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Chapter 18: Reaping for Revenge

The inhabitants of the icy tundra of Ninjago were no strangers to dangerous circumstances. The weather was unpredictable, and Treehorns migrate from Birchwood Forest sporacidally, attacking any villager in sight.

But these circumstances were beyond dangerous. At first light, the southernmost settlement heard a demonic roar. The Ice Dragon Boreal, created by Vex himself, came in and froze the villagers. Shortly thereafter, the Blizzard General and his army marched through, turning all who were frozen into new Blizzard Samurai.

"On to the next village! Come on, men!" Vex climbed onto Boreal, looking at the several dozen new Blizzard Samurai. But he could also see a shape from the far end of the village, where a single villager was running away, supposedly to alert the Ninja.

PERFECT.

Ray and Maya, the former masters of Fire and Water, were alive. His parents were alive, and standing right in front of them. And all Kai could do was stare in disbelief. "You-You're alive?!"

"Yes, son. It's us. We'll explain everything, but right now, we need to care for Misako." Indeed, she was in need of medical attention. Both Kai and his father knelt down to pick her head up, while Maya crouched down to see the wound. "Misako, it's me, Maya. I'm going to need to see your wound."

Misako's eyes darted from side to side. she was sweating profusely, much to Kai's worry. "M-Maya? No, you're not... not... You're dead."

"It's a long story, Misako. We'll tell you later. For now, we need to see just what this is. Kai, what happened to her?"

Kai's mind was racing miles a minute as he recalled what occurred. "Um, uh... OH! Garmadon punched her! With both of his right fists. They were glowing, I think he has some sort of dark power inside him that he hit her with."

Maya nodded as she lifted up Misako's shirt to see her lower stomach. "Oh, no." The three looked to see just what exactly was causing her such pain. Right where she was punched, in her lower stomach, the skin was churning into a dark black. "Her skin... it's decaying. Rotting away."

The red ninja was beginning to hyperventilate himself. "What does that mean, Dad?"

Ray looked back up at Kai, then at a panicked Misako. "It means... she's dying."

Lloyd stood at the foot of the charred sand. Eyes wide open, he was speechless at the sight of the Dark Army's strike against the Walker Yard. Cole and the others followed suite, allowing their tears to speak for them. Everyone except Nya, who was hyperventilating.

"HOW? HOW COULD THEY DO THIS? They kidnapped your mom, my brother, Mystake, and now THIS?!"

Cole latched onto her, holding on tight and stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her down. "We'll get them back, Nya. Then the Dark Army will pay. But we have to get them back first."

BEEP BEEP! Zane's wristwatch beeped through the following silence. "Guys..."

Through their tears, their heads turned to face him. His face expressed serious concern. "An alarm was just triggered by Borg's detection system in the icy tundra. A vortex appeared near the southernmost settlement. Apparently, a villager escaped some sort of attack from Ice zombies, using what they described as Ice Magic. Based on their description, I suspect it is the work of the Second Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu!"

Pixal walked up and put her hand on his shoulder. "Then we go and stop them. They can take us to the others. Otherwise, this will be for nothing."

Lloyd wiped away his stray tears through a sniffle, doing his best to look confident. "Good plan, Pixal. We'll take the Land Bounty to-"

LLOYD.

To everyone else's confusion, he stopped midsentence, looking out towards the other end of the desert. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what, Lloyd?"

THEY CAN'T HEAR ME, LLOYD. ONLY YOU CAN. I AM SPEAKING TO YOU THROUGH DARK MAGIC, IN YOUR MIND.

He knew whose voice it was. Lord Garmadon.

THAT'S RIGHT, "SON."

Don't call me that. My father is gone. He died the same day as my uncle and my best friend.

AND IF YOU DON'T DO AS I SAY, YOUR MOTHER WILL BE NEXT.

The others watched Lloyd in confusion as their young Sensei closed his eyes and spoke to his father telepathically.

What do you want?

YOU WILL COME TO ME. THE GOLDEN PEAKS OF NINJAGO, WHERE YOUR GRANDFATHER FIRST CREATED THE GOLDEN WEAPONS. GO AS SOUTH AS YOU CAN THROUGH THE SEA OF SAND. I WILL BE WAITING, AND SO WILL YOUR FRIENDS.

And then his voice cut out. He opened his eyes and turned back to his friends. "New plan, guys. Zane, you and Pixal go and follow the army of Ice Zombies' trail. Take the Land Bounty's jet. Cole, Nya, you two come with me. We are going to finish this."

Borg Tower was on complete lockdown. After Lloyd ordered no students to leave, the Elemental Master's all retreated back into the Tower as well, to keep account of everyone. Then, satellite tech quickly picked up the portal opening up in the icy tundra. Minutes later, the report from local authorities stating a villager saw ice zombies attack.

"What do we do, Borg?"

"Word just came in, Skylor. Zane just responded. He and Pixal are going to face the ice zombie threat, while Lloyd, Nya, and Cole are supposedly heading to the "Golden Peaks," where the Dark Army is encamped."

Karloff and the other Elemental Master's walked forwards. "Alone? That's insane! We need to go and help them!"

