Last Chapter…
"Get some sleep? How about I don't!" Kai angerly said, before throwing a series of moves about with his toothbrush as his practice weapon. In his frustration, he barely noticed the door to his room opening, allowing a dark-clothed figure to enter his room. "Let's go!" Kai thrusted his make-shift sword into an imaginary enemy—possibly Samukai—as the figure settled into place. Another dark-clothed figure entered through Kai's open window, pulling out a pair of shuriken's and waiting for the moment to strike. "I want to save her!" Kai punctuated that last bit with another thrust of the tooth brush, only to hit a dark-clothed ninja behind him… one with a very big, very sharp scythe in his hands.
The fire died inside of him, as Kai realized the situation that was about to happen. "Oh…" he said, uncharacteristically softly.
Now…
Kai looked back toward the larger, scythe-wielding ninja in front of him, before immediately thrusting his makeshift weapon – the toothbrush – into the far too open gi, causing Kai's would-be attacker to start trying to remove the electronic from his clothing. While the guy was distracted (and blocking the way for the other two, which the creature in Kai's heart noticed before him, telling him to turn the situation around), Kai immediately fled to the rafters of the roof, using them as his escape route before getting to the roof of the monastery. The other assailants ended up running outside as well, intercepting Kai's progress for an escape route. The creature within Kai growled, and he couldn't help but emulate that growl.
"Use the training equipment!" The creature seemed to be yelling in Kai's mind, and he couldn't help but think the same. Immediately, Kai pounced toward the dragon statue, throwing the switch and watching as the three ninjas were flung about from the equipment. When the shortest of his former assailants dizzily walked into his direction, Kai pounced, getting a few hits in before the smaller hit Kai back. The fight eventually became a mess, with each person getting a few hits on Kai and vice versa on each member, until light overcame the giant puff-cloud of fighting and the four immediately stopped at Wu's voice.
"Stop!" he yelled, causing the three ninjas on Kai to pull back. The three immediately bowed to Wu, and Kai felt rather than heard the creatures in the hearts of the ninja.
"Wait a moment! You mean these bozos are your students as well?" Kai yelled, the gears in his head turning as he himself turned. Seeing Wu nod, Kai felt upset over the situation. "That means that this was my final test, wasn't it…?"
Suddenly, the smaller ninja removed his ninja scarf, revealing curly dark-red hair, blue eyes, and an olive complexion. His face was soft, almost cherubic, though Kai noticed a few invisible freckles over his face. He immediately started talking, the creature in his soul flitting about as he talked. "Woah, woah-woah-woah-woah! Master! You never said anything 'bout a fourth! It's always been three! Three Blind mice, Three Musketeers, three –" He rambled onward, not noticing he was being ignored by the others.
The second tallest ninja sighed, his creature snorting at the rambling ninja. Taking off his own scarf to reveal a raven-haired, grey eyed young man with chiselled features and brows as thick as a hairy caterpillar. "Sir, I think what Jay means to say is it's always been us. We're quite solid." He stated, causing a snort from Kai's own creature as Kai smarmily muttered "Not as solid as you think."
The last ninja, the tallest and the most awkward looking, pulling his mask off to reveal the palest complexion out of all of them; with hair as white as snow sticking upward and strong grey-blue eyes – Sauntered up carefully to the light, face blank as he asked "Master, what is the meaning of this?" to Wu.
Wu looked to the tall one carefully, choosing his words. "Each of you have been chosen – to be in tune with the elements inside of you." Wu then set himself into position, "But before we continue – Ninja GO!" The master instantly turned into the golden tornado, moving toward the four.
Before they could get away, Wu immediately sucked them in all at once, transforming each of their clothing into standard ninja gi. Kai gained red gi, similar in design to the others, besides the symbol of the flame lion – the symbol of those descended from the first Firestarter – on the rope wrapped around his chest. Looking back to the other ninja, Kai found the others in somewhat similar outfits. The chatty one wore blue gi with the symbol of the first Lightningracer – the thunderbird, the tall one wore white (which made Kai a bit anxious, though then he remembered that he's wearing bright red) with the symbol of the first Iceshredder – the frost wolf, and the more powerful-looking one stayed in black with the symbol of the first Earthshaker – The iron bull.
The each of them was given a weapon to defend themselves with – Kai getting an okatana not unlike the ones he used to make at the Four Weapons, the mouthy ninja getting a pair of nunchucks that looked well used, the tall ninja shuriken's that he looked at dumbly, and the brute a scythe as tall as he.
"Oh wow! That was amazing! I'm in my favourite colour!" the chatty one said, admiring the gi that he now wore. The bulkier one looked a bit disappointed at the colour choice of his gi, pulling off the mask to give Wu a scowl.
"Why am I still in black?" He asked. Wu chuckled, before coming up to each newly clothed ninja.
