Bunny coughed softly as the group slowly trudged through swamp waters, the thick air clouding her it seemed. It almost hurt a bit to breath.
"Hey kid." Cole looked back at her with concerned eyes, leading with her right behind him. "You need to take a breather?"
"N-no...No..."
"Hm.." Kim-Ly was right behind the Nature Ninja, acting as a back up to the two in front of her. If something attacked she could aid in the offensive attack with Cole, while Bunny took the weapon away.
"Really...! I'm good...!"
"Just hurry it up." Kai huffed, glaring a bit. "If we stay here too long, we'll get ambushed."
The group fell into a small silence of agreement as they tried to get through the swamp quicker..Only for them all to stare in wonder once they got to their destination.
In the middle of the swamp, among numerous plant life, stood a weeping willow. The tree shrouded out the area from sunlight, casting a dark shadow over them all as sunlight glittered through the leaves.
In it's highest branches, entangled in many vines, was the Golden Meteor Hammer.
"We'll make sure you don't get hit, Bunny." Jay blurted out from behind her, and the Nature Ninja could only nod..Before gulping as she started to climb the tree, slipping many times.
"Of come on...!"
"Kai...!" Cole glared at the Fire Ninja, frowning as Zane went over to Bunny.
"Allow me." He hummed, carefully pushing the Nature Ninja up. With a bit of added height, she managed to grab a hold of a vine, and hang on.
"T-thanks..." Zane smiled, nodding his head as the blonde slowly managed to shimmy up the vine.
Crossing the bumpy wood, clinging to both branches and vines...She finally managed to get to the Golden Weapon, and paused as she looked at it.
A golden weapon, two spheres acting as the driving force for offense...One one of the spheres was the picture of a flower, and the other was an odd feather.
Strange...
With a gulp she started to carefully snap and pull apart the vines that entangled the mystical weapon.
She knew that she would have to run as soon as she grabbed it, and would have to run out of there.
Behind her though, she heard it. The others were starting to have to fight as the skeletons finally found them.
Once only a few vines were left, Bunny nodded her head, glancing around to ensure that she was safe...Before nodding, and yanking the weapons out of-
Her heart beat dropped as from the other side of the vines, within what she thought had been the tree..Two eyes seemed to open up, shinning a bright green. For a moment, Bunny froze, and felt an odd...Shift, it seemed.
She stared at the dragon, and it stared right back. Neither of them dared to move...That is, until the glowing green eyes glared at her and the dragon's mouth unhinged.
At this sign, she quickly rushed out, and ended up tripping over the vines. She screeched, falling into the water as the tree started to untangle itself.
"Bunny...!" Zane yelled out, using his Golden Weapon to form an ice bridge so that the Nature Ninja could run on it. Thankfully, it was much easier to go through than the murky water.
Thus, like dignified chickens, the Ninjas ran out of the area before the Dragon lost interest in the skeletons.
Kim-Ly hummed as the group slowly entered a deserted mining area, taking in a deep breath..Before sighing quietly, closing her eyes. This was nice...A nice and proper mine, not some convoluted one made by the skeletons.
Each Ninja dawned a hard hat as the Metal Ninja entered the opening, her hand skimming along the walls.
As they began to go deeper and deeper though, the same feeling that she had felt quickly disappeared. This wasn't at all like the one back at him.
At home her miners would sometimes be jauntily laughing or singing. Hell, one of the men used to be a musical instructor before he was fired...They'd have a good time during breaks, and during the holidays their mine would be lively with harmless pranks.
Sure, she never participated in it...But it left her with a warm fuzzy every time she heard someone in her community be happy.
It was a feeling that her father would point out to be her 'happiness'...She pointed out that he was disillusioned by pain medicine.
The thick silence that had fallen over the group was shattered as they heard the skeletons enter the caves also.
Cole looked to the group. "Kim-Ly and Jay, you two go get the weapon, the rest of us will cover for you guys."
"You got it Cole...! C'mon, Kim!"
"..It's Kim-Ly."
With that the two of them started to run down the mines a bit further. The worker-placed stilts gave way to an actual carved out cave...Before coming up to a menacing metal door.
"After you, m'lady."
"...Yeah." The Metal Ninja sighed, before quickly doing Ninjago, and tearing through the door. Coming out of it though, she was wincing, shards and flecks of the metal ripping at her skin.
However her pain subsided for a moment as she looked up, and basked in the glory that was before her.
The mine seemed to be a completely reflective area, every angled wall pure metal. There wasn't even a merging point to be see, just natural looking corners...Above, embedded into the wall, was the Dragon resting with it's belly to the ceiling.
It's neck craned back, with it's tail up so that between the two points floated a pair of Golden Gauntlets.
"Go for it, Kim!"
"It's Kim-Ly."
