(A/N) Wow. I got some strong responses to last chapter. I expected it, but I certainly didn't expect people to show up wielding chainsaws and sledgehammers. XD Don't worry! Xavier and Ivan WILL get what's coming for them. But first they have to conquer the continent. Anyway! This chapter, the Nightprowlers will wake up, find themselves five years older, and go home. As you can imagine, their parents will not be happy. And, of course, Ivan's conquest will commence...

Read!

Chapter 7

Checkmate

After the howling wind from the fumes of the Tomorrow's Tea had died, all was quiet in the processing room. It wouldn't remain that way for long however. After less than a minute, someone awoke and shattered the silence. "Is everyone okay?" Nick called out groggily. He noticed that the purple fumes had dissipated. Dust still flew through the air, and debris was scattered all over the floor. He looked around, but Ivan and Xavier were nowhere to be seen. His hands curled up into fists. Those lying, no good, dirty rotten sons of-

"Nick?" croaked Emma's voice to the left.

"Emma? You're awake?" Nick asked, his mind averted from his mental swearing.

"Yeah. Hey, we're still tied up. I think I might have a nail file in my pocket-"

"That's okay, I've got a pocket knife." Nick reached into his back pocket and pulled out the pocket knife he'd been issued as a Black Dragon agent and started sawing at the bindings. Soon, the ropes slipped off.

Suddenly Nick remembered that another one of his teammates wasn't in good shape...

"Reed! Reed, where are you?!" he yelled out, feeling panicked for once in his life. If one of his teammates died under his command...

A moan suddenly reached his ears from the right. Nick turned and found Reed, weak and pale, leaning against the pole. Nick felt his teammate's skin. He was cold. He must have lost a lot of blood.

"Where's Violet? We need a healing tea, and fast!"

"Right here," groaned a voice. Violet pushed herself up off the floor, coming face to face with Drew, who woke up at the same time. Immediately the two froze at the sight of each other. If Drew had thought Violet looked like the master of Aloe before, he was dead wrong. NOW she looked like her mother. Suddenly Drew understood why Lloyd had fallen for Heather. The girl in front of him was nothing short of heavenly, as if she were an angel who'd fallen straight out of the sky. The world around them seemed to come to a stand-still.

"Drew?"

Her voice! Oh, it was like a bell, so pure, so sweet! He felt like he'd fallen in love with Violet Garmadon all over again.

"HEY! VIOLET! DREW! GET THE HELL OVER HERE AND HELP BEFORE REED BLEEDS TO DEATH!" Nick had called upon his inner drill seargent again. Remembering that their friend had been shot, Drew and Violet quickly scurried over to the rest of their team. Once they were there, Nick got down to business. "Violet, is there a tea in here that will heal a gunshot wound?"

Violet carefully examined the wound. "It won't heal it completely, but Antihemophilic Tea will stop the blood flow," she quickly answered.

"Good. Find it as quickly as you can."

"I know exacly where it is." With that, the daughter of the green ninja dashed out of the tea processing room. In less than a minute, she returned with two jars of tea. One was a peach color, and the other was a very light green. First she dabbed the wound with the peach-colored liquid on a small cloth to clean it off. Next she poured the light green tea on the wound, and it seemed to glow as it hit Reed's skin.

"That will both stop the flow of blood and make it easier to get the bullet out," she explained. "Now, we need to call someone to get us out of here."

"Can't we just use Traveler's Tea?" Emma suggested. "It will be much quicker. I want to get my brother help as soon as possible."

"Reed is in no state to jump through a portal," Violet argued, shaking her head. "We need help to get him out of here. I'll call the Senseis."

Lloyd, Kai, Zane, Cole, and Skylor all waited at the docks of the island. It was almost midnight, and the moon was not to be seen, for clouds covered the sky. Not a single star penetrated the thick blanket that shrouded the heavens. The Senseis had recieved a message from Violet saying that they could not return home by Traveler's Tea due to Reed's current "condition". She did not elaborate on the subject, but merely said she would turn on her tracking signal so that someone could find them and pick them up. Jay and Nya had volunteered to go, and they set off into the misty waters in one of the smaller paddleboats. Five minutes ago they had recieved a call from Nya that they were on their way back with the Nightprowlers. So now Lloyd and the remaining senseis were standing outside on the docks, awaiting their return.

"Lloyd, are you alright?" Cole asked in a low voice, turning to look at his friend.

