Nya was so close to escaping. She had found the Bounty, she had unchained the Bounty so that in her next escape attempt, she could steal it as her vessel. She knew the paths of guards, she had stolen equipment, she could unlock her chains, she could even use her flask of poison if necessary.

She was going to escape successfully. She was escaping.

She was running down the palace halls – the alarms hadn't even sounded yet, no one knew that she was gone. She wasn't surprised things were running this smoothly. She had planned it, played dumb, convinced everyone she hadn't really earned her position as a ninja, that she had only ever gotten lucky as Samurai X, that she wasn't actually as good as her reputation made her out to be.

It had worked.

Her mind had a singular vision. All that existed were the walls and the sky and she had to get to the sky. What came next, she could decide after she was free.

She slid down the corridor, then hid herself as the patrolling guard passed by. It was practiced, she knew every route of every guard. She moved onward, ducking and weaving in and out of hiding places, until she reached the hangar where the Bounty was docked. She smiled at seeing it. A piece of her family, still intact, still reliable, still here.

She climbed onto it and headed toward the control room. This felt laughably easy, but she had earned this, spending days plotting and planning, of listening to Nadakhan drone on about his plans, trying to convince her of marrying him, rubbing her loneliness in her face. Now it was over.

She turned on the engines. Her hands gripped the ship's wheel.

There was a clicking sound. Nya looked down at her wrist. There was a vengestone cuff.

No. I'm so close!

"This is your best escape attempt yet," Flintlocke said, as he held his gun against the back of her head. "You might have almost succeeded, if you'd managed to convince everyone you were just a pretty face. But while everyone else believed your ruse, I knew you were holding back."

How had she not heard him coming? She was a freaking ninja. Granted, she only had about half a year's worth of experience, and she still had a lot to learn, but this felt like an amateur mistake. Was it the euphoria of escape that had blinded her?

She was too close to give up, but with the gun's nozzle touching the back of her head, she didn't have much of a choice.

"Now, step away from the controls and let's get you back to your room. You need to get ready for your big day."

She stepped back.

"You're making a mistake," she warned him.

"I don't think you're in a position to threaten me," Flintlocke argued.

"I'm not threatening you," Nya replied. "If Nadakhan really wanted me, do you think he'd be marrying me? Putting up with a ceremony? Has that ever stopped him before?"

"That's enough, let's go," Flintlocke snarled, but there was uncertainty there. He knew something was off.

Flintlocke led her off the ship.

"Nadakhan boasted about his plans to Jay, and he's bragged about them to me," Nya continued lowly.

"I said hold your tongue," Flintlocke threatened, but Nya continued talking over him.

"He doesn't want me, it's just a perk to him that I happen to look like Delara. All he wants from me is revenge. Revenge for something that I-" She couldn't quite say it, she didn't know how guilty she was of destroying Djinjago, uncertain if she would have refused to flood the Preeminent if she had known. "But more than revenge, he wants power."

"And what makes you think that?" Flintlocke asked.

"Well, how else do you explain the wedding? I've told you, if this was about wanting me, about wanting revenge, we wouldn't need a ceremony."

Flintlocke knew this.

"When he marries me," Nya explained, "he'll have the power of infinite wishes. And what do you think will happen when he has that power?"

"He's always been loyal to the crew," Flintlocke defended.

"A crew he blackmailed to work for him," Nya argued. "A crew that serves him because they had no other choice. You didn't want this, did you? He chose you as part of his crew, he cherrypicked you and made you think you're special because he wanted you. But you're expendable, the whole crew is expendable, because none of you are his friends. Just toys that serve him. And when a toy breaks, when a toy is replaced, what do you do…?"

"You're lying," he snapped.

"What do I gain from lying about this?"

"You want me to let you escape and you're trying to trick me with your- your confusing-"

"Then explain the wedding!" Nya snapped.

Flintlocke couldn't.

They reached her room.

"I'll make sure to ration your water more carefully from now on," Flintlocke told her, as he locked the door.

"You're making a mistake and we'll all live to regret it," Nya shouted through the door, but Flintlocke didn't answer. Of course he wouldn't. He was probably already gone.

