With the time blade in their grasp, it was only a matter of time before the Vermillion Warriors would steal it back. Kai knew that there was nothing they could do. Krux had too much time to build his army for them to win against it. The only way to defeat them, would be to fight them when their plan is near, or fully, complete.
The overwhelming forces sent onto the island, followed by Krux and Acronix, decimate the Ninja, exhausting them mentally and physically, before taking the Time Blades when victory seemed assured for the Ninja, leaving them broken, and empty handed, as Wu, is also taken.
With everyone searching for clues, Kai returns, yet again, to the Blacksmith Shop, jumping down the hole he personally created, looking over the hidden room. On an Ornate table, a two bladed dagger stands proudly, one side tinged blue, the other red. With this discovery, Kai sends a text to Nya, asking her to meet him as soon as possible.
"I think I know who Samurai X is." Nya states in pride, earning a light chuckle from Kai.
"If you say Skylor, you're wrong. She's more an assassin, than a Samurai." Kai notes, gazing back at the shop. "I have my money on it being Pixal."
"Pixal? Why?" Nya asks.
"Think about it. Samurai X appeared after Zane lost contact with her, and they were in the cave when I assume she would have transferred herself, and then rebuilt." Kai explain, leading his sister inside. "But that isn't what I asked you here for." He gestures to the hole, guiding her down.
"What is all this?" Nya wonders aloud.
"I assume it was a mix of a storage area, and where they would go to work on things that involved elemental powers." Kai answers. "They have their secrets. And their strengths." He picks up a helmet identical to the ones worn by the Vermillion Warriors. "And I think that's what got them taken."
"What do you mean, taken? That helmet is just coincidence." Nya rejects, until Kai pulls one out of his pocket dimension, showing the symbol.
"Recognize it yet?" Nya shakes her head. "It's our fathers Smithing signature. It declares it as his work. Krux was the one who took our parents from us. And they still hold them to this day." Nya's phone rings, and she answers it.
"Lloyd? What's up?" She asks, her face falling into seriousness as Lloyd continues to talk. "Alright. We'll be right there." She hangs up, facing Kai. "They've found the twin's secret base."
"Good. We'll meet them there." Kai affirms, as they both leave the shop, making their way to the others in haste.
"Hey guys, what did we miss?" Nya asks in greeting, as she and Kai arrive at the other's location.
"Cole freaking out over a slug." Jay laughs.
"And Lloyd laying out the plan of attack." Zane adds. A grumpy Cole walks over to the group.
"As I was saying." Lloyd gathers their attention. "Zane will use his sensors to locate Cyrus Borg. Jay and Cole will rescue the workers from the warehouse. I'll get Master Wu, who's probably in the holding cells. Kai, Nya, you two have to locate Krux and Acronix. So you take the map." Lloyd instructs.
"We can do that, right, Kai?" Nya asks with a smile.
"Maybe." Kai answers, glancing through each different section of the base. He then looks to Zane. "When you find Cyrus, can you send your Falcon to try and find our parents?" He asks.
"Your parents? I thought they had disappeared years ago." Zane notes.
"Yeah. They're not exactly missing anymore." Kai retorts. "Just, do this one thing for me."
"I never said I wouldn't." Zane counters with a smile.
"Thank you." Kai turns to his sister. "Come on, we've got some ground to cover." Brother and sister dash away, following the map to each section, searching for their quarry. It's within the central dome, that they hide and watch, listening in on all that is said.
"Time grows short, and I grow impatient. Are you finished yet?" Krux complains.
"Yes." Cyrus answers bitterly. "I'm finished. It will supply all the power you need."
"Magnificent. Your effort is appreciated, Mr. Borg." Krux all but snarls.
"Like I had a choice." Cyrus retorts.
"Hmm." Krux begins to inspect the apparatus. "Impressive craftsmanship. All the more so, when one takes into account your inferior modern training." Krux notes with sarcasm, before he inserts one of the Time Blades, with no effect. "But it doesn't work."
"I told you, that it requires all four Time Blades to function. No less." Cyrus reminds.
"Speaking of which." Acronix walks in, with General Machia right behind him. "The third Time Blade will be arriving any minute now."
"And my ship awaits." Machia adds. Krux sighs with impatience.
"I've waited decades, I suppose I can wait a little bit longer." He admits in defeat, before he follows his brother out. They watch, as Machia stops Cyrus from whatever he is trying to do.
"Attempting sabotage?" She asks, the snakes that make up her hair hissing in anger.
"No, no no no." Cyrus denies, closing the panel in fright. "Of course not."
