Welcome back! Let's keep this train a'rollin'.

Yo, by the way. To anyone taking time out of their day to read this nonsense, thanks a bunch! We're gonna swing wildly back and forth between canon and HC for a bit, so just hang tight & hang ten.

Enjoy this one, which I guess is titled "King of Shadows" in the pilot episodes.

I added a non-canon sibling hug after Kai rescues Nya. 'Cause I'm the author and I CAN!

oOo

The expedition back to Ninjago is just as jarring and disorienting as the ride to the Underworld. Except this time, Nya gets to sit in the passenger seat instead of dangling off the back of a vehicle.

She strains to keep her eyes open, dying to catch the moment they cross over. But the car's going too fast, and the wind is biting her cheeks—

So she squeezes her eyes shut and holds on for dear life, swallowing the panicked shriek that almost jumps out when the vehicle bucks.

When Nya feels that it's safe enough to peek, the swirling purple vortex is fading into what looks like . . .

Pine trees.

She sits up, leaning over the edge of her seat. The ground is just a blur beneath them, rocks and shrubs smudging into blobs of color. The sky overhead is warm with the colors of dusk, peppered with little pinpricks of light.

Stars!

Nya can see stars. She can see sky again! Wow she's missed it.

Childlike awe bursts to life in her chest. It's like seeing the world for the first time. She just wants to touch everything and explore and run and scream.

Cool evening air rushes through her hair, messing it up even further. She lets it. Never again will she take the breeze for granted.

If she didn't know what's coming, she might even be happy.

But Nya glances to her left and sees the skeleton driving, sees the lifeless gleam in its eyes . . . and she remembers.

This isn't supposed to be fun. It's dangerous. Probably life-threatening. Nya doesn't even know where she's headed, much less what's gonna happen when she gets there.

Soon, the trees thin out, making room for a vast clearing. It narrows into a distinct, winding path, leading to—

"Whoa," Nya breathes, scooting forward.

That must be the Fire Temple.

It's nothing like she imagined. It's wayyy bigger, for one thing. And for another, it's built into a freaking volcano.

The ancient oriental architecture is stunning, glimmering in rich golds and reds. The beginning of a wonderstruck smile starts to curve Nya's mouth upwards until she realizes herself and stops.

The vehicle bumps across an eerie-looking bridge, which is suspended rather precariously over a river of lava.

"This volcano isn't active, is it?" Nya asks the driver.

No response. Not reassuring.

They roll through the entrance and continue halfway down a passage, walls lit by blazing torches. Further down, Nya can see a warm light, like maybe fire's burning somewhere. But then the skeletons drag her from the car and head in another direction.

Kruncha is there, bony hand around her wrist. He guides her through a series of dark tunnels, full of twists and turns. Nya tries to memorize the layout, but they switch directions too many times.

Finally, they emerge into a pocket of space. A tiny cave.

Toward the back, there's another narrow corridor, trailing deeper into the volcano. The cave itself is empty.

Down the mysterious hallway, Nya notices a bright glow. The air inside is noticeably warmer. Considering she's been shivering for two weeks, Nya's instinctively drawn to the heat, eyeing the passage curiously.

She turns to ask Kruncha about it, but he's gone.

Huh.

She can't say this is a welcome "change of scenery." Nya is uneasy. It's kind of like the feeling you get when you're standing near a steep drop-off. Sweaty palms, racing heart. A strange sense of weightlessness.

She edges closer to the hall, warming her hands in the draft of hot air. What's down there? Feels like the kind of heatwave that comes with opening an oven.

Nya can't see anything but the compelling glow, beckoning her forward. She thinks—

"Get away from there!" barks Kruncha, hurrying over to her. "If you get boiled ahead of schedule, Lord Garmadon will blame me."

Nya scurries back from the corridor. "It's not that hot, geez." A pause. "Wait, ahead of—what?"

"Never mind," the Skulkin replies. "Just—stay here." He points to a spot on the floor, a safe distance away from the threshold.

"Fine. Don't get your pelvis in a twist."

"My what?"

"Forget it."

Kruncha casts her an irritated glance before clonking around the corner and disappearing into the shadows.

Intuitively, Nya backs against the far wall and curls up. The cramped, crowded suffocation is back, mocking her.

"Why's it always gotta be caves?" Nya mutters, settling in.

Something big is coming. The anticipation hangs in the air. Anticipation . . . among other things. Nya's feeling a little nauseous.