Nya stared at the door for a few moments. She would not cry. Her breathing was harsh and shallow and quick. She couldn't cry. She sank to her knees.

She'd been so close.

Forced into a dress she didn't want to wear, forced to walk down an aisle she didn't want to walk, forced to hold the hand of a man she didn't want to touch, Nya was feeling absolute and utter despair. Her brother was gone, her friends were gone, Jay and Cole were…

She was the only one left and she had failed. She thought she had been so smart. That she had been so clever. But she had managed to both underestimate and overestimate Flintlocke. She should have taken the sky pirate into account. She should have taken him out in her escape plan. She shouldn't have tried to convince him of the truth – he was too blinded by loyalty to his captain to see it. Flintlocke had been the one in the way of escape. He could have stopped this, he could have let her go. And he had not. Now he was going to live long enough to regret it.

She knew there was still hope- it was strapped to her leg beneath her dress: the last flask of tiger widow venom. But she would never be able to poison Nadakhan. He moved too fast. In her mind, twisted by despair and rage, she thought maybe, just maybe she wasn't supposed to use it on Nadakhan. Now that the final minutes of freedom were ticking away, now that it seemed Ninjago's fate was about to be sealed, to be reborn as New Djinjago with a merciless Djinn King as their overlord, she was beginning to wonder…

… Maybe it was time to take it herself.

Sure, it would only delay Nadakhan a little, he could marry someone else… But it would buy Ninjago time, time to recuperate and to bring forth new heroes, heroes that would succeed where she and her friends had… failed. It was bitter to think of; a future where she and her friends' legacy was failure, but she had to put Ninjago first. This wasn't about her family, it wasn't about her. It was about Ninjago. Not that this was a hard sacrifice to make, she had already lost so much. All she had left was Ninjago and she would use her dying breath to protect it.

As she stood next to Nadakhan, her mind raced. She had to take the poison. The question was, could she move faster than Nadakhan? Could she take it before he could react?

She looked to the crowd of sky pirates. Perhaps she could make them a distraction? Get them worked up and while they were shouting and jeering, she could slip the flask out from under her dress…

Nya saw a flash of red.

She had to blink and look again.

No way.

Nya stared. Red glass in an eye patch, an eye patch that was actually a high-tech targeting device? That was definitely Ronin.

Ronin was in the crowd.

Why was he in the crowd. Wasn't he supposed to be on their side-

He started lifting up a blowpipe. She looked away. He had poison. He had to have tiger widow spider venom. Where did he get it from? Did Cole's flask wash up on the shores of Ninjago? But if Ronin was here… He couldn't be here on his own. But who would have organized a resistance?

Ronin was a lone wolf, so the only people that could maybe get him to take part in a movement of any kind had to be… Well. A person worth following. And weren't those few to come by right now? So who…

"Do you, Nadakhan, son of the King Khanjikhan" Clancee spoke up, regaining Nya's attention. "take this girl as your wife?"

"Aye," Nadakhan answered.

"And do you, Nya, D-D-Delara, t-t-take him as your husband? To make him all-powerful, freed from the restrictions of love, harm, and added wishes, so sayeth Djinn law?"

There was a tiny "What?" exclamation from the crowd. Flintlocke. Had he been the only sky pirate that hadn't known about the infinite wishes? Considering how smart Flintlocke was, this had to have been a deliberate decision by Nadakhan.

"No," Nya said coldly.

"She doesn't get a choice, Clancee," Nadakhan calmly pointed out. "Djinn law states that the bride does not have to be a willing participant."

Nya's face scrunched up in disgust.

"R-r-right, Captain. I-i-i-if anyone knows why these t-two should not be w-w-wed," Clancee continued.

"I know a reason!" Nya interrupted.

"Quiet," Nadakhan ordered, grabbing Nya by the arm and squeezing. She flinched, pain shooting up and down her arm and she fell silent, trying to stop herself from screaming in pain.

"Speak now or forever hold your peace," Clancee concluded.

"Here's a reason!" someone shouted from above. Nya looked up. She instantly knew that voice. She couldn't believe it.

"Jay?!" Nya exclaimed. Up there, silhouetted in the ceiling window by the setting sun, stood Jay with the chandelier chain in his hand. Jay swung down.