"You all asked me why I called you by a specific name. It's because these names were the original titles of my father's friends – the First Elemental Masters." Wu simply stated, looking at Kai first. "Kai Hinata, the Firestarter. Your soul is as bright as the First Firestarter." Kai smirked at the faint praise, as Wu moved onward to Jay. "Jay Walker, the Lightningracer. Blue was his favourite, too."
"Oh, that's not the only thing I'm the master at." The blue ninja – Jay – started, everyone knowing the outcome before they sensed his creature start to flutter again. "I do a bit of inventing, a dabble of modeling, a touch of cooking, a bit of poetry—"
"May as well start calling him "Mouth of Lightning" to shut him up…" the black ninja said, earning a smile from Kai for the clever idea. Wu immediately came up to the ninja.
"Cole Brookstone, the Earthshaker. Black as obsidian, harder than even a diamond." Wu stated, reminiscing of a time long past. Cole immediately went to shake Kai's hand.
"Nice to meet you, kid. I got your back," Cole said, smirking at the recruit. "And, for the record, there's nothing in this world that scares me." He winked, while the white ninja coughed into his hand.
"Except for dragons." The white ninja said, getting an angry glare from Cole himself.
"They aren't from this world." Cole specified. "By the Great Dragoness, they came from the same world as the First Spinjitsu Master!" He huffed the last bit, the creature in his soul doing the same. While this was happening, Wu moved toward the white ninja.
"And the Iceshredder is Zane. He's our seer and controller of blizzards." Wu smirked, putting a hand on Zane's shoulder. Kai whistled at the idea of one of them being a 'seer'.
"Wow, I sense he takes things a bit too seriously?" Kai winked, a visual for Zane to realise he was joking. However, the Iceshredder didn't seem to understand.
"Oh! I didn't know you have the power too!" Zane said intriguingly, almost getting into Kai's face before Jay pulled him back – and laughing at the poor ninja's expression.
"Zane, he's making a joke. Remember what we had been talkn' 'bout earlier? Your sense of humor, or lack thereof?" Jay tittered, rambling on for Zane to eventually get the idea. The white ninja scoffed at the hyper teen.
"Yes, a joke. Ha, ha." Zane smarmily said, making the blue ninja shake his head in disappointment. It was at this point Wu felt the introductions were finished.
"Alright, now that you all know each other, I'll get started on why you're here: you four are the chosen ones, who will protect the four weapons of Spinjitsu… from Lord Garmadon." Wu added the last bit with a shielded sorrow, before Kai got angry over the master forgetting an important detail.
"Hold on! What about my sister and my girl!" Kai flared, the flames of his heart flickering. Jay suddenly gasped, immediately jumping to Kai's side.
"Ohmygosh! Arewesavingagirl?" Jay suddenly said, startling Kai with both the speed of which the Lighningracer was talking as well as the flittering of his creature.
"Jay –" Cole tried, but Jay immediately moved toward Kai's over side to avoid the Earthshaker's grip.
"Wait, I need to know what we're getting' into! Wouldshelikethecolourblue? Wouldsheevenlikeme?" Jay kept going, suddenly becoming more and more anxious as he blabbered. It stressed the newly crowned Firestarter, the way that Jay was talking and the way his creature was now squawking over the stress. Immediately, Kai pushed the blue ninja away, growling "Stop that!" as he did.
Wu sighed, wondering how his father dealt with this… this chaos. "We'll find your sister and your girlfriend when we collect all of them." Wu immediately started to move toward the monastery's door, looking back at the others. "Come! The first weapon awaits!"
"Wait," Cole said, realizing something, "Weren't you going to teach us how to Spinjitsu?" Kai gestured to Cole, making faces at Wu –as he himself had asked this question earlier in the day. Wu couldn't help but chuckle at the two.
"Spinjitsu is inside all of you, but it can only be unlocked when you have the key." He then strained his back, leaving the ninja to think about what he said before stating "Come! My feet are tired, let's take the horse carriage."
"Ugh…" Cole sighed.
"Now we have to find a Key?" Jay squawked, feeling cheated out. The others felt the same, though they wouldn't admit it.
"Well, it seems like he's giving us a ride…" Cole tried to look positive on the situation, not wanting to throw a hissy fit over the situation.
"As long as it helps saving my family, I'm in." Kai agreed.
Meanwhile, in the Underworld…
Lloyd grumpily sat in front of a shogi board, contemplating his next move. The bone pieces seemed to mock the poor boy, as most of his opponent's pieces were drawing close to his jeweled king, with the dragons threatening the poor wall of pawns he had set up. It was his father's turn, and Garmadon seemed rather displeased that Lloyd hadn't learned much from this current round. They were playing in the throne room of the Underworld – Garmadon on the throne made from stone and bones, and Lloyd sitting on a stool on the side with the shogi board between them, with Nya standing guard near where Rei was resting - snoozing in her father's lap. Garmadon sighed, taking a promoted bishop and immediately taking a pawn, taking a checkmate – as Lloyd ended up accidentally cornering his king with the wall.
