Thanks for the reviews guys! I appreciate the support!

To answer one question, I have no plans for flashbacks regarding Jaya or Nya x Cole (I'm a Jaya fan actually), but I plan on one-shots in the eventual future.

This is a shorter, but extremely important chapter!

I own nothing.

Chapter 16: The Dark Army Strikes Back

The Land Bounty was hardly the fastest vehicle the Ninja had in their hangar, but it was among the most spacious to hold everyone. Nya and Cole were both waiting at the entrance of the Walker Yard when it pulled up front. One by one, the group walked out from the ramp onto the course sand. Lloyd, Misako, Mystake, Dareth, Zane, Pixal, and Kai had solemn looks on their faces.

Despite the severe heat, which was considered average weather for the Sea of Sand, everyone came fully dressed in their Ninja Gi or respective gear in honor of their fallen brother. Since learning Airjitzu, the Ninja have updated their Gi to reflect their accomplishment (the Ninja now wear Skybound uniforms, including Dareth and Pixal.) Of course, Kai seemed least of all bothered by the heat, yet he still retained the tamed expression.

"Hey sis. How long have ya' been here?"

"Only about an hour, Kai. Nothing to fret about. Come on, let's pay our respects as a family."

Within the halls of Borg Tower, daily training had just ended. Several of the Elemental Master's were in the control room with Cyrus, keeping watch over Ninjago with a distant eye. Others patrolled the streets with a few select students handpicked for trial missions. The rest of the Elemental Masters and students were either socializing in the gameroom or in their own quarters.

Lord Garmadon's faithful spy of over five years was one of the latter.

Once within their own confined quarters, away from any prying eyes, the spy knelt on their knees for meditation, calling out to the Dark Lord through a cold sweat. "Lord Garmadon, do you hear me?"

Yes.

Whew, finally! "The Ninja have left the tower. All of them! They have gone to pay their respects to their fallen brother and mentor. Now is the perfect time to strike!"

Do not fret, my loyal spy. The time is almost upon us.

"I know not to question you, my Lord, but you have been saying that for years! Besides, Misako is catching onto me!"

And what makes you think that?

"My guess is that ever since the Battle of the Pyramid, she knew that there was a spy in the Tower. But she kept the thoughts hidden to herself, because she didn't know who to trust, what with there being a mind-reader in the group. However, when I snuck in her quarters the other night, she was talking in her sleep about 'finding the spy.'"

Does she have any reason to suspect you? Garmadon's voice stung with a hint of anger.

"N-not at all, my Lord! But she won't be able to hold onto this secret forever, and when she eventually tells Lloyd... I will be exposed."

Hmmm... then we will have to prevent that from happening, won't we?

The team had spent the better half of the afternoon in the Walker Yard. Without the use of Airjitzu, they traveled up the mountain to see the highest point of the Yard, just as Nya had done earlier. One by one, they had all given there own words to Jay.

Mystake. "Master of Lightning, your actions will be written in our histories forever."

Kai. "Thank you, blue-bird."

Zane. "You are gone, brother, but I promise you are not forgotten."

Pixal. "Even after all of this time, your legacy is still being determined. But it is in good hands."

Cole. "You would be proud, Jay. I hope so, at least."

Nya. "I'm sorry. I miss you all..."

Misako. "The students miss you, Jay... We all do."

Lloyd. "Life's just not the same without you... Nobody can ever make anyone else smile as you could. I'll always miss that, Jay. But it brings me solace to think you are at peace now. Until the next life, brother."

After his words, Lloyd took out the small group of hand-picked deep blue violets, setting them down on the mountaintop. "Until the next life."

Despite H-7's spot-on job keeping the place well kept, Lloyd insisted on them staying to clean up any stray junk that wasn't in a pile, to which no one objected. Afterwards, they walked back to their vehicles in preparation for their next stop, though once they got to the entrance of the Walker Yard, Lloyd turned around to face his friends.

"I know thank coming here every year is not easy. I know..." He choked back tears through his words. "I know we are always filled with regret when we think of Jay, and what he did to save us. But I meant what I said. I truly believe he is in a better place now, and I know that he would want us to know that to. I know that if he were here, now, he would tell us how proud he is."

Though sad, the young Sensei's words did bring smiles to their faces.

"Now, let's go to the Monastery."

In direct contrast with their ceremonious way of honoring Jay, not a word was spoken when they honored Sensei Wu's memory. He was always a man of few words, as was the First Spinjitzu Master, though they had to take Mystake's word for it.

Unlike the Walker Yard, which was technically public for all, the old Monastery was considered too sacred for anyone outside the permission of the Ninja. Thus, their group consisted of the only souls that ever visited the area. Every year when they came together, Mystake brought hand-picked white Camellius leaves, the leaves used in the favorite tea of both the departed father and son.

