The Preeminent was upon the waters.
Darkened waves crashed against each other, as the dawn of the new day was covered in an eerie green mist. The waters illuminated by the glow of the mothers singular, glowing eye. It had barely been an hour since The Preeminent, the living embodiment of the cursed realm, had been unleashed by Morro, in a bid to curse all life on Ninjago. The city of Stix that rested upon the shoreline had been devastated when The Preeminent emerged from the Realm Crystals portal.
While The Ninja had managed to evacuate the city's residents, getting them aboard an old steamboat, their fuel rapidly depleted as they drifted further away from the destroyed village. The Preeminent was creative however. Sending its hordes of ghosts to attach bits of housing and planks to its lower limbs. Allowing it to traverse the shallow waters undisturbed by the water. It creeped slowly towards the boat, as its slimy tendrils and tentacles creeped forward, like a sea serpent enclosing its wayward prey in for an attack.
Morro, master of wind, and first student Sensei Wu, stood atop the Preeminents upper portion. Looking down upon the ship with a look of confirmed victory. For years his anger festered within his cursed soul, as he gathered allies in the realm of the undead. Every single fool who had ever ended up there was a mere pawn in his new masters game. While he could've gone after his old sensei and his students alone, he knew there would be no greater revenge then to plunge the realm his father had created into chaos, as he slowly cursed him and his loved ones to the same fate that had befallen himself. He wiped the grin off his own face, looking down towards the boat, preparing to offer them a deal.
"Hear me residents of Stix! I've leveled your city into nothing but rubble and wood. Surrender, hand over The Ninja.. And my master will transform you into loyal minions, in exchange for your lives. Serve us! And never again will you have to fear for your lives!"
The citizens of the shoreline city all looked around at each other. None of them could gauge the distance they would need to travel in order to escape The Preeminents grasp, but none of them wanted to consider Morros offer either. The Ninja stood in front of the lines of people, not wanting to give in. They all turned to each other, trying to think of an escape plan.
Wu spoke first. "Nya! You're our only hope! We can use your power to force The Preeminent into the trench!"
"What!? I- no! I've barely gotten a hold of my powers! We've come too far for it to all come to me! She replied. While she had come to terms with the fact that she no longer had to restrict herself with her Samurai X persona, she was sure her power wouldn't be nearly enough to stop the hulking ghoul that was moving towards them. Jay picked up on the pressure and commented on it.
"Yea Sensei! Maybe we could dump a trunk of traveler's tea onto it and teleport it to another realm?"
Wu sighed. "I mean in the short-term Jay. We have 0 leaves of travelers tea, let alone The Realm Crystal."
"I don't like it either though! There has to be something else we can do." Chimed in Kai.
"No.. Sensei's right. I need to defeat that thing if we're gonna save Lloyd!"
Morro grew frustrated when they did not respond to his offer. "I'm tired of waiting! Give up or sink below the trench of The Endless Sea!"
Nya walked to the front of the boat, raising her hands, and harnessing the full extent of the water in front of her. Thinking back to her fondest and hardest memories. Growing up with few memories of her mother and father, meeting her friends for the first time, creating Samurai X, and fighting alongside her brother when Ninjago was under attack. No matter what, she knew there would always be a glimmer of hope that resided in-...
…Her vision faded. She could no longer see the salty water that shared the green hue of the ghost. She couldn't see anything for that matter, before her eyes were filled with horrific visions. Simultaneous and incomprehensible. People, places, objects, fights, events, hardships, triumph, and solidarity of times long past, and futures that could be. She was met with images of a destroyed Ninjago. Leveled to the ground as The Preeminent ravaged through the city. Not a single living soul could be seen. All hope faded from her mind, as the story of her life ended with the visions of the future. Lloyd was gone. All of Ninjago would fall. And it would be her burden to carry, as the water she had amassed before her grew in size.
Ronin, the pesky shopkeep who had been there since the start of her training as the master of water, walked up to her, waving a hand in front of her face. "Nya! Maybe it'd be a good idea to move the water behind them and not in front of the boat? We want to push them into the sea! Not back to shore!"