"Checkmate, my boy." Garmadon smiled despite the lack of energy to emote that much, as Lloyd immediately reacted in childish frustration and anger. As much as Garmadon liked to see his son react in a childish way (making the venom within react with sickening pleasure), he needed to let the boy know where he went wrong. "You can't keep sacrificing your best pieces, Lloyd." He carefully stated, wiping the built-up tears off his son's face. "Even the pawns that you have are worth more than you think."
"I-I know…" Lloyd whined, looking up to his father before trying to get rid of his tears. "But-but I wanted to beat you so badly…" the boy hiccupped, his hands covering his face. "How am I going to prove to them that I can be the best Overlord-to-be if I can't beat you at a stupid game?" Lloyd sniffled, snot as green as the five imprinted on his bulky black sweater.
Garmadon sighed more heavily, getting up carefully – still holding the sleeping Rei in his arms – before carefully stroking the boy's blond hair. "Lloyd, listen to me." The Overlord stated, getting to Lloyd's height and waiting until Lloyd was looking at him in the eyes before continuing. "You're still young, you don't need to become my next successor. You're better off doing your own thing." Garmadon didn't add that Lloyd would end up regretting his actions if he went through becoming Overlord – heck! Garmadon himself still felt terrible for kicking Samukai off his throne, but the venom demanded that he needed to…
Lloyd sniffled a bit more, before looking away from his father's gentle grip. "S-sorry, dad." The boy stated sadly. Garmadon was about to talk a bit more to his son, before Samukai and Jijura – a giant, bone whale creature – immediately came into the throne room, with Samukai holding onto two women in his hands. The one in Samukai's left was a calm, olive skinned woman, with a soft round face and chocolate brown eyes. Her raven hair was done in a braid, and a scowl was present on her face, her body covered up to her neck in a dark red turtleneck sweater and blue jeans. The one in Samukai's right on the other hand, was thrashing about in his grip, swearing profanities in his direction. Her hair was dyed green, cut in a pixie cut. Her blue eyes glowed maliciously, her face and body marred with freckles. She wears a light green tee with a graffiti print on it, her ripped jeans at the forefront of Garmadon's sight. Immediately, Garmadon growled at the intrusion.
"Samukai, what is the meaning of this?" Garmadon growled, snapping his fingers suddenly. Nya immediately sprang to attention, bringing herself over to Garmadon before he pulled on her newly awakened creature. As soon as she got close, the Warlord immediately gave her the still-sleeping body of Rei, before saying "Take Rei and Lloyd and make sure they're put to bed. I'll come in later to check on them." Garmadon softly said, not bothering to look when the Watersiren gently guided Lloyd away from the throne room. Lots of shouting was going to be involved, Garmadon expected, and he didn't want either Lloyd nor Rei see the monster that he held back inside for them and Spectra.
"Sentimental trash…" Samukai muttered under his breath, before unceremoniously dropping the two girls from his grip before bringing his swords to their chests, keeping them in place. "Really, Lord, you think I wouldn't add to your little Kid Guards if it weren't a present? I feel something… different with these two…" The skeleton smirked cruelly, looking at Jijura to back him up. Luckily for the four-armed skeleton, the whale skeleton seemed to be in a better mood than he had been since Garmadon was thrown into the Underworld.
"The gorilla is correct, my Lord." Jijura stated, a monotonous voice perpetrating the throne room. "As for your spawn, the One who Walks the Underworld is currently searching for the first of your father's miserable weapons, in the Caves of Despair." Garmadon growled at his insubordinate's lack of submission, the venom in his veins poisoning his thought process.
"And is someone watching her, this exact moment?" The Warlord growled, dark red eyes glowing brighter in anger. Samukai shirked back from the glare, though it didn't affect Jijura that much.
"The girl is safe, Dark Lord." Jijura stated, pushing Samukai forward. "The brute left his own leaders, Nuckal and Kruncha to take care of her." The whale skeleton immediately bowed. "I'll send my own subordinates if you wish to have extra protection."
"…No. Spectra is safe with Samukai's men, but I'd rather have one intelligent eye on the area." Garmadon stated, hissing over the thought. Immediately, he dismissed the two with a wave of his hand. "You are dismissed for now, Jijura." Garmadon stated. "Samukai, bring the girls with you – We'll need to see if they're capable of wielding the weapons." Garmadon left for the cells, Samukai trailing the girls behind the Warlord.