Lloyd stared straight ahead into the misty sea and gave a single, slow nod. But he was lying. Just like always. After his outburst, he'd recovered and put his mask back on so people wouldn't worry about him. Just like always. He'd dried his tears and emerged from his office, his bottle of fears and sadnesses emptied out, ready to be filled back up again. Just like always.

"I'm fine Cole," he answered calmly. "Nothing to worry about."

"Lloyd, you're crying."

"What?" Lloyd rubbed his eyes. "There must be something caught in it."

"Lloyd." Cole put a hand on the former green ninja's shoulder. "It's not a bad thing to cry every once and a while. That's what I told you all those years ago when Heather was taken away."

"And it's also not bad for people to be concered about you," Kai added. "We notice these things because we care about you. You're our brother and we're here for you."

"I may be an android," Zane put in, "but I do know that it is both unwise and unhealthy to bottle up your sorrows."

"Lloyd, whatever the problem is, just tell us," Skylor pleaded.

"Thanks guys, but I really am fine," Lloyd assured them with a fake smile.

Finally something happened that could take them off the subject. "Look, the boat's returned," Cole said, pointing out to sea with one ghostly finger. Sure enough, the paddleboat glided through the fog and pulled into the dock. Kai, Skylor, and Lloyd anxiously stepped forward, both eager and nervous to see their children. Jay appeared on the deck with the plank to bridge the gap between the boat and the dock. Once he had placed it down and made sure it was sturdy enough to walk across, he stepped over to his fellow teachers.

"How are they, Jay?" Kai asked worriedly.

The former blue ninja looked grim. "All six alive - one... not well," he sighed. It was almost unnerving, seeing the usually gleeful Jay with such dampened spirits.

"Who is it? What's wrong?" Skylor inquired.

"Reed's been shot in the back, and after taking a closer look, Nya believes it's much worse than it looks at first glance."

"Did it puncture any vitals?" Lloyd struggled to keep his voice steady.

"No," Jay refuted, "but almost as scary. Nya thinks it hit the lower part of his spinal cord. We'll need x-rays to know the full extent of his injury, but he says he can't feel his legs at all. He needs immediate care."

"Jay." Everyone looked back at the boat to see Nya crossing the plank. "They're coming." Everyone turned toward the boat as the Nightprowlers, now five years older, began to emerge out of the fog.

The first one off was Nick. Now twenty-three, he was built tall and strong, muscles almost visible underneath his gi. Most of his facial features remained the same, and he still had his raven bangs, but his green eyes seemed more matured somehow. They were more steeled and determined, as if they had a goal in mind. He stopped in front of Cole with a weary expression on his face. The sensei placed a hand on his student's shoulder.

Next was Emma. Unlike Nick, she had undergone a much bigger change. Her jet black hair was no longer shoulder-length, but reached down to her elbows with a curly texture. The pink streak in her grown-out bangs was gone, and her build was almost like a figure skater. Her posture was straight and her face mature, like the young woman she now was. The twenty-two-year-old walked over to her adoptive mother and leaned into her shoulder.

After Emma came Drew. Skylor gasped, and Kai's jaw dropped a little. Their son now looked almost identical to his father, excluding his hair and eyes, which remained brick red and amber, like his mother's. His frown was lopsided, and his eyebrows perked upward on the inside. His spikes were bigger and sharper, with natural highlights that seemed to make his hair look even more like flames. Skylor began to cry, and Drew brought her into a hug. At twenty-one, he was taller than she was now.

"My little boy..." she wept, "all grown up...why? Why, why, why?"

"Please, Mom," he begged, "don't cry. There was nothing you could have done."

Lloyd looked on sadly at his students. No, there was something they could have done. He shouldn't have let them leave. It was all his fault, like everything else. But now that he thought of it, even if he had tried to keep them from leaving, they would have found a way to get out anyway. Violet showed that resolve to him before she left.

"Dad?"

Speaking of his daughter...

Lloyd whirled around and did a double take. It was as though he was looking at a person from the past. Was that Violet walking across the plank toward him, or the ghost of his wife? This young woman looked exactly like the one who had saved him from certain death more than twenty years ago. There was that angelic face, and that long black hair that fell down in twisting waves. Heather would sometimes wear her hair down like that instead of in her usual bun. But as she drew closer, he recognized his own green eyes, not Heather's hazel ones, staring back at him. This was his daughter, twenty-one years old. Lloyd couldn't hold his tears back anymore. He broke down, sinking to the ground. Violet rushed over to her father, silent tears rolling down her own cheeks. Placing her hands on his shaking shoulders, she sighed. "Dad, I know you're putting the blame on yourself again. Don't."

"We shouldn't have... sent you all away..."