Nya did not respond. A massive wall of water stood before the boat, and the Preeminent. Preventing it from destroying the vessel. It attempted to claw at the wall with its tendrils of green and blue, only to be met with a stinging pain that enveloped its entire body.
As Nyas' vision returned, her eyes filled with tears. As she dropped to the ground, unconscious. The wall of water fell, pushing the boat forward, over, and past the trench, and The Preeminent flying into the harsh walls of the mountains that surrounded Stix. Its legs dragged across the remains of Stix, destroying what remained of the city.
"NO!" Morro yelled, As he turned to his master, as its weakened torso was sprawled across the shore. While it'd be nowhere near deceased, its weakened state prevented a pursuit of the ship, as it floated into the endless sea.
"Nya!" Kai yelled. Running to his sister and pushing Ronin away.
"Jeez Kai! Look on the bright side! At least that things stuck on land while we're floating out-"
"Quit it!"
"Alright alright.." Ronin backed off. He had been through enough, having lost his store, and most of his earnings. All for a shallow victory.
"Nya.. Please wake up! I've come too far to lose you!"
Nya remained still. As the waters around them settled, and the ship came to a halt.
Wu walked over, placing a hand on her head. "She'll be fine for now. But.. I'm not sure when she'll wake up."
"But what about my son?" Misako asked.
Wu didn't know how to respond. With The Realm Crystal firmly in Morros possession, any chance of Lloyds return disappeared.
"It may take some time, but we will find him. We need to evacuate Ninjago City before the ghosts get there."
"But how? Itd take a large amount of effort to get the entire ship to Ninjago City, let alone even more vessels to get them off of the island. Where would we go after the fact?" Zane asked.
"I still do not know.. I can only hope Lloyd isn't having worse luck than us."
"Oh! Isn't that a nice thought. Lloyds in the middle of nowhere while we're also in the middle of nowhere! I hope your happy Nya isn't here to tell me to be less cynical!" Jay joked.
Zane rolled his eyes at the sentiment. "Sensei, I believe I have an idea. If Ronin brings R.E.X to our current location, we could fly to Ninjago City, warn the citizens, and get rescue boats to come to our aid. I am still unsure as to where we could go."
"I think I have a solution to that problem." Misako scrawled a map of Ninjago onto the floorboards. She pointed to the Dark Island.
"The Dark Island has more than enough room to house the refugees. And since the Realm Crystal is a creation of The First Spinjitzu Master, and The Dark Island has an immunity to creation, Morro won't be able to use The Crystal to bring him, or The Preeminent onto the island. That is if he finds our location."
"Sound plan." Ronin said. "I'm wondering how long it'd be until they come up with another plan though."
"No time to think about it. Ronin, can R.E.X get here in time?"
"Say no more old man! I got you covered." Ronin whistled 3 notes, as R.E.X appeared over the horizon. Ronin climbed in.
"I could bring Nya with me if you want. She looks like she could use a doctor."
"That'd be much appreciated."
"Wait!" Jay cut in. "I need to go with you!"
"Sorry bluey. I don't think R.E.X's got enough room for 3 people."
"Please.. I won't leave her again!"
Ronin looked to Wu for a Confirmation. Wu nodded his head, and Ronin turned back to Jay. "Alright. Take her and hop on."
Jay took Nya and put her in the cockpit, waving goodbye to the rest of the Ninja. R.E.X took off from the boat, and disappeared into the horizon.
Back at the shores, Morro looked at the destroyed state of The City. Clenching his fists in anger. "GAH! They got away and left our base of operations destroyed!"
The other ghosts went up to Morro. Bansha prepared to speak, before being cut off by Ghoultar. "Blah blah blah! No more work! We won! More party!"
Morros anger grew. "We lost! Retreating just makes it a draw!"
"Ghoultar still wants payment!"
Morro had enough. Grabbing Ghoultar by the throat, and shoving him into the water. Ghoultar disappeared in a green mist, as Morro looked back up at the other ghosts. "There will be no breaks until Ninjago city is a giant crater! Once The Preeminent is up, we will charge Ninjago city!"
The ghosts all cheered, as work began to prepare for the coming battle. Morning came to Ninjago, as the green hue left the waters. But all who survived knew the battle was far from over.