Back at Ninjago, near the Caves of Despair…
"'Sign me up'. Way to go, fire boy." Jay grumbled, huffing as he pulled the horse carriage that Wu had mentioned with the other ninja, pissed off face hidden by his scarf. The ninjas were taking Wu – whom was currently sitting in the horse carriage drinking tea as they moved – towards the Caves of Despair, a once popular tourist area that, long ago, had ceased because of threats of a giant beast guarding the cave. The ninja moved along the path to the Caves, the path of green and forest starting to disperse for patchy, dry land.
"I sense this must be a form of team building…" Zane said, not at all bothered by the pace nor the weight of the carriage.
"Let's just… keep pulling…" Cole stated, taking authority over the situation. "We've still got a way to go."
"I've got to ask…" Kai started, a thought passing through his mind. "I think Wu already told you guys how I met him, but what about you three?" the Firestarter asked. The other three 'hummed' in thought over it.
"Well," Cole started, looking back at Kai quickly before turning back. "If it weren't for Master, I'd probably still be testing my limits." Cole remembered when he climbed the tallest mountain in the Mountains of Impossible Height, before finding Wu sitting on the top as well, drinking tea.
"Heh!" Jay winked at Kai, laughing at the mention of Kai's story. "I was just testing my inventions when Master found me." Jay didn't want to add that the said invention he worked with kind of… broke when he tried it in the city's limits, having hit a signboard and breaking the wings of his invention. If it weren't for Wu bandaging him before giving him tea, Jay'd probably would have went back home dejected at another failure.
"Huh." Zane said, deciding on telling Kai. "Well, I was testing my limits when I met him…" Zane said, remembering how he meditated at the bottom of the lake, not noticing Wu come in until he saw the elder sipping some tea… underwater. "I still wonder how he managed to drink underwater…"
"Honestly, I'm kind of glad he brought us together…" Kai stated, before looking at the three ninjas. Wu immediately stopped Kai from speaking further, however.
"Stop!" Wu suddenly said, causing the ninjas to stop the carriage. They stopped just to see the expanse of canyon, covered in holes and machinery. Many skeletons were about, using the machinery to dig through the ancient Ninjagian history to find whatever it was they were looking for. A cloaked figure stood in the middle of the chaos, an odd, imp-like creature hanging on their shoulder. They stood at the point where all five suspected was the main operations tower, a giant bone tower that contained a small building on top. Wu immediately brought the four ninjas to hide behind the boulder, before explaining; "These are the Caves of Despair. Samukai's men must be close to unearthing the Scythe of Quakes. Please, remember to not use the weapon, for it's power—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jay cut through Wu's speech, having heard it on their way to the Caves. "We got it! 'Too much power for both mortals and developing Masters'! Alright, let's go!" Jay immediately did a pose, before looking to Cole. Kai fidgeted on the spot as the Lightningracer continued. "Cole, buddy, got's the plan?"
"Sure do," Cole smiled at Jay despite the situation, not noticing Kai immediately leave as he started. "First, we lower ourselves down this edge, and then Kai—" the Earthshaker turn to where Kai was last at, before noticing a distinct lack of red beside him. "Hey, where did Kai go?" immediately, the other ninjas started to look for their wayward friend, with Jay noticing Kai expertly moving through the site – dancing and avoiding sight like the fire lion his creature emulated.
Jay sighed as he recognized what was happening. "Guys, I found Kai. We need to go." They immediately did so, trailing behind the Firestarter and trying to match his steps. A few times, they had to save Kai from being caught by another Skullkin, getting more irritated as they moved onward. Finally, they reached the main part of the campsite, where the hooded figure and their creature was carefully looking over a parchment of something—
"No way! The map!" Kai whispered to himself, recognizing the map that the Four Weapons once hid on its sign. The other three ninja were riding up the conveyor belt behind the red ninja, accidentally listening in on Nuckal and Kruncha's conversation.
"Oh! Oh! Kuncha! Look! I found something for Miss Spectra!" Nuckal excitedly yells, holding up an ancient rock in the form of a wheel. Kruncha, feeling a bit upset over his hollow-headed partner for finding something meaningless again, immediately slaps him in the back of his head.
"That's another dumb rock, rocks-for-brains!" Kruncha stated, before looking back through the rocks on the conveyor belt. He then noticed the long-abandoned box that the ninjas used to hide throughout the base, wondering where it came from.
"But-but it's shaped like a doughnut!" Nuckal stated, before a thought came across his head. "Would it taste like a doughnut?" Immediately, the eye-patch-wearing skeleton took a bite into the rock, before howling over his pained teeth.