Borg shook his head in defiance. "No, we need to stay here. Lloyd knows what he is doing."

"No, he doesn't, Cyrus. He is rushing into this because his mother, mentor, and best friend were all kidnapped, and then Jay's home was obliterated. Lloyd is everything but stable right now, and is in the perfect mental condition to rush into this without thinking through it!" Skylor raised an excellent point, and Borg knew it. So did the other Elemental Masters.

"Yeah!"

"The Ninja need our help!"

"We can do it Cyrus!"

Fiddling his fingers, Borg nervously chuckled as they were teaming up against him. "Well, what about the students?"

A resounding groan followed the question. "Cyrus, they can take care of themselves! Besides, they'll stay safe here with you! It's the Ninja that need us, not them!" Deep down, Borg agreed with them. He knew that three ninja alone would not be enough against the Dark Army.

"*Sigh* You are right. All of you are. I was going to wait for the Ninja to return back from the ceremonies, but this opportunity is more serious..." He turned around and typed up a few command keys, bringing the screen behind him online. It displayed a full view of the Underground workshop, showcasing Borg's latest (re)creation.

"Is that-"

"The new and improved Destiny's Bounty. Made entirely from new parts, this new ship is 3/2 bigger than the original model, and is far faster. This was only a side project, which is why I spent so much time working on it. Even the young student Gene helped with design. That boy shows such promise."

He turned back around to Skylor, giving her the access key to the workshop. "Go! Take the Bounty and help Lloyd before he gets himself killed!"

She caught the key from his open hand and looked to the other Masters. "You heard him, to the Bounty!"

*In the air ducts above them*

"Did you hear that, Gene? They are going to help Sensei Lloyd!" Crouched in the confined space, Brad stared down through the vent as the Master's ran out of the room towards the elevator. "And they're taking the new Bounty!"

"I'm right here, Brad. I heard everything. We should go too!"

"But Sensei Lloyd said-"

"I know, but he needs us with him more than he needs us safe, he just doesn't realize it! This is our chance to prove ourselves to him! Get your gear and meet me in the garage, we'll sneak on board the ship!"

The harsh winds of Birchwood Forest were nothing to Vex and the Blizzard Samurai, even as he rode through them on Boreal. "This way, men! I can see our ally!"

What was at first hundreds of Blizzard Samurai turned to thousands within hours. Although small, there were several dozen settlements within the enclosed icy tundra biome. After he had completed his work their, Vex followed Garmadon's next set of orders: To march towards the biome into Birchwood Forest at the given coordinates.

Now that he had done so, he saw what the Dark Lord meant by "his man would be waiting." In the middle of an opening of trees stood the quiet biker General Mr. E, who didn't even flinch when Boreal landed inches away from him.

"Mr. E! My army has done just as ordered. I understand you will be bringing us back to the encampment now?"

Dreary silence followed before the black-clad biker pressed a button on his helmet, opening a communication line. "Devirra ev'yeht."

In front of both of them sparks began to pop up, until another vortex formed, large enough to fit Boreal and his army. Vex turned back to Mr. E, who pointed at the portal. "Very well, then. Army, march!"

The elevator door in the underground workshop dinged open, revealing a rushed Paleman hurrying after the other 11 Elemental Masters boarding the new Bounty. "Guys! Wait up!" From the helm, Skylor looked over too see him approaching. "Come on Paleman! As soon as we have the rocket's calibrated, we are heading out! How long do you need Karlof?"

At the back of the ship, the Master of Metal was working on the computer systems. "Ehm, about five minutes!"

Unbeknownst to them, Gene was crouching down behind the large pile of crates next to the airduct, watching them prepare the ship. "Come on, Brad, where are you?"

"Right here buddy." The ginger almost pounced from surprise as he watched Brad emerge from the air duct in his black Ninja outfit. "Excellent, now let's-" A loud thud interrupted Gene, focusing his attention on an additional student come out in his own purple ninja outfit. "Nelson?!"

"Yeah, you didn't think we would miss out on a chance to prove myself to Sensei Lloyd?"

"That's not the poi- wait, we?" As Nelson got to his feet, he helped another student in black get out of the air duct. Then another, and another. They kept on coming out one at a time, as Gene stared at Bad in disbelief. Brad had brought all 100+ students with them, going against the idea of a "stealthy mission." But his friend simply shrugged.

"What? The more the better. Besides, I heard Borg, the ship is 3/2 bigger than the original, and you helped design it. You know that we can stowaway in the hull."

Gene could tell Brad was not going to give up on this, and neither were any of the others. "*Sigh* Ok, we can board through the back. Hurry!"

As each student hopped on board, the overhead hatch on top of the ship opened up and the engines began to heat up. From the wheel, Karlof's voice boomed "Ready for liftoff!"

"Launch!" On Skylor's command, the Destiny's Bounty took off towards the Golden Peaks, with 12 Elemental Masters and over 100 teenage students as stowaways in the hull.

"That's the seventh settlement, Zane!" Using the Land Bounty's jet, the two nindroids followed the path from the first tundra settlement to the next. Then the next. Then the next. With every village they passed, the trail of marching footsteps grew. And every scene at each village was the same: scattered footsteps indicating panic, then nothing. No damage to the structures, no signs of weapons being drawn for battle.