"She doesn't love him!" he announced to the whole wedding, and as he swung passed, he grabbed Nya around the waist and swung them up to the other ceiling window, letting go of the chain and allowing the chandelier to fall onto the sky pirates below, creating chaos as its crystals shattered on impact. Nya still couldn't believe it- Jay was supposed to be- he was- but- but he wasn't-

She could kiss him.

Kissing could be saved for later.

For now, she settled with a wide grin. She couldn't remember when she had last smiled.

Nadakhan screamed, holding a hand to his neck. When he removed it, he found a poison dart in his hand. Ronin was already escaping down the aisle and out of the building.

"That's our cue to leave," Jay said, tugging at Nya's hand. Nya didn't need to be told twice. They started running.

"You left it a bit late!" Nya told him, as they jumped down to the next roof.

"It wasn't my fault!" Jay argued defensively. "Lloyd timed it, I had no idea he would leave it to the last second-"

"Lloyd? You did this with Lloyd?"

"And others!"

They landed on the ground and ahead was a clear path to the Bounty, with some guy in a brown gi at the helm. It was still far away, but maybe they could make it. The rest of Jay's team began joining them as they raced towards the Bounty. Skylor must have been in the congregation as well, because she was joining them with Ronin. Nya couldn't say she knew what the police commissioner and Lloyd's roles were, as the two joined up with the team.

"Someone stop them!" Nadakhan hollered from behind them.

"Sir, our ships, they've been sabotaged!" a sky pirate called back.

Ah. That would be what the commissioner and Lloyd had been up to.

"Fine, then, attack!"

Guns went off, and a perfectly aimed shot hit one of the palace towers at just the right angle that the whole thing came tumbling down.

"Flintlocke," Nya hissed, as she came to a stop in front of the tower rubble. It couldn't have been anyone else, the man was unparalleled with guns. Their path to the Bounty was now blocked and there was no way they could get everyone over the rubble in time.

"Dareth, you're gonna have to move the Bounty," Lloyd said over his headpiece. "Come pick us up."

"You got it, li'l buddy!" Dareth voice crackled in response.

"What do we do now?" Skylor asked Jay.

Jay snapped his fingers, lightning appearing at his tips. "We fight until the Bounty gets here."

Nya felt something fall off her wrist. She turned to look and saw Lloyd holding a lockpick and the vengestone cuffs in his hands. He smiled at her shyly. She offered him a smile in return.

"Here Nya," Ronin said, handing her a flask of water. She took it. It wasn't a lot of water, but she didn't need a lot to cause serious damage. Her lips curled into a smile.

Jay and Skylor pulled their hoods up.

"Replacement ninja, go!"

It was an all-out brawl. Despite being six against hundreds, the ninja replacements were holding their ground. Nya and Jay spun across the battleground, wiping out whole swathes of sky pirates, their combined tornado a dangerous force to reckon with. Skylor was an equally threatening opponent, coming down from above, smashing Jay's element across the field, electrocuting any unfortunate pirates nearby.

Lloyd, Ronin and the commissioner stuck together, using guns to keep the pirates at bay. The three were working as a mostly coherent team, making them deadly effective against the uncoordinated sky pirates.

It was going well until Nadakhan, and his high-ranking crew joined the fray. Dogshank went after the ninja's gunslingers, Doubloon fought against Skylor and Nadakhan's eyes narrowed on Nya and Jay. After the initial shock of being poisoned, Nadakhan swung into action, almost entirely unaffected. All the poison had done was slow him down.

He watched Nya and Jay clear a path for Skylor, giving her more room to fight against Doubloon. With their attention away from him, Nadakhan held up his Djinn Blade and willed a strong blast of air to rush through the battlefield. Nya and Jay, not seeing the gust coming, were thrown out of their spinning cycles and crashed inelegantly to the ground.

"Leave them to me," he ordered his crew as he approached them, holding up the Djinn Blade and the sword of fire. His crew were all too happy to get out of the way, having been unable to even stand up against the two remaining ninja. Jay was already on his feet again, Nya was still trying to get the underskirts out of her way. The master of lightning held up his nunchucks. His eyes flashed a bright blue in warning.

Nadakhan just grinned.

