai assures, noticing the old behaviour ticks of Borg, his self doubt, his fear, showing. He knows something s wrong.
"Yes. And Zane, my condolences. I heard about your father passing for a second time. I am sorry you had to bear such a tragedy. He was a lovely, brilliant man." Borg says.
"Thank you. I know the two of you would have gotten along well. But his time was already gone. It's amazing he continued to live for as long as he did after Samukai was defeated." Zane thanks with a bow. "But sadly, loss is inevitable."
"Maybe today, but not tomorrow. With technology, we can make the impossible, possible. Our mind is the limit." Cyrus assures. "I built this place here to show that evil will not stay. I noticed, however, that the Golden Ninja, Lloyd, wasn't able to make it." Cyrus smiles slightly, and Kai notices the pure relief in his features.
"Oh, yeah, Lloyd is currently rather busy. We can tell him to come over when possible-" Cole begins.
"Oh, no no no. I'm somewhat glad he isn't here." Cyrus interrupts, before gesturing for Kai to follow by his side, leading him away from the others. "I wanted to give you all a gift." As he reveals a golden statue, the other three ninja go towards it, while Kai backs up with Cyrus.
"What's wrong?" Kai asks in a whisper.
"You'll find what you need in there. Protect them at all costs. All of Ninjago depends on it." Cyrus answers shakily, and Kai grabs his hand, making it look like a handshake to the cameras that he notices around the room, in too many a number for the norm.
"I promise we'll get you out of whatever you're stuck in, Cyrus. Just hang tight." Kai assures.
"I should never have built here. He's listening." Cyrus mutters, so quiet that no one but Kai could hear, being well beyond the normal for anything to hear. A bonus of Kai knowing Cyrus for so long. The images of his recent nightmares flash to the forefront of his mind, and Kai Cyrus returns to his desk, he speaks up. "Uh, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I do have outstanding appointments. I hope you can show yourselves out?"
"Don't worry about us, Cyrus. It'll be like we were never here." Kai assures, before gesturing for Cole to grab the statue, and they return to the Elevator. Once they get inside, and the door closes, Kai steps on Cole's foot, forcing him to drop the statue, which breaks on contact, revealing it's contents. "I feared as much." Kai admits, taking the red ninja outfit from within, and a hilted weapon that called to him.
"What do you mean, as you feared?" Cole questions. Before Kai can answer, the elevator flashes red.
"Techno-Blades located. Apprehend. Will the assailants please stand down and drop the Techno-Blades." The computerized voice orders.
"Take the one that calls to you." Kai states, and each of the ninja do just that, each ending up with a Techno-Blade each.
"First you call us pedestrians, now you call us assailants?" Jay complains. Zane tries to override the elevator, but to no avail.
"Nothing works. We're locked out." He explains.
"Have it your way. Goodbye." The voice declares, before the elevator speeds downwards, the Ninja being sent to the roof from the force. Kai notes a loose panel.
"Going up." He jokes, using his own strength to create the momentum to release the panel, allowing the ninja an escape. The familiar vortexes encompass the ninja, as they escape the elevator, putting on their new outfits. As another elevator gains height, the ninja jump, taking the new elevator as the other continues to the ground, impacting with an explosion. "Seems we quit our day jobs." Kai notes.
"Oh shit!" Jay exclaims. "Our students!"
"They'll be fine. Skylor's trained as well as us." Kai assures, much to everyone's shock. "What? She runs a fucking bar. She needs to know self defense, and not to mention, I have taught her a thing or two." As the elevator stops, the ninja come out, coming face to face with several armed robot mechs, aiming their cannons at them.
"Well this isn't fair." Jay complains, attempting to activate his Techno-Blade to no avail.
"Let me try!" Zane tries to use it like a sharp blade, with no effect. "If it isn't sharp, why call it a blade?!" Kai simply sheaths his, before taking out his prototype elemental blade, activating it with its Null crystal focus, revealing a red and black blade.
"Time for a field test." Kai notes, slashing at the mechs with the desired effect, cleaving them apart, but being forced to doge a bolt of plasma, which pierces through the glass window, and with how high up they were, caused a small decompression, sending them out. Cole manages to grab a fire hose, as everyone grabs hold of him. They fall into a window, unable to break it, and thus falling onto a window cleaner, before they kick the droid off. Kai gets a call from Skylor, explaining their situation.