"Wise decision." Machia retorts. "But just to be safe, you're coming with us." She brings a hand to her temple. "Take the apparatus to the Iron Doom. Krux and Acronix want it ready to connect when the time comes." At her order, several Vermillion Warriors march in, as she guides Cyrus out, the warriors moving the apparatus with haste. Kai and Nya follow them, as they lead them to the ship, where they lose them, unable to follow without their own vehicles.
"We've done our part." Kai sighs, before he turns his gaze to a secluded corner of the underground base. "Now we focus on personal matters." Nya follows behind, as he takes them to the small blacksmith shop, opening the door to reveal their father, standing by armour pieces used by the Vermillion Warriors.
"Who are you?" Ray asks.
"You know, I get that I'm wearing Ninja gear, but shouldn't that still give you a hint about your own son?" Kai chuckles nervously. Nya keeps her distance, watching with intent.
"Kai." Ray states darkly, a glint of pain in his eyes. "You shouldn't be here."
"When an army of Vermillion Warriors, along with two power hungry twins, invade Ninjago, it becomes my problem." Kai retorts.
"You should have left it to Wu." Ray remarks.
"We did. He failed. And is now rapidly aging. Not really any other option." Kai admits with a shrug.
"Your option, is to leave, or force my hand." Ray warns, his blacksmith hammer being handled as a weapon.
"You would attack your own child?" Kai asks, an eyebrow raised.
"You are no child of mine." Ray retorts with venom, leaping into the air, intent on smashing through Kai's skull. Before Kai can move, a burst of temporal energy freezes them in place, as time is halted, for a few precious moments, before returning.
Being attacked first, Kai rolls away, bringing his katana out and slicing the hammer in half, the head falling to the ground, as Kai brings his father into a hold, blade at his throat, much to Nya's shock, and worry.
"KAI!" She calls, only for her brother to send a glance her way, before returning his focus to the man in his grasp.
"Why would you attack me with intent to kill?" Kai asks dangerously. "A father, trying to kill his own son. Not even Garmadon tried that, even with the Devourer's venom in his blood."
"You are not my son. You are the reason Maya is dead!" Ray bites back. Kai stiffens, as does Nya.
"What do you mean?" Kai asks, his grip faltering, allowing Ray to free himself, before he leaps at Nya, the same killing intent radiating off of him. Frozen in fear, pain, and betrayal, Nya does nothing, as Ray prepares to knock her down, until he is thrown back by Kai, who uses the moment to slack his leg, cutting to the bone, with the man screaming in agony. "HOW DID OUR MOTHER DIE!?" Kai screams in askance.
"Your cursed existences brought her death. From your birth." Ray spits at Kai. "She became ill. Her life draining each day, slowly, with great agony." He looks to the armour in the shop. "Krux promised me that he could prevent her death. I just needed to help him." As he explains, Kai faces Nya, who is crying, her heart broken, shattered, tearing a hole in Kai's own heart. "Even if it meant you were never born, I would have been happy with her still alive."
"So you would condemn one life for another. No matter their possible importance? Just for the love of your life?" Kai asks softly.
"Without hesitation, demon." Ray admits with pride.
"Then watch the world burn, from your actions." Kai declares, tendrils of darkness wrapping around the old blacksmith, dragging him away through a gateway, his screams muted by the power of rage emanating from the gateway, before it seals him away.
With the man who he once was proud to call his father gone, Kai collapses on his knees, before his bloodcurdling scream echoes within the base, a massive wave of power erupting from his body, passing through Nya without harm, passing through humans, without harm, but instantly vaporizing every snake embedded with the DNA of the Great Devourer, within a three kilometer radius, his rage an invisible flame spreading outwards, before darkness consumes his vision.
Kai awakens to turbulent movement, as the cell he finds himself within shakes and shudders, as the airship travels onward, the familiar heat of a nearby volcano already within Kai's enhanced senses.
"You're awake." Krux states obviously.
"So it seems." Kai groans. "What do you want?"
"Oh, it's not just what I want. It's what you want." Krux laughs. "The final Time Blade is within reach, but only you, and your sister, can retrieve it."
"I don't see how that is something I want." Kai notes.
"It is, when it's the only way to reverse the effects done to Wu." Krux reveals. Kai narrows his eyes.
"If you have my sister, then let her go first." Kai demands.
"No. She is a key part to obtaining the last Blade!" Krux denies.
"No, she isn't. There's more than one way to get something, even in such a dangerous place." Kai admits. "The Null can get what you wish." Krux stiffens.