"I know Pixal. But we have to keep following them. If we can get the Scroll back from this Ice Zombie general, maybe I could undo its affects on the villagers."

BEEP BEEP! "Not again! Another portal was detected near here. It looks like we've lost them, Zane."

The Master of Ice hit the dashboard out of frustration, before coming back to his cool demeanor. "We may as well check the area the portal came from for any clues. Where was the portal detected exactly?"

"Right, Bearing 6.52 miles northwest from here, same direction at the trail, at a regional height of 0.38 miles above sea level, coordinates show..." Her voice trailed off as she blinked, as if needing to readjust her eyes to confirm.

"Where, Pixal?"

She turned to look her boyfriend in the eyes. "Coordinates show the portal was detected in the center of Birchwood Forest. They were at your original home."

*10 Minutes Later*

"There!" Through the icy wind, both Pixal and Zane could see the black figure standing outside the door to Dr. Julien's hidden workshop. As Pixal landed the craft in the large opening, Zane opened the top hatch and climbed on top, looking down at the approaching Dark Army warrior.

"It's the Sons of Garmadon general; the one they call Mr. E."

As the jet set itself into the snow, Zane jumped off of the craft. As he began to walk forward, he saw that the doorframe to Julien's workshop was damaged; the Sons of Garmadon general desecrated his fathers home. His grip on his shurikens tightened as he began to walk at a faster pace, to Pixal's annoyance.

"Wait, Zane! We'll take him together. You go left, I'll go-"

"I'll take him now!"

"No, Zane, No!" But it was too late; he had rushed into full combat mode. He threw both shurikens at the biker, who unsheathed his red swords with lightning-fast reflexes to block them. "HRRM!" Out of frustration, Zane spun into a white tornado towards him.

Mr. E was fully engaged now. As the Ice tornado sped towards him, he looked to his side to see Pixal approach from another angle. Under the helmet, he snickered. "Ajnin hsiloof!"

To the surprise of both Nindroids, Mr. E created his own red tornado of Spinjitzu, and rammed it straight into Zane. Caught off guard, the white Ninja flew in the air until he collided with Pixal.

"*Groan,* What language is he speaking?"

"I believe he is speaking English, Zane. But his helmet is distorting his voice and phrasing the statements backwards. He said 'Foolish Ninja!'" Zane picked himself up and helped her to her feet, looking at Mr. E as the red tornado dissipated, leaving the biker glaring at them both with his swords out.

Pixal unsheathed her second Katana and handed it to Zane. "This time we'll take him together." He nodded in agreement. "I was about to say that."

The pair walked to both sides, circling the SoG general. They both noticed how he was focused more on Zane, which Pixal used to her advantage. As his head was turned away from her, she used airjitzu to fly overhead and swing down at his chest. Fortunately, she landed a blow.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much other than disorient him for a moment. This gave her just enough to land in front of him and notice the sparks coming from the gash the blow made. Oh my.

"Zane... He's a Nindroid!" She attempted another swing at his chest, but he was too fast the second time. Kneeling down to avoid the blade, Mr. E kicked her back into the tree. Zane could tell that hurt from her. "Pixal!"

Mr. E pointed one of his blades at her sunken form in defiance. "Em llik ot eno eht eb ll'uoy ekil!" Zane quickly analyzed the stamen. Hmm. "Like you'll be the one to kill me." "Hey! Over here!"

The biker turned to focus his sights on the Master of Ice. His already slim eyes narrowed further as he ran forward, both swords ready to strike. Zane managed to block the first blow. He dodged the second. When the biker attempted a third swing, he grabbed his torso and used Airjitzu to fly them both in the air.

"Y'know, without your cronies, or that Oni mask... you really aren't much of an adversary." Before he could react, Zane let him go, plummeting him into the 50 foot drop until he landed headfirst into the ground.

As he landed back down, Zane looked up to see Mr. E attempting to get up from the impact several feet away from him, with Pixal coming up behind him, ready to strike with her sword if he tried anything. Quickly grabbing his shuriken off the ground, the Master of Ice stood up and approached the biker, who's red visor on his helmet was cracked from the impact.

Pixal rushed to pick up his two red swords before he could grab them, forcing him to look up at Zane. "Time to talk. Who are you?"

"Crsh.. ma I..." The helmet cracked further down. His voice began to distort further, as if the damage to the helmet was reverting it back to his original state. "Crsh… I-I-I-I am-I am..."

He slowly lifted his gloved hands up to lift off the helmet. As he did, Pixal circled around next to Zane so she could see his face as he did. The sparks in the biker's chest became more violent as his arm lifted further, until the helmet came off.

Resulting in a shared resounding gasp from both Zane and Pixal.

Under the mask of Mr. E was an obscured face of Zane. Modeled similar to his Titanium form, the doppelganger's metal was brown and slightly rusted, indicating old age. Instead of blue, his eyes were a malicious yellow, staring daggers up at them both.

"I am you. But you can call me Echo, brother."

Did anyone catch this chapter's Star Wars reference?

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