"They just keep coming!" She complains, before she audibly breaks another machine.
"The worst part is that I was dreaming of this shit happening." Kai admits solemnly, earning looks from the other ninja.
"Explains why you needed to try, and fail, to get blackout drunk." Skylor notes.
"You don't know the half of it." Kai sighs. "For now, we've got what we need. Get the kids to the to the school. Tell Nya to take the bus and go. We'll pick you and Wu up shortly." Kai looks to the others, before sighing again. "I'll explain everything once we get out of this mess."
As the ninja began to hack through everything, Kai decided to try a little experiment yet again.
"Skylor, with me." He orders, and to his surprise, and pride, she follows. He unsheaths his Techno-Blade, and hacks through one of the air patrols, but rather than let the weapon control the outcome, he forces it, sending Null energy through the weapon, bringing a two seated fighter jet about. "Jump in." As they take to the skies, Zane by their side, they do what they can, using single shots only of concentrated plasma to eliminate any robotic creations that attacked the citizens. Before anything else can happen, a hologram of Cyrus appears in front of Skylor, who was in control of the weapons.
"Kai, I see you found out how to use the Techno-Blades. That is good. They are far more important than you think." He begins.
"Kai?" Skylor asks.
"Yeah. I hear it too. Just focus on the weapons systems. I'll keep us in the air." Kai assures.
"When we first began construction of everything, nothing was wrong. It was only a few weeks ago that we discovered the virus that had embedded itself into everything, laying dormant until now. The Overlord. You have to get the Techno-Blades out of the City, because once he knows you have them, he will never let you leave." Fighters in groups of three begin to fire at Kai, heat-seeking missiles, that Kai dodged and weaved to escape, while keeping away from Anti-Air emplacements hidden within the city. "I have also given you new outfits, that scramble the facial recognition software. You must know, that had I known this would happen, I would never have built where the Overlord was defeated. Goodbye, Ninja, and good luck."
"We need to get out of this City." Skylor explains to the others.
"Well, we need to get Sensei first." Cole notes.
"I've already picked him up." Zane assures. "We'll meet up at the intersection of Wilford and Flemming."
By the time they meet up, they are surrounded. Mechs, aircraft, launchers, the whole enchilada await them.
"Come on, they gotta run out of battery soon." Jay complains.
"I don't think that's gonna happen." Cole retorts. Before anything bad could happen, the familiar golden energy surrounds the area, and the machinery is reset, freeing everyone to leave.
"So, you couldn't help yourself." The Overlord notes, his eyes and a swirl of mist appearing on a display. "The Golden Ninja, we meet again."
"I've defeated you once, Overlord, I can defeat you again." Lloyd declares.
"Oh, I don't want to fight. I just want your power!" The overlord explains, as everything comes back to life, absorbing his powers. Lloyd moves to attack again, but Wu stops him.
"No. You will only make him stronger."
"Then how do we fight?" Lloyd asks.
"We don't. We need to get you and the Techno-Blades out of this City." Kai explains. "I'm not letting my nightmares become reality, and I'm not betraying Cyrus' trust to keep these safe."
"I have a plan, but we don't have much time to explain." Wu brings the ninja in, before taking off, a bag that holds the blades within. The others make their way out of the city, with the robotic forces focused on Wu. As Wu crosses over a set of lights Kai opens the canopy, allowing Wu to deposit the blades with him, before he flies away, catching up to the others in no time.
"We have to go back for him!" Lloyd exclaims.
"We will. But only when you are safe." Kai assures.
"He wants these weapons, and for some reason, he also wants you. Remember, he's Sensei Wu, they won't break him." Cole adds.
"Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is yet to come, we must focus on the here and now of today." Zane explains.
A/N - Alright. Kai will be rather depressed, and at times, desperate. This arc, is technically supposed to be about Zane, at least in the series. But because this is a Kai focused story, things become difficult to do, so I had to build something for this whole part, or just sum it up when doing the next season, which would kinda fuck things up. So in this, Kai has visions. Not a normal occurrence for him in this way, but something that I could make work. Note, this arc will be rather messy, and have a few holes. Again, it's part of how I write, by doing the main story first. You guys will be able to imagine the gaps and how they are filled, as I have enough trust that people can do so. Take care and stay safe.