However she didn't wait a second. She and Jay ran to the center of the room, where he hoisted her up to snatch the weapon.
The Metal Ninja didn't waste any time in watching, grabbing her Lightning companion and running out of the room, not looking back.
The climb up the Nunchuck Monument in the floating ruins was rather amazing. Kim-Ly couldn't help but love the fact that the lightning was most likely acting as a conductor and-Wait...Conductor?
...
She pulled down her hood slowly, peeking underneath, and huffed when she saw that her hair was already in static-mode. Oh joy...
With a nod she carefully continued climbing up the monument with the others.
"We're being followed!" Zane's statement made everyone glance back, blinking in surprise at the skeletons..
"Let's go!" For once, no one contradicted Jay's statement, and all followed him.
Bunny, meanwhile, was having the most difficulty. She constantly slid and almost fell off the metal once or twice. She ended up actually just having to cling onto Cole or Kim-Ly's back for most of the climb.
Once they got to the top though, she was left clinging to the side as Jay rejoiced in getting his nunchucks...And listened as quickly gave a not so enthusiastic sound as the Lightning Dragon appeared.
Going with their plan though, the Lightning Ninja turned and jumped off, soon followed by his other companions.
Bunny watched as the boys fell, before tensing up as she finally looked down... Oh..Oh boy this..This was a big jump...
Maybe she should just-
She blinked when a hand gently held her's, and looked over at the calm Kim-Ly. "...We gotta go."
... "Y-yeah.."
"I got you."
The phrase seemed rather half-hearted..But still, it did mean a bit to Bunny. With a small nod, the two of them jumped off. As they fell, they pulled the strings on their backpacks, unleashing Jay's inventive wings.
With the aid of the invention, they easily departed from the scene.
~X~
The group had taken a moment to set up a little camp fire, with Cole playing on the drums as Kai and Jay danced. Bunny softly giggled, smiling as she sat and watched them. Zane and Kim-Ly watched over the group, a bit indifferent, yet still present.
"C'mon Sensei, join us...!" The Fire Ninja grinned at their teacher.
However, Sensei Wu was not pleased by their eagerness to relax though.."There is still one weapon left! We must get our sleep!"
"Ugh, Sensei! Look, you gotta admit, we're kicking their boney butts!" Jay exclaimed, earning a few smiles of agreement from all but Sensei Wu and Kim-Ly...The Metal Ninja was still wearing her hood down, her hair most likely still charged.
"Get up here! Show us some moves!" Kai encouraged the bearded man, who looked thoughtful for a moment..
"Mnn..I...Guess I could.." Bunny happily clapped at the development, grinning as Sensei Wu stood. "Now, this move is special."
"But if done incorrectly, will it lead to dangerous consequences?" Zane asked, with all but the Metal Ninja and himself laughing.
"Zane...!" Kai beamed softly through his laughter. "Is that a joke...? A sense of humor? You found it..!"
"Good job, Zane." Bunny smiled, nodding as she and the others happily watched Sensei Wu do his silly little dance.
Grace shakingly stood, looking up at her Uncle as they came to the end of another session. She was painfully pale, sweating as even standing seemed to take so much out of her.
"Come now Grace, already going to give up?"
"N-No.." She shook her head, glaring through her blurring vision. "I'm not...Backing down..!"
"Hm...Too bad."
"Wait..Wh-" She gasped as he simply kicked her back, making her fall into a cage that the skeletons were just now dragging in. The cold metal was calming as she pressed against it.
"Please, forgive me, my student. But I can't have you interrupting my plans due to a change of heart..Though, once I have the weapons, I will ensure that you are properly trained."
The Destruction user blinked slowly, feeling time slow down as she watched Lord Garmadon go into the distance as her cage was pulled away.
Back at the camp, things were still peaceful. All the ninja that were there were sleeping, oblivious to what was occurring in the Fire Temple.
And oblivious to the skeletons as they approached, before it was too late.
Kim-Ly and Cole had fallen asleep near the fire pit, the two on opposing ends. When the Metal Ninja was grabbed by her shoulders and dragged, she did her best to pick up a rock and throw it at Cole...
Only for him to be caught also.
It wasn't long until the three males and Kim-Ly were tied up. Zane and Cole were upside down, while the other two were right-side up...
"Wait, where is the other one?" One of the skeletons asked it's companion, who shrugged.
However, Samukai was busy with other things. Such as holding up the Golden Weapons, the gauntlets on his two top hands with the Meteor Hammer around his neck. " I believe these belong to Lord Garmadon now..!"
The surrounding skeleton army cheered as the ninjas were strung up, suspended in the air by a rope.
Once the ninja seemed to be secure, Samukai grinned at his troups. "To the Fire Temple!"
"Yeah!"