While this was going on, Kai moved onward to the tower, with the other ninja behind him on different, safer routes. Kai ended up managing to get to the roof of the headquarters on his own, before Jay immediately pulled him back from the window.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?" The Lightningracer started, slapping Kai on the back of his head. "Didn't you hear what Master Wu said? Weneedtostickto—" Jay's frantic anxiety attack came at a boiling point, one that would have alerted the rest of the base if Kai had not silenced him with a hand and a 'Quiet!' to bring him back to reality. As they did that, the ninjas immediately moved to the window behind the cloaked figure, to find that they had long since removed the hood of their cloak – showing a little girl with raven hair with a purple streak in her fringe, her hair tied with a skull and crossbones ribbon. She carried a bone axe that doubled as her staff, as it was too big for her entirely and the heavy bit seemed stuck to the ground. On the other end of the table where the map was on was a small, rodent-like creature with a long, scythe-like tail and small black horns. Its yellow eyes shone in mischievousness and fondness for the human girl, its dark fur illuminated to a turquoise glow from them.
"Amanojaku, do you think we're digging in the right spot?" The girl asked, cementing the ninjas feelings over her being one of Garmadon's lackies. "I mean, Dad seems to think that this is the right place, but we haven't met the Guardian of the Scythe…" she twirled around to the window the ninjas were looking through, them immediately ducking out before they realized that the girl looked too sickly pale and was wearing a mask that looked like a skull.
"Ah, I wouldn't worry so much, Princess!" a scratchy, squeaky voice started, which the ninjas suspected was this 'Amanojaku' that the girl was talking to. "The map's all but accurate, but you're right about us not meeting the Guardian – it's probably that the stupid skullkin have read the map upside down…" A small squeak happened as the girl started to leave the headquarters with the creature. "May as well get them idiots digging in the right spot, Princess." What else could be heard from the conversation faded as the two moved onward, away from the four ninjas as they crawled into the headquarters immediately.
"Well, that squeaky oni was right!" Jay said, looking at the map before picking it up and flipping it over. "It was upside down!" Immediately, Jay gave it to the new Iceshredder, whom opened the map carefully and looked at it.
"The girl was also correct on her assumption; We're actually not that far from where the Scythe of Quakes is." Zane smiled despite how close the skullkin were to their prize. Before Zane could figure out the other locations of the Golden Weapons, Kai immediately took the map from the white ninja's hands, looking at it as well.
"Good; we have no time to waste." Kai said, stuffing the map into his gi before immediately leaving the rest of the group in the dust. Cole growled harshly, before the other three tailed after the Firestarter.
"What's with the guy?" Jay muttered to himself as they tailed Kai. "He seems always in a rush…"
They kept on keeping up with Kai, up until he got stuck with a giant boulder blocking his path. Cole, angered at Kai's constant ditching, immediately started pushing the boulder with him.
"Kai! Remember that we're a team, which means that you can't go around ditching us at every moment!" Cole lectured as he pushed, before getting Jay and Zane helping them out as well. Kai huffed as he pushed on with extra help, not really caring about what Cole was saying.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Kai stated monotonously but didn't say more as they pushed the boulder up further away from the entrance. Inside the cavernous entrance was a beautiful, jeweled area with multiple gemstones embedded in the stones. Many of the larger gems framed the area where the Golden Scythe of Quakes was, with black quartz and Obsidian framing the pedestal where the scythe rests. The ninjas all looked in amazement, with Jay starting to bounce excitedly.
"Oh wow!" Jay yelled excitedly, his voice breaking at a few points. "That is so cool!" The cave echoed at the last word, causing Zane and Kai to immediately slap his mouth shut. However, it seemed a fruitless effort, as the shout echoed throughout the Caves of Despair, allowing every skullkin to hear the sound and its location…
"Jay! Not so loud!" Cole whisper-shouted to the blue ninja, his hand touching the Scythe of Quakes' handle as he flinched from the racket.
"Really! We got past all of them and we're on the opposite side!" Jay angerly stated, shoving Kai and Zane away from him as he continued. "It's not like we can't skip past them like the Ninja we are!"
"Now who's being cocky?" Zane whispered secretly to Kai, whom couldn't help but chuckle a bit over the honest remark.
"Just zip it, alright?" Cole finished, grabbing the Scythe and immediately throwing it to Kai. "We've got the scythe, now we need to go before the boneheads come racing toward us." Cole hopped down from the pedestal where the scythe was at, not noticing the wall of obsidian and black quartz start moving as he and the rest of the ninjas headed toward the cave entrance.
As they reached the entrance, they found the skullkin at the entrance to the Scythe of Quakes, all of them looking very ticked off that a bunch of humans beat them to it. In front of Nuckal and Kruncha sat the pale girl that seemed to be leading them, her face blank as she immediately held out her hand.
"Firestarter, give me the scythe." Her command was sharp and authoritative, almost kingly, and her dark-chocolate eyes never wavered from Kai. It was almost too much for him, taking a couple of steps before he realized something. "Wait, why am I listening to her?" Kai immediately stopped his walk, but the others noticed him moving to her.