"No. You do this my way, or Wu dies." Krux warns. Kai sighs, holding out his hand.
"Then we have a deal." He affirms. Krux, arrogance blinding him, takes Kai's hand, before the ninja takes a death grip, the bones in the old man's hand breaking, and shattering, as veins of darkness begins to spread.
"What is this?!" Krux asks in fear.
"Rage, is a fuel that is not easily consumed." Kai admits, standing up straight, never letting go of Krux's hand. "My existence may have killed my mother, but for you to play on that and give my father a false hope…" He trails of with a shake of his head, as the dark veins begin to spread across the limbs, covering them, before continuing along Krux's main body. "Your death will be painful, and drawn out." Rather than infect the rest of his body, however, the darkness begins to encase Krux, hardening beyond normal means, as Kai's rage empowers it.
"Kai?" A groggy, waking voice calls out, taking Kai's attention. In the cell a few meters away, Nya began to stir.
"Nya, stop." Kai orders. "Close your eyes, and do not open them until I tell you to."
"Brother?" She asks, her eyes held closed by her faith, her bond with Kai.
"Trust me. You don't want to witness what I'm about to do." He warns, his voice cracking with emotions.
"C-Can you put me back to sleep?" She asks, her body shivering in fear. Kai holds out his free hand.
"I can do that. It'll be over soon." He assures, using his love of his remaining family to put her into a peaceful sleep, where she won't awake for a few hours. His gaze returns to the fully encased Krux, who was screaming within, his cries muffled from the substance entrenching him. As a fire burns within his eyes, Kai opens his cell door, the locks having been melted away. He begins to roam the airship, vaporizing any Vermillion Warriors he comes across, killing them silently, before moving on. When he finds Acronix, he doesn't leave time for a chat, doing the same thing to him, as he did to Krux, leaving them both to die in agony, their bodies kept alive by the casing, until they died of starvation. Water would be given to them, to let it last as long as possible.
A gateway opens on deck, as Kai vaporizes Machia, her screams lasting no more than a second. Vex steps out, saber in hand, ready to intervene.
"You need not worry. I'm not rampaging anytime soon. I have specific targets." Kai assures him, though he doesn't lower his weapon.
"That remains to be seen." Vex declares in warning.
"I see." Kai responds, holding out his hand, guiding the last Time Blade from it's resting place, calling it to his hand, before using it's charge on Wu, returning him to his normal state, while he continues to sleep. "Can you send my sister, as well as Wu back home, at least?" Kai asks softly. Rather than a verbal answer, Kai watches as a gateway takes Wu, and feels his sister's presence move to a different location.
"I need you to come with me." Vex declares, collecting the Time Blades from Acronix's hands, as Kai summons the other Blade from Krux's hand. Vex gestures for Kai to pass through, to which he does, with Vex following behind shortly after, the gateway closing, and the airship falling into the boiling sea, where the twins stay for a week, before finally dying of starvation.
Nya awakens on her bed back at the Temple, weeks after the events of her capture, with Kai sitting on the edge of her bed. She swiftly brings him into an embrace, when she feels marks along his back. She tries to feel them, until Kai stops her hands. As she looks at his face, she notices a scar that barely misses his right eye, the scar faded by what should have been years, yet had never previously been there.
He turns around and gently lifts his shirt, revealing the symbols etched into his flesh, the skin barely healed around them, with scabs forming over the parts that aren't still faintly bleeding. She begins to cry, once more embracing her dear brother, as he holds her just as tight.
As days pass, Nya begins to have recurring nightmares, and Kai begins to bring her along to Skylor's bar when they become severe, watching her back as she drinks them away. Like her brother, she creates it in a routine, that even the other ninja begin to join, as they too, begin to have nightmares, as they all seem to envision Kai's actions on that day, the screams piercing into their minds. No one asks why it happens, just as no one asks about Kai's new scars.
A/N - The ending, needs work. I wanted to have Kai disappear, but I didn't know how to write it well, so for now, I have gone with the idea Nya just slept for longer than planned, and Kai, along with the Ninja, were waiting for her to wake.
The idea is that Kai is taken into the depths of Purgatory, where his rage, which is another version of himself that can be unpredictable and dangerous, is sealed. It's what's released after his father tries to kill him, calling him a demon. The scar is received when his rage tries to escape it's sealing, as guards are forced to fight, and subdue, with one being a little over zealous. This scar, is the one in the original Kai Lego Figure, and it now has a story behind it, even if it technically breaks the time line, as the others only now can notice it, when in reality, it was always there. A paradox. That should be all for now. Take care and stay safe.