As the army cheered, a shadow appeared with red eyes, glaring at Samukai. "My brother has taken the Sword of Fire to the Underworld. Hurry! Return home and unite the weapons before it's too late!"
Once the shadow departed, Samukai awkwardly turned to his troops... "Uh...change of plans. To the Underworld!"
With that, the army continued it's celebration. One skeleton though, Nuckal, oddly had his sword replaced with a stick..His companion, Kruncha, pointed this out. "What happened to your weapon?"
Neither questioned though as the skeleton troops gathered into their vehicles, and raced away, leaving the ninja behind.
"Great..." Cole sighed out, frowning. "Now what?"
"Now I uhm.." Kim-Ly and Jay had been staring above them ever since Nuckal's sword had disappeared, and for good reason. Hidden above in the tree's canopy, was Bunny, who wielded the skeleton's sword... "I get you guys out..."
"Uh, Bun..? Before you do that, you might wanna..." The Earth Ninja was cut off as Bunny cut the rope, causing the four ninja to fall. "Warn us."
"O-Oh my gosh, I'm so-"
"You did good." Kim-Ly huffed as they slid out of the rope, with Zane leading the charge.
"Let's go!"
As the boys started off, the Metal Ninja looked to her Nature companion...Knowing that she most likely couldn't run all that fast...
Kim-Ly carefully squatted a bit in front of Bunny.. "Get on."
"A..Are you-"
"Get on."
~X~
Kim-Ly glared through the wind as she jumped from tree to tree, Bunny clinging to her back. The boys were a bit ahead of them, with Jay soon going for a more running advantage.
"There they are!" Cole proclaimed, pointing out the skeleton vehicles. The Earth Ninja was quick to go towards the fleeing enemies. With ease he jumped down, grabbing the chain of the jeep that contained the Golden Weapons.
Zane was next, hopping on top of the jeep and ducking in time, distracting the two guards atop...Only for them to be butted off due to a tree.
In the front, Jay appeared, using his nunchucks to take out the two front guards.
"Goin' down." Was all the warning Bunny got before the Metal Ninja jumped off her tree, and onto one of the dune buggies that the skeleton guards used. While the stronger of the two managed to punch the bone head off, Bunny took the steering.
The Nature Ninja managed to easily drive the machine and going around the back of the larger machine. She nodded to Jay as he tried to get the Golden Weapons out of chains. "Kim-Ly!"
The blonde had pointed out the other dune buggy user, and Kim-Ly nodded. With a grunt she leaped from Bunny's vehicle to the skeleton's, and took it out..Only for both of them to yell when Samukai threw a Skeleton from the driver's seat, and the two had to veer off course.
By the time the two had regained control, and caught up...They found the three boys, and a blowing spot in the mountain...
Jay whimpered out something, his voice hoarse as thunder struck...Cole sighed out. "You don't need to say it, I know..We lost."
"No we haven't...!" Bunny's sudden voice in the group made them all look at her in shock...She blinked in surprise, and ducked her head a bit... "..Since day one, we've done nothing but..But train..And I..I'm not willing to-to believe that we should just give up..! Not after all those hours we spent, n-not after all those blisters we got...Not after all that..We can't just lose...We're the good guys for crying out loud..Good guys don't lose."
...
"C'mon." Kim-Ly nodded in agreement to Bunny. "She's right...We should go to the Fire Temple.."
"That could be where Sensei Wu and Kai are...!" Cole nodded, looking at his group. "Let's go!"
Cole got on with Kim-Ly, who quickly took off, while Jay and Zane boarded with Bunny.
~X~
"Cole?"
"Yeah Kim-Ly?"
"I have a confession.."
"Uhm...Okay?"
"I don't know how to stop this thing."
"WHAT?!"
"I don't know how to drive it."
"THEN HOW-"
"The skeleton who was in here, his foot's still on the gas."
"KIM-LY!"
"We're gonna crash."
Cole gave an exasperated groan, picking up Kim-Ly and actually jumping off of the rampaging bike...Before it went through the Fire Temple's open gate, and into the lava.
"..Thank you."
Cole nodded, putting her down. Once she was safe, the male quickly ran to the Fire Temple's closed door. "Kai! Sensei!"
The other ninja soon followed him, with Zane staying a few feet back as he took off his hood. "The Sword of Fire was here, as well our friends, but I only sense loss. We are too late. The elemental weapons have left this realm and are now in the Underworld. The end is drawing near..."
"No.." Bunny frowned, tearing up.
"Ugh...Great." Cole huffed, sitting down on the steps of the Temple. "The one place no mortal can cross over..."
"We might not be able to cross over..." Kai's voice resognated from within the Temple. Each of the ninja backed up a bit as the large building opened up, showing Kai and Nya...Riding a...A...A dragon..?! "...But a dragon can."