The girl frowned at Kai's attempt at resisting her. No matter; she'll just have to do it the hard way. A bright, purplish glow came out of the axe she used as a staff, alerting the skullkin to attention immediately. "Get the Scythe!" Her voice commanded, and all the skullkin's eye-sockets instantly took on a bright purple glow. "Make sure the ninjas are comatose, as well!" The skeleton warriors immediately flew into action, starting the attack against the four ninjas immediately. They mostly hounded around Kai, who could barely do much with the scythe in his hand. Suddenly, Zane noticed Cole waving to him, telling the white ninja to throw the scythe to him.
"Kai! Throw it here!" Zane yelled, kicking a few skullkin as they got too close to his face. Kai immediately nodded and sliced a few skullkin out of his way before throwing the scythe over to Zane, whom immediately used a few skullkin heads to immediately leap out and grab the scythe from the air. Throwing a few shuriken for good measure, Zane immediately went to look for Cole in the madness. "Cole! Heads up!" Zane yelled when he spotted the black ninja, throwing the scythe to him immediately.
"Going long!" Cole yelled, hopping over the skullkin heads like Zane did to take the scythe from the air, landing on a few boneheads before pulling out the scythe he came equipped with and spun around him. This seemed to put enough distance between him and the rest of the bones-for-brains, them standing around his arc and being careful of when he swung it next.
But, unlike the very human ninja, the skullkin were without need of stamina and could easily repair themselves, restoring the original amount of the army back in the first place. The girl carefully watched as she examined the scene before her, noting when one of the ninja slip up and when one of them took a hit from the walking, talking bones. The skullkin may not have been the brightest of mooks, but they were the most plentiful, and the girl was content in how they made sure that they stuck to non-lethal blows. "Soon, they'll fall." She thought to herself, smirking as the other three ninja ended up backing into each other, while the many skullkin circled around them.
"There's too many of them!" Kai frantically stated, amber eyes going wide. Jay suddenly realized something and started to see the skullkin as the training equipment back at the monastery.
"I think we can take them." Jay confidently said, surprising the two ninjas beside him. Immediately, he started to chant "Over the planks, dodge the sword, here comes the Dummy!" as he rushed into the skulkin, dodging each swipe with the grace of an hawk, spiraling over the mooks like an eagle, and lunging at each attacking skullkin like a falcon. Suddenly, the blue ninja started to get faster, allowing the creature in his soul to get bigger and bigger, each swipe of the nunchucks hitting the right targets and none of the skullkin hitting him. Then, with a sudden screech of the Thunderbird inside, Jay started to spin like Master Wu; save for the tornado being a constant sparking mess of blue. Not pausing in his movements for anything as he twirled around the skullkin, before coming back toward the others in a dizzy, stopping the violent tornado before he landed his butt on the ground. Both Kai and Zane immediately went over to the blue ninja, helping him up with shocked expressions on their faces (not that it could be seen with the scarves).
"Jay! Are you okay?" Zane asked, looking to see if Jay could stand up on his own. Kai, however, didn't think about his team-mate's safety.
"Jay! How'd you figure out Spinjitsu?" Kai asked, looking at Jay carefully. Immediately, the blue ninja gave a wink to the Firestarter.
"I was reminded of the training regimen Wu put us through! I'm just following the motions of it!" Jay stated, before looking over to Cole's location to find him in a bad spot. Immediately, Jay started using Spinjitsu once again, the Thunderbird in his soul taking over once again. Kai and Zane immediately followed Jay's example, also chanting the mantra that Jay had spoken earlier, before going all out in their own Spinjitsu as well – Zane's being frosty hail, while Kai's was as bright as the burning sun. Cole, having seen how Jay was still chanting the words as well, immediately started doing the same, the creature in his soul getting brighter and brighter until the Iron Bull fully encompassed him, creating a tornado of sand and topsoil around him.
The fight was no longer in the skullkin's favour.
Nuckal, upon recognizing what the ninjas were saying, commented to Kruncha that he was a 'dummy', which caused the two morons to start fighting in between. The skullkin were getting blasted, shocked, frozen, and knocked into a pile of bones as the ninjas kept spinning, many of them suddenly breaking out of the spell the girl had placed on all of them, with all of them – including Nuckal and Kruncha – spouting out a "Retreat!" and running away from the caves. The girl immediately started yelling back at them, her fear overpowering her commanding voice.
"Please! Don't go!" She yelled out, tears appearing in her eyes as every skullkin soldier left, sniffling as the four ninjas surrounded her and pointed their weapons at her. She looked at the weapons, with their sharp blades and the cold steel, and was glad that the ninjas wouldn't be able to follow her through the portal that she created suddenly. As soon as the portal was big enough, the girl fell through it, watching the ninjas try to follow her through to no avail. She smirked as the portal closed over itself, her blood singing as she watches their frustrated and surprised looks as it closed over.