He willed Kai's sword to light up. Nya, now on her feet, raised her hands, water flowing along with her movement. Her eyes narrowed. The only reason Nadakhan was even using that blade was to demonstrate his power over the ninja, how he had vanquished so much of their team and left the survivors broken. It also served to remind her that he was holding her brother captive and could wield her brother's element as if it were his own. Like a thief.

Nya attacked first. Dress notwithstanding, she moved with the same speed as she always did, using water to force Nadakhan to look away, then lunging for his neck with the cutlass she had swiped from a pirate. Nadakhan recovered quickly though and used the Djinn Blade to deflect her, forcing her away. Jay leapt in after her, throwing a bolt of lightning, but Nadakhan fended it off with a burst of flame.

He then shot out ice in an attempt to freeze Jay in place. Nya used water as a block and Jay landed in a neat roll by Nya's side.

They shot each other a look. Nadakhan had an unfair advantage while he had the djinn blade. They both kept forgetting that he could use their friends' elements against them. They needed to get the Djinn Blade out of Nadakhan's hands. Without speaking, the two began targeting the hand holding the Djinn Blade. Nadakhan knew this and was actually unnerved. He tried freezing them in place, burning them when they got too close, but he was now on the defensive.

That was already a mistake.

But then he made another one.

While fending off Jay with Kai's sword, he failed to notice Nya coming up behind him. Standing close enough to touch, Nya thrust her cutlass down on his wrist.

His hand – with the sword of fire – came clean off. Apparently, djinns did not bleed. Orange-yellow dust oozed out, before sealing completely. Nadakhan only hesitated for a moment, then ignored his severed hand in favor of grabbing Nya and strangling her. Jay grabbed his arms and sent waves of electric shocks through the djinn and Nadakhan was forced to let her go. Jay did not let up and continued, suddenly feeling no need to hold back, ignoring how his own energy was draining with use.

Overwhelmed by pain, Nadakhan summoned wind once more and released a blast of air, catching the two ninja off-guard and sending them flying to the ground, the wind knocked out of both of them.

Nadakhan recovered from his electric burning and looked at them. He still had need of Nya, but Jay – well – he had no use for Jay. He held up the Djinn Blade, ready to strike the master of lightning, while the blue ninja was still getting his bearings back. Nya was on her hands and knees, trying to will herself to stop Nadakhan, but she was still winded, and her water had been turned to ice.

And then there was a flash of yellow.

Nadakhan glared at the boy in front of him.

Lloyd glared right back, still blocking the Djinn Blade with Kai's sword. Neither Nya nor Jay spared a thought of how or why Lloyd jumped to their defense.

Lloyd pushed Nadakhan away and stood in front of Jay and Nya protectively. The two ninja stared at the teenager completely stunned. Nadakhan however, did not care. Just another nuisance in a disturbingly fast-growing list. Nadakhan lunged forward, bearing his blade down on the teenager. Lloyd immediately deflected, doing his best to fend Nadakhan off, but even with his training and skill, he was still just a powerless kid. He didn't stand a chance against the brute force and sheer strength of a djinn.

The sword came down once more, too close to Lloyd's head. Lloyd used his other hand to press against the flat side of the katana's blade and started pushing back with all his strength. Then – without any indication – Lloyd ducked down, allowing the Djinn Blade to embed itself in the ground, where Lloyd had previously stood.

Nadakhan realized what the teenager was planning. Lloyd was already on his feet behind Nadakhan and beginning a downward swing toward Nadakhan's wrist.

Nadakhan hastily dislodged the Djinn Blade, but not quickly enough to dodge Lloyd's blade and Kai's sword struck the Djinn Blade.

There was a burst of fire.

The sky was filled with shards as the Djinn Blade shattered. A horrendous sound was unleashed, screams echoing from centuries worth of djinn enemies freed after so many years in captivity, an angry soundwave, knocking everyone back.

Nya got back her bearings first.

What had just happened? It had all happened so fast- Were Zane and Pixal free? What about Morro? What about Kai?! She looked to Jay, who was holding his head. She raced over to his side.

"Jay, get up!" she cried, tugging at his wrist.