When it let out a mighty roar, Cole gave a frightened shriek, and jumped behind the door for cover.
Nya nodded her head in agreement with her brother. "Our father used to tell us stories about the dragons and the rest of the creatures that belong to both worlds and buried between them."
"Are you insane?!" The Earth Ninja asked through a fearful chuckle.
"Once he realized we were trying to protect the Sword of Fire, he actually became quite a softie..." As Kai teased the dragon after he and his sister jumped off, he gave a small laugh as the large head nudged him. "Knock it off...!"
Nya gave a little giggle at her brother's actions, and Jay decided to be smooth, and try to ask her something...When no one understood, Zane helped him out. "He cannot talk, but he wants to know if you like blue."
"It's my favorite color."
"Yes." Bunny grinned at Jay's reaction, giggling.
"I see a love blossoming~"
Kai frowned, shaking his head at the other's antics...Before he looked to his sister with a sorrowful gaze... "Nya..."
"This is goodbye, isn't it?" He nodded his head. "Come back to me in one piece, okay? I don't wanna have to run the store on my own..."
"I promise I won't be gone for long." Kai gave a small lunge as he jumped back onto his dragon.
"I'll keep a candle lit outside our shop until you return." Jay and Zane swiftly got onto the Dragon as Nya spoke, with Kim-Ly edging Bunny towards it...Cole however..
"You guys go on ahead. There's not enough room for all of us on that..Thing."
Yet, Kai seem to have a plan.. "You're right, Cole. But I got a way to fix that."
Jay was a bit worried as he approached the top of the nunchuck monument. In fact, he looked ready to run back to the group when his dragon appeared..
Yet, after a moment, he ended up laughing as the Dragon nudged him a bit.
Bunny gulped as she approached the swamp's willow again, the once-hidden dragon now in view. Dark brown in color with leaves and vines to create it's wings and spikes..
..Cautiously, she held out her hand to it, shaking in fear..Yet when the dragon blinked at her, and put it's snout to her hand she..She felt...Calm...
Kim-Ly didn't bat an eyelash as she entered the metal mine again, and went to the room where she had ran out. She stared up at the large silver and ore-decorated dragon, who stared back at her...
"...Let's go."
With a nod, the Dragon followed her out after bursting open the rest of the metal door.
Zane smiled a bit as he entered the Ice Mountain, having seen all of his friend's successes. He was calm and collected, smiling softly as the Ice Dragon approached him..
Yet after just a moment of silence between the two, and the Ice Ninja petting the Dragon's snout, they went out.
"You can NOT make me go in there!"
"Cole.."
"No way! No how! NUH-UH!"
"Cole."
"No, jus-NO!" ...Kim-Ly looked to the group, who nodded to her..She rolled up her sleeves. "Wait-Kim-Ly? What are you-"
She grabbed the male, and did her best to hold him as he struggled. She inched into the Cave, with Kai and Zane helping her hold him a bit. "NONONONONONONONO! LET ME GO! YOU GUYS THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"
"Eeeh..I could disagree with you on that-"
"SHUT UP KAI!"
They ended up dragging Cole into the Dragon's Den, and it sort of just stared at them..Before nipping at the back of Cole's ninja attire, and carried the flailing male out.
Once the ninja had acquired their dragons, each of them were high in the sky, most of them enjoying their time...
Most.
"Easy...N-not so fast..." Cole whispered out to his dragon, shaking.
"Y-you..You won't let me fall..Right?" Bunny asked her dragon, who shook it's head. "Oh thank goodness..."
Jay was having a blast. "Whoa! This is awesome!"
"Hm..." Kim-Ly hummed as her and her dragon glided through the air, with Zane sharing her enthusiasm..Yet with him, he actually sounded a bit happy.
"Yes. This is quite fun.""
"So how do the dragons cross over to the Underworld?" The Earth Ninja yelled, facing backwards in his seat to not look at his dragon.
"I think were about to find out...!" Kai yelled as the dragons all nose-dived, starting to rapidly spin as a golden vortex appeared in the ground.
They all shot through it, and Cole opened his eyes that he had kept clenched. "I-Is it over?"
"It's never over.." Kim-Ly sighed out as Kai agreed with her. Though, she had to admit..The tunnels of glowing gems did spark her interest.
"Hardly. I hope these dragons know what they're doing...!" The dragons soon split up, with Kai, Cole, and Kim-Ly going one path and Jay, Bunny, and Zane the other. Thankfully though, the split didn't last too long...However, Kai and the others were a bit panicked also as the dragons started to increase speed. "They're speeding up! Hold on!"
There was a moment of silence as everything went black.
Mayhemb; I'll cut things off right there for now, and I'll see all of you in the next chapter! See ya!