"If we hadn't gone, Emma and Lex would be killed."

"But... I could have... held you back... but I didn't... I let you go with them..."

"I told you I'd grow up someday."

"But... I didn't... want it to... happen like this!"

"None of us did. But I know why it did. Dad, we've been cursed. Our whole family was. The First Spinjitzu Master had an enemy called the Dragon Queen. I read about her in a book. She cursed our family to never find happiness."

Well, Lloyd thought bitterly, that explains my whole life.

"Father, don't cry," an entirely different voice pleaded.

Lloyd looked up and gasped. Standing behind Violet was his son. While the other Nightprowlers were all grown up, Lex was now the age at which he was just starting to leave childhood behind. At twelve years, he was just a little older than Lloyd was when he himself was aged up. Between boyhood and adolescence, his face was starting to take on the shape of his father's. His eyes, with their hazel irises that came from his mother, still sparkled with childish curiousity, yet carried a budding maturity. Even his hair was starting to change from loose and windswept to a sleeker, more wavy look that curled just slightly outward at the tips. He looked like he was in the middle of the stage that Lloyd himself missed. Lloyd also noted that his son had actually talked in the presence of people to whom he normally wouldn't dare to utter a single word. Perhaps the jump in age had given him a jump in what he was socially capable of.

Suddenly Emma looked up at Jay. "Is Reed well enough to be moved?" she asked.

"Yes," the former blue ninja replied. "Cole, come help me. This is a two man job." The two senseis disappeared into the boat for a moment, then came back carrying a stretcher. On it was an eighteen-year-old boy who looked very pained. Reed was very pale, probably from blood loss, making his freckles stand out. His facial features were more pointed than before, and he was much taller. The lower part of his torso was wrapped in bandages, and he was strapped down to prevent movement.

"Zane," Jay called over to the nindroid while carrying the back end of the stretcher, "come with us. Nya already removed the bullet, but we need to get some x-rays of him right away." With that, the Senseis of Ice, Earth, and Lightning rushed into the palace with Reed.

"Let's go in too," Nya suggested. "You guys still need to tell us exactly what happened down there."

The Senseis and Nightprowlers (except for Reed) were sitting down in Lloyd's office, where just hours before the Senseis had heard the final moments of the captives' and their rescue team's childhoods over the phone. Zane was not present, as he was still taking care of Reed. Skylor had made them all some hot noodle soup, and everyone listened as the students told their tale.

"...And that's when he threw the Tomorrow's Tea and the purple smoke engulfed us all," Drew finished.

"That's so terrible," Nya sniffed as Jay put an arm around her.

"It felt like someone was tugging on all of my limbs," Violet described.

"But what happened when you woke up?" Cole questioned.

"Well, things weren't so swell..." Nick began. He told them what happened, from the moment they woke up to the part where Violet called home.

Suddenly Emma fell out of her seat, clutching her head. She cried out in anguish as another vision began to formulate in her head, this time looking more vivid and realistic than ever...

Emma looked around. She was standing in the streets of Ninjago City, the night being lit up by the neon signs and giant tv screens. Suddenly she spotted two figures walking down the sidewalk. She didn't know why, but she felt the urge to follow them. As she got closer, she recognized them as Ivan and Xavier. She crept up behind them, and noticed that they were completely oblivious to her presence. She must be like a phantom in this vision.

"So, Ivan-" Xavier started, but his new boss turned to him with an incredulous look.

"Did you just call me 'Ivan'?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I-I'm sorry. What should I call you?"

"Well, shortly, you will be calling me 'your highness'."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Because, my new number two, we are about to change Ninjago forever. I will take over and establish Ninjago's first empire in millenia!"

"Wow," Xavier breathed. He looked like he was pretty sure he'd made the right decision to join this guy. "But, uh, isn't Vladomir the dictator right now?"

Ivan simply laughed. "Yes, but what we are about to do tonight will change all of that. You see, I have been acting as a loyal underling to Vladomir, when really, I am his greatest threat."

"Really?"

"Yes," Ivan replied. Grinning, he reached into a pocket of his cloak and pulled out a dagger. "I've been waiting for more than a year for this moment."

Suddenly, they turned a corner, and came face to face with a street guard. Before he said anything, Ivan just held up an identification card. The guard seemed satisfied, but he still pointed to Xavier and said, "Who's he?"

"Oh, he's with me," Ivan explained simply.