"Damnit!" Cole said, pounding his foot on the place where the girl disappeared. "She escaped before we had a chance to take her in!" Kai and Jay nodded in agreement – as it would have been nice to know what Garmadon was planning with the Golden Weapons… "Ah well, it's a good thing that they didn't get the merchandise…" the Earthshaker immediately went to grab the Scythe of Quakes – still situated on his back – when the black ninja immediately stopped, fear overtaking him as he turned fully around. The others, lost in the ignorance of learning Spinjitsu, had not noticed his loss of words and sudden gasp.
"Alright!" Kai's yell of excitement was joined by Jay's quiet "Woo-hoo!" as the two both celebrated their victory, not noticing their comrades' sudden silence over the situation, nor the soft – but forced – breathing from the catacombs behind them.
"Shouldn't there be a guardian here? Both Wu and the little girl mentioned one earlier…" Zane asked quizzingly, before noticing that Cole seemed to be terrified of something. "Cole? What's…" The white ninja immediately trailed off, seeing the dark obsidian—like mass in front of Cole move.
As soon as Zane trailed off, Kai and Jay immediately turned toward a most vicious – yet beautiful – sight. As large as the cavern itself, covered head to toe in obsidian-black scales, claws and horns as brown as the cavern dust, and an accusatory glare with dark-chocolate eyes was the guardian of the Scythe of Quakes itself – The Obsidian Dragon. The dragon's gaze was on the black ninja the entire time, its anger rising at its treasure being stolen under its nose. It had forgotten that unlike the descendants of the creator of the world, the beings that populate it could not speak the words it knew by heart and tried to speak to the intruders while spreading its quartz and moss-covered wings.
"YOU WHO TAKE THE TREASURE OF MASASHI… THE ONE WHO CREATED THIS WORLD…"(A/N) It started, confusing the quartet.
"Wait, what's it saying?" Zane asked the others, not understanding the words coming out of the creature's mouth.
"I dunno, but I think it's angry…" Kai said unhelpfully, becoming more terrified as it continued.
"I CAN SENSE THE FEAR YOU ALL POSSESS, WHY HAS MY FRIEND'S CHILD TOLD YOU NOTHING? YOU MAY BE THIS GENERATION'S NEWEST ELEMENTAL MASTERS, BUT I WILL NOT PRETEND THAT YOU ARE MY OLD MASTER WHEN YOU WEAR HIS CLOTHING!"(A/N) The dragon suddenly roared, the cavern shaking as it stood up. Immediately, the obsidian dragon directed its head at them.
"Why didn't you stay in the First Realm?" Cole yelled, dodging the rock spat out at him, before running towards the others as the dragon blasted dust and sand at the fleeing ninjas. The dragon huffed at their pathetic escape, before leaping into the air, blocking the four's only exit.
"YOUR ATTEMPTS AT FLEEING WITH YOUR SKIN ARE FUTILE, LOWLY PESTS!" The dragon stated, taking in the fear that all four of them had in their faces. "TOO BAD YOUR MASTER, WHOMEVER THEY MAY BE, WON'T SEE YOUR PATHETIC BODIES BEING CRUSHED BY MY JAW! YOU ALL SCREAM SO BEAUTIFULLY…"(A/N) The obsidian dragon was getting ready to strike with its claws – with the rest of the ninjas immediately closing their eyes at their fate – when a large clang of metal meeting claw resounded in the cave. Immediately, the three ninjas opened their eyes to find Kai using the Scythe of Quakes against the beast.
"KAI NO!" Jay yelled, snapping the others out of their stupor. "Remember what Master Wu said? About using the ultra-dangerous weapon-?"
"SHUT UP AND GO!" Kai yelled, shocking the group on what he's planned. The obsidian dragon immediately bowed its head at the Firestarter, ready to blast the red ninja into next week. Thinking quickly, Kai pulled out of the lock he had with the earthen beast, dashing as soon as the dragon lost the ability to balance, allowing it to fall instantly. And fall it indeed did, landing on its side and struggling to get up as the other ninjas surrounded their wayward recruit. Jay and Zane immediately dashed outward to the exit, Cole and Kai trailing behind when the obsidian dragon got itself up again.
"FAKE FIRESTARTER! YOU CANNOT CONTROL THAT WEAPON!"(A/N) The Dragon roared, steadying itself back upright before immediately running toward the entrance.