The Fire Temple is pretty cool, though. She tries to focus on that. She wonders what it's meant for—surely not just holding hostages. The interior is probably awesome. Too bad she can't explore it.

The way out is right there. Unguarded.

She could totally just . . .

But the corridors are a labyrinth. As much as Nya wants to go back outside, she's not interested in becoming hopelessly lost here.

Now, she waits.

When is Kai coming? Is he coming here? Where's this supposed Sword of Fire? Will the Skulkin drag her somewhere else tomorrow? Or will they leave her?

Nya groans at all the mystery. She rolls onto her side. Might as well get some much-needed rest while she's alone.

It can only go up from here, right?

oOo

To Nya's chagrin, things end up going down—quite literally.

She's only asleep for a short time. Not long enough to feel muchmore energized. The rude awakening comes in the form of something very heavy and very uncomfortable.

Nya opens her eyes, but everything's dark.

She sits up fully, blinking groggily. There are at least three Skulkin with her now, none of them familiar. They're buzzing with urgency and purpose.

Danger hums in the air.

Nya pushes herself to her feet, finally realizing what's so inhibiting.

There's a thick, metal chain wrapped twice around her middle. The end of it trails off into some kind of archaic pulley system.

"Oh, good, you're up," a skeleton says offhandedly.

Nya turns in circles, tugging at the chain. "Hey, what gives?"

"Just following orders."

"Yeah, but it's not like I was going anywhere—"

Suddenly, the air around them acquires a certain briskness. Nya goes perfectly still.

"Kai? Kai?"

Her blood runs cold. That voice belongs to her, but she—

Nya scans the room frantically. The skeletons haven't noticed anything, and there's no one else here—

"Kai?"

That's undoubtedly her voice, but—she's not talking right now! There can't be two of her, that's not—

—possible . . .

It hits her like a car crash.

Garmadon's shadow.

He's luring Kai to the temple.

This must be the "bait" Garmadon talked about. But—then, what's she still doing here? They don't need her anymore.

"I have to go."

Nya flinches as the voice whispers in her mind again, ringing between her ears. It's her voice, but it's the creepy clone that Garmadon made of her. It's not real, just an illusion.

But . . . Kai doesn't know that.

After two agonizing weeks of never knowing what's going on, one can imagine the crippling shock when everything falls into place at once.

Garmadon took that shadow copy of me so he could use it to get to Kai. He knew Kai's looking for me, he must know where Wu's team is—

A skeleton nudges Nya forward. "Let's go."

"Where?" she asks, dazed.

The skeletons laugh. "Where d'you think?"

Her thoughts are still churning a mile a minute.

He's going to bring Kai here, where the Sword is. He needs Kai to retrieve it for him. But Kai would never give Garmadon the Sword. Not unless . . .

Not unless something important was at stake.

AKA, her.

Nya explodes in a panic, turning on her heel. The Skulkin are quick, though, snagging her by the arms. She twists and writhes, kicking against them as they haul her down the passageway.

"Lemme go, you—"

"Kai . . ."

That stupid voice again—

Nya thrashes against her captors, fighting. The air is so much hotter in here, and the end of the hall is getting very close. She can see that the warm glow is coming from a large hole in the floor.

"Nya!"

Her heart leaps, skipping a beat.

It's Kai, Kai is here.

The sound of his voice is such a welcome one that Nya forgets herself for a moment. Now she knows what all this "separation anxiety" stuff is about. It sucks.

"Don't worry, I'm right here, brother."

The last word is distorted, shifting ominously into Garmadon's sinister laughter. Nya struggles harder, opening her mouth to scream. A skeleton clamps a bony hand over her mouth, muffling it.

They're at the edge of the hole. Below is a pool of bubbling magma, and probably the Sword of Fire. She's been right above it this whole time, and now—

"Garmadon," she hears Kai snarl. Then he makes a dismayed sound.

"Forgot something?" Garmadon taunts.

How is he here? He can't be in Ninjago, he—

Unless his shadow abides by a different set of rules. Maybe he can project his own image here, too—not just shadow clones. Nya feels a tinge of relief. If it's just a shadow, Kai's not in any real danger—

"You can't hurt me here! You're banished. Trapped in the Underworld."

"And that is why you're going to remove the Sword of Fire for me."

Don't fall for it, Nya pleads, still flailing about. She lost too much strength in the Underworld, normally this would be a breeze—

"I don't think so," Kai growls.