The guard nodded and waved them onward. Once again, Emma went unnoticed, and she moved on with them. Suddenly Ivan and Xavier turned a corner, and there stood Borg Tower. They entered the building, with Emma close behind. She followed them into the elevator, and watched as Ivan pushed the button for the one hundredth floor. When the door opened, the two young men exited into the office, with Emma close behind. She gasped when she saw none other than Vladomir Chovin, her and her team's old boss, sitting at the desk. He looked up from some paperwork, and a look of surprise on his face soon turned to slight confusion.

"Ah, Agent I," Vladomir acknowledged suspiciously. "I wasn't expecting you." The dictator's eyes shifted to Xavier. "Who is your friend?"

"This is Xavier. He is my second-in-command."

Vladomir raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you need a second-in-command?"

"Never mind that. I'm here for more important things. Vladomir, you have been a fool."

"Excuse me?"

"I have never been working for you. You put far too much trust in me. And now you will pay the price."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying..." Ivan took out the dagger and threw it. It hit Vladomir square in the chest. "...checkmate."

Emma couldn't believe it. She opened her mouth and...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Emma screamed as she was yanked back into reality.

"Emma! What's wrong?" Nick asked, deeply concered.

Emma was hypervenalating. "Ivan... he killed... Vladomir... He's... turning Ninjago... into... an empire!"

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed at once.

"Impossible!" Nya cried. "The last dynasty ended thousands of years ago at the end of the Age of the Stone Warrior!"

"But that's what I saw in this vision. He and Xavier... killing Vladomir... taking over."

They had no reason to doubt it. Every one of Emma's visions had come true up to this point. They just hadn't been so literal, always having been cryptic or unclear in the past. Everyone in the room was quiet as they all looked to Lloyd.

"Dad," Violet whispered, "what are we going to do?"

Lloyd only sighed. "I don't know. I don't know."

Back in Black Dragon Tower, Xavier dragged Vladomir's body into a corner of the room as Ivan looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the streets below. He then sat down in the chair that was now his. He pressed a button on the desk, and the largest screen in the room flickered to life. The face of Trenton Carson, Vladomir's old assistant, came into focus.

"Agent I? Is that you?" the runty man asked, squinting at the double agent through his glasses.

Ivan leaned back in the chair and smirked. "Yes, Carson, it's me. And I've succeeded in killing Vladomir. Ninjago is ours. I must thank you for your cooperation. You made the right decision to join me. As promised, you are my new advisor."

A satisfied expression spread across Carson's face. "It was my pleasure, Agent I. Or perhaps I should call you something else now?"

"In a few hours, 'your highness' is what you'll be calling me, once my takeover is underway."

"Very well. I'll contact General Gildman. I've already briefed him on the situation, and he's told me he'd be happy to reorganize the agency into your new army, as long as you promise to put him in charge of defense under your reign."

"Excellent! Turning this country into my empire will be so much easier that way. Tell the General he has a deal."

"I will."

"Oh, and Carson? One more thing."

"Yes?"

"Tell the General this will be a civil takeover. I want to look like a savior, not another ruthless dictator like Vladomir was."

Carson raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't expecting that from you, Agent I. Why be civil about this?" he asked in disbelief.

"Because, Carson, if I am a hated ruler, there will eventually be a rebellion, probably stirred up by the Ninja. But if I look like the hero that saved them from the Black Dragon reign, they will see no reason to get rid of me."

Carson smiled at this. "Agent I, you always were a clever one. I'll make sure General Gildman knows of your plan."

"Thank you, Carson. Call me again once our army has established a hold on Ninjago."

With that, the screen went black. Agent I closed his eyes. Finally, after years of plotting and working behind the scenes, he'd accomplished his goal of becoming ruler of Ninjago. No one, not even the Ninja, could stop him now.

(A/N) We'll see about that, Ivan. You've got an angry mob of reviewers after you, led by JayFan67 and Kairocksrainbow, wielding chainsaws and sledgehammers. XD

Thanks to Titanium Jay and Electro Zane, ebony umbreon, JayFan67, Kairocksrainbow, AveXCninja11, DragonWhisperer762, ninjagirl99204, and The Mayor of Ninjago City for your reviews last chapter! And an extra special thank you goes to JayFan67 for jogging my imagination in our PM conversation!

In other news, my vacation was AWESOME! We got to see Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, the Grand Tetons, Sioux Falls, Garden of the Gods, and more! It was GREAT to have a break from my little bros; they were at camp.

Another great thing is that I figured out what the Nightprowler's theme song is. X-Men: First Class, "True Colors". And Ivan's theme is X-Men: First Class, "Magneto". Go listen to them. THEY'RE PERFECT.

Review please!