As the had for every year since Wu's death, the group stood at the foot of the Monastery entrance until sunset, when they were granted permission to speak again.

"The sun has set, Lloyd." Dareth looked over to the young Sensei, who had spent the better portion of their time there meditating. "Oh, so it has. Alright, then, everyone. Let's head on down."

Everyone filed suit, treading down the long staircase one-by-one until it was just Kai, Mystake, and Misako. The two older women had stayed put as everyone else made their way down, catching Kai's attention. "Are you coming?"

"We will be down momentarily, Master of Fire."

Kai shrugged, not bothering to hurry after the others as he walked slowly down the steps. Once she believed he was out of sight, Misako turned to face Mystake. "I don't know how to move on. All this time, I have been hunting, searching for clues, Mystake. But what if I have been paranoid? What if the spy I thought existed was just a worker, who left after we brought the Elemental Masters?"

The old woman chuckled. "You don't believe that. You want to, for your son's sake, but you don't. Nor should you. The Dark Army will eventually return, Misako, and when they do-"

A deep-accented voice from behind them interrupted her. "You won't be ready."

Only about 20 steps down, Kai was still close enough to hear the scream of Misako come from the top of the stairway. Lighting up his fist, he quickly looked down to see if anyone else heard it, but they were too far ahead he didn't see them.

"I'm coming, Misako!" Using Airjitzu, the Red Ninja flew up, just in time to see a cloud of orange smoke dissipate, leaving no trace of Misako or Mystake. "Guys? Where are you?"

"They are right here." He swiveled around to see a four armed genie with orange skin and pirate gear grab him, before they both poofed into orange smoke.

When they re-poofed, Kai was grabbed by a couple of pirates and immediately thrown to the ground, unable to get up before a vengestone chain was locked onto his ankle. "ARGH, NO!"

The thick accent of the genie chuckled with amusement. "Hm, hm, hm, yes Kai. As I'm sure you know, this chain will keep you from using those pesky powers of yours. After all, I wouldn't want them to distract you from the show." Gesturing to their surroundings, Kai looked to see where they were:

They were standing on a flying pirate ship, soaring through the clouds alongside hundreds of one-man fighters and raid-zeppelins just above the Monastery, out of sight from the Ninja down below. It was considerably larger than the Destiny's Bounty, crewed by thousands of Pirates. One of whom he recognized: The venomari-anacondrai hybrid from the Pyramid, who was now holding an unconscious Mystake and chained-up Misako.

The pirate genie floated up to Kai's face, bringing him back to his attention. "Welcome, Master of Fire, to the Misfortune's Keep! Tonight is your lucky night, for you get to bear witness to the first act that will ignite the glorious return of the Dark Army!"

He was speechless for a second. "You... you're in the Dark Army?"

"Don't believe me? How about we prove ourselves to this doubter? What say you, men?" Across the fleet, cries of approval echoed as the genie gave Kai a sly look. "Now where to strike, where to strike..."

Kai's heart was pounding incessantly as he realized what was about to happen. The genie noticed his profuse sweating as he peered over the side of the ship, towards the Monastery.

"Hm, hm hm. Oh, now THAT would be fun! But alas, there is the risk of killing the Green one, and Garmadon wants him alive." Closing his eyes, the genie began to nod, as if he was communicating with someone telepathically. "Yes, my Lord. Brilliant! At once." He opened his eyes and turned back to Kai and Misako.

"Well, this is your lucky day, I won't be ordering a strike on the Monastery."

The two sighed with relief at his mercy.

"Instead..." He took out the Realm Crystal from his side, aiming it forward to create a vortex that sucked the entire fleet into. When they all emerged out the other end, Kai looked down to realize it was not a mercy at all.

"Instead... I think we will strike at the Walker Yard. Flintlocke?"

"-zzt- All ships and cannons are ready, Captain Nadakhan! - zzt-"

"Then strike, my men. Leave nothing left!"

"NO!"

Coming out of the Walker Family Trailer at the alert of a large number of incoming ships appearing out of nowhere, H-7 looked up from the peaceful life of cleaning to see a fleet of pirate jets and Zeppelins coming right towards him.

It was the last thing the cleaning robot ever saw before a hellfire of cannon-balls and missiles eradicated what was once the quiet home of Ed, Edna, and Jay Walker.

WOW. This one was emotional. I've been thinking about how I was going to write this one for a long time, it feels good to finally get it out there.

PLEASE review, letting me know how you are liking the story so far!

AND PLEASE READ "A Knight's Journey," in which the first SIX chapters take place before this story!