"Kai, NO! Don't use the Scythe!" Cole yelled back, reaching the entrance before Kai. Immediately, the Earthshaker turned on his heel to pull the Firestarter outside. Kai turned around, seeing the lumbering beast run toward the ninja's location, and immediately jumped. Slamming the scythe blade onto the ground, the whole cavern shook as the dragon fell onto the ground, the crumbling structure of the cavern itself suddenly coming to light. Kai winked back at Cole, unleashing his beast in a moment of need – before throwing himself into a spin. Immediately, the Fire lion inside him heeded his call, and made him fly just before the cavern closed in.
"Oh… my gosh…" Jay said, looking at the wall between them and the obsidian dragon that had attacked. Kai smirked, his creature purring as the praise came flooding in as he stopped spinning. The four took notice of the shaking the rest of the cave, before immediately getting outside to the entrance, the entire structure collapsing further.
"We… We did it!" Zane yelled suddenly, excitement overwriting his calm demeanor. That was the cue for the rest of the ninja to start celebrating over their victory, with Cole's 'Yahoo!' and Kai's 'Alright!' mixing in for good measure. In fact, they were so relieved of their success, they had not noticed their master come up behind them until he whacked them all in the noggins with his stick.
"Enough! Why did none of you heed my warnings about the scythe?" Wu angerly yelled, causing the four of them to jump up out of their skin despite their head injuries. The creatures inside all four ninja panicked as well, with Jay's Thunderbird tittering in order to fix it's anxiety. Immediately, Jay pointed a finger at Kai.
"He used it." Jay squeaked. Immediately, Kai turned toward the Lightningracer, agitated at the accusation.
"What?" Kai sputtered out, the beast inside glaring hard at Jay. Cole immediately stepped in to cover for the fitful bird.
"I warned him against it, yet Kai ignored my order." Cole stated, looking blank as he addressed Wu personally. Immediately, Kai glared, before turning toward thee sensei himself.
"That dragon was attacking us. There was no way we could defeat it without using this." Kai stated, holding out the Scythe of Quakes to Wu, whom immediately took it from the Firestarter's hands. Wu then immediately got close, his golden eyes suddenly turning more dangerous – draconic, almost, but empty of most things you find in the eye – as the master came up to lecture his student.
"And what makes you think you're more valuable on your own?" Wu whispered dangerously in Kai's ear, making the Firestarter shiver in fear.
"They-They took my family… and my love…" The amber-eyed teen stuttered out, knowing his argument was weak. Wu turned away from Kai and started moving toward the West.
"Come! We have the other three weapons to look for!" Wu stated, not looking back as he moved onward. Zane immediately followed, followed by Jay. Cole was the only one to wait for Kai, looking a bit sorrowful before heading off with the others. As soon as he left, Kai immediately shook off his fears, realizing why Wu had specifically chewed him out.
"If you wanted us to work together… then why did you train me alone?" Kai muttered, before heading off toward where the others were going.
"Papa… I'm so sorry. I couldn't get the gold scythe…" The pale girl sobbed to Garmadon, who held her carefully as she sobbed into his shoulder. "I-I didn't even know that they didn't learn the spinny trick like-like Lloyd said…" her hiccups and tears encompassed most of her face, not bothering to see the smirk Garmadon had on his face over the news.
"Hush, Spectra… It's all right… If they figured out 'the spinny trick', it means your uncle was with them…" He calmly stated, stroking his young daughter carefully. He soothed his young daughter, hoping that words of encouragement would get through to her.
Lloyd and Rei suddenly came in through the grand entrance of the throne room, chasing Amanojaku and attempting to catch him. Lloyd immediately jumped, only to fall short of the intended length from the tiny oni. Rei immediately shot out her hand, and suddenly the tiny oni hit an invisible wall before Rei walked over to immediately pick him up.
"Finally! Yeesh, Amano, you are that annoying!" Rei said excitedly, holding onto the dazed oni as Lloyd immediately got up and angerly glared at his twin, before noticing Spectra's sobbing and coming up to his father and younger sister.
"Spectra? What's wrong?" He asked, not realizing he may have been part of the problem. Garmadon looked at his eldest son carefully - but decided to tell him and Rei the news.
"Spectra ran into Wu's own warriors – they took both the map and the Scythe back." It was at that point he smiled evilly, a glint in his eyes as he continued. "But that doesn't matter in the slightest."
"Huh?" All three quizzingly said, the glint of the dragon showing in their eyes as they suddenly turned to their father. Amanojaku at this point shook off the daze from hitting a wall that wasn't there.
"Ohhhh, letting them do the work for you, boss?" the mouse-like demon asked, a grin only a mother could love taking up most of his face. Garmadon smiled cruelly at the tiny oni's own.
"Yes… let Wu's own pet project get the rest of the Weapons. I'll be out soon enough."
A/N: Originally, the Dragon's text was in Runes of the Dragon, to make it harder to read through and understand - a bit of Painting the medium for myself, but The great FFN vetoed on the idea of wingdings of any kind, which makes me sad...