"Gimme a moment-" he asked sluggishly, slowly sitting up. Nya looked for her cutlass, but it was gone. She willed water – any water – to emerge, but it had already sunk into the ground. She turned to Nadakhan.

The djinn was already back in the air, looking at the sword hilt that had once been part of the Djinn Blade. It was broken. Gone forever. There was something akin to despair in his eyes, so much of his heritage, of his people, lost instantly.

Then his face crumbled into wrath. He turned to Lloyd, who was still lying flat on his back, exhausted by whatever energy had suddenly flowed through him.

"What did you do?!" he demanded, grabbing the teenager by his gi. Lloyd immediately came to and looked into Nadakhan's eyes, unable to act, suddenly petrified.

A bolt of lightning forced Nadakhan to drop Lloyd, forced him to back away. Nya caught the teenager.

"Stay away from him," Jay threatened in a cold, dead tone, hands raised, and his entire body electrified. Nadakhan threw the sword's hilt away. Jay was exhausted – he couldn't keep this up for much longer.

"You have no idea what he's done!" Nadakhan snapped.

A loud creaking echoed throughout New Djinjago. The ground rumbled, then it began shaking and everything started tilting to the side.

"Wait- what's going on now?!" Nya asked, as she tried to balance herself and Lloyd.

"Without the Djinn Blade, I no longer have the power to keep New Djinjago in the sky," Nadakhan shouted, as he watched his crew begin sliding down toward the edge of New Djinjago's landmass.

"It's going to crash into Ninjago!" a sky pirate exclaimed.

"Captain-" Flintlocke called to Nadakhan.

"Order the pirates to kill these idiots already!" Nadakhan snapped. Flintlocke stared at his captain for a moment. Then he looked to Nya.

Nya looked back at him.

Flintlocke understood. His eyes softened. Gratitude. Nya had been honest.

"Sorry captain," Flintlocke said. Before Nadakhan could even so much as give Flintlocke a funny look, Flintlocke yelled "Every man for himself!"

"No!" Nadakhan exclaimed, but the sky pirates ignored him, happy to follow such an instinctive order, quickly running off in search of a functioning ship. There was another angry rumble. Nya turned just in time to watch one of the landmasses begin falling out of the sky.

The Bounty flew overhead, a ladder dropped down.

"Get in! Quickly!" the guy in the brown gi shouted to them.

"We've got to go!" Skylor shouted, as she kicked Dogshank away from Ronin and the commissioner.

Jay held the ladder steady as everyone else climbed up. Nya grabbed the other side of the ladder.

"Hold on tight! Brown ninja, get us out of here!" she ordered.

"You've got it!" the guy in a brown gi answered, and the Bounty started flying away. The replacement ninja continued climbing up the ladder, with Ronin – who had already climbed onboard – helping everyone up.

There was a sudden jolt.

"You're not going anywhere," Nadakhan said darkly, using himself as an anchor. Nya didn't even hesitate, kicking him in the face, forcing Nadakhan to let go. She didn't say anything. No witty comeback, nothing. There was nothing to say.

Finally, Jay and Nya were pulled onboard the Bounty.

"Dareth," Skylor called, rushing to the control room. "We need to switch to full speed, we need to avoid the shockwaves!" she shouted.

"Everyone hold on tight!" Ronin called out as the Bounty's engines started rearing up, preparing itself for full power.

Then it shot across the sky like a shooting star.

As they sped away, the replacement ninja still on deck stared at the end of Ninjago. The stolen landmasses of New Djinjago were falling onto the remnants of Ninjago and they knew there wasn't anything they could do to stop it.

Jay and Nya didn't think their hearts could break anymore. And yet, they felt so devastatingly hollow as they watched the first of the major landmasses crash into downtown Ninjago.

They were supposed to protect Ninjago. They were supposed to stop something like this from ever happening. They had failed.

Jay reached out for Nya's hand.

She took it.

The first of the landmasses crashed, sending out angry shockwaves through the skies. They could watch it travelling at terrifying speeds towards them. They held onto the railing.

"Cut the engines! We need to ride on the winds!" Skylor shouted.

The engines stopped and for a second before the blast hit them, all was silent. It seemed to last an eternity.

They had failed to protect Ninjago.

I really hate writing action scenes.