Nya sends up a prayer of thanks. Good. Kai's not gonna do Garmadon's bidding, not while she's still alive and breathing.

Oh. That's the point, isn't it?

"Are you sure about that?" hisses Garmadon.

It happens too quickly for Nya to register. There's a dizzying eruption of terror at the feeling of two hands clamped on her shoulders. A skeleton says, "Nothin' personal."

A million fears and questions pile into Nya's head at once. Things like is this chain going to hold and Kai's eulogy is going to be a disaster and maybe I'll see my parents again—

There's a deep, yearning desire for home. Home, wherever that is. Nya just wants to go there. She never signed up for this. She's not ready to die—

Her stomach drops and she's falling.

The only coherent thought is that her "out of the frying pan, into the fire" joke is about to become much too literal.

Just when she's sure the heat has devoured her, Nya jerks to a wrenching halt; her torso throbs where the chain is digging in.

The world fades into focus and Nya blinks.

She's not dead! If she's alive, there's still a chance they can win this thing.

"Kai!" she yelps, woozy with a mixture of relief and despair. She wants out of here, for FSM's sake—

"Nya!" The horror in his voice is almost soul-splintering.

Garmadon's ginormous shadow appears on a wall. "If you don't remove the Sword, how else will you cut the chains to save your precious little sister?"

Again with the "little"! Nya's just about had enough of this guy.

"You know it's a trap," she calls, and Kai's wide eyes meet hers. She tugs at the chain. "I can—free my—self—okay, that's tight."

Her stomach performs an impressive somersault as the chain jerks even lower and she shrieks.

Kai's desperate "Nya!" is followed by Garmadon's chilling, "Tick tock, tick tock."

Nya's head is spinning. She's overheating up here, just a handful of feet away from imminent death. Her vision's gone a little hazy.

But she hears a cry of "Ninja go!" and sees a whirling tornado of sparks and flame come hurtling toward her. This is surely how she dies, there's no way—

Then the chain snaps and she's falling again—

Until two familiar arms are around her and there's fire flying everywhere and she's spinning and how is she not dead yet—

Her feet touch solid ground and Nya pitches over, landing next to an adrenaline-crazed Kai.

She lies there a moment, fighting to catch her breath and accounting for all of her limbs.

A hand grasps her arm, hoisting her up. Nya turns to see Kai. Their eyes lock for a breathless second and then she's crashing into him.

"Oh my god—Kai—oh my god—"

"Are you okay, did he hurt you—"

Garmadon's unhappy growling snaps them back to the present. They pull apart, Nya shrinking back. She doesn't want anything to do with Garmadon's shadow.

Her brother's expression falls as he shifts back into defense mode.

"Stay close," he warns.

"Trust me, I'm not going anywhere."

She's practically gripping the back of his shirt, hurrying to keep up as they advance steadily forward. After all that, Kai doesn't have to tell her twice. Nya's just happy to be alive.

To Garmadon, Kai declares, "You can't hurt us! You're only a shadow."

"Even shadows have their uses . . ."

That statement is incredibly cryptic, and Nya's observation skills have always been better than Kai's. That's why she notices the shadow creeping along the wall before he does.

"Kai, look out!"

He whirls around and starts, planting his feet more firmly. A shadow clone of him is charging for them.

"Stay back, Nya."

"Stay close, stay back—make up your mind," says Nya, even as she dives behind a nearby boulder. She doesn't have the energy to join him out there. Now that she's out of the Skulkin's clutches, Nya's body just wants to shut down.

When Kai takes a swing at his shadow duplicate, the sword passes right through it. Shadow Kai advances and overwhelms her brother with a few swift kicks.

Nya balks at the audacity. "That's not fair!"

She can hear the satisfied smile in Garmadon's voice. "Oh, am I being too hard?"

At his words, a whole army of Shadows appears, brandishing weapons. They can fight, but Kai can't fight back. Nya tenses, debating whether or not she should step in.

Kai's on his feet again, attacking with his usual vigor and determination. But the Shadows overpower him again and he goes sprawling. The Sword of Fire skids across the ground, only to be snatched by a Shadow.

Stressed, Nya grips the rock. The two of them stand a better chance than Kai does on his own, but this is looking like a fight they might not win. And Nya really doesn't want to die here, she's come too far for that.

As if on cue, another shadow appears along the wall—one that's strangely recognizable.

It takes out a few of the Shadows with a series of sharp movements—then it morphs into the shape of some giant bird. Its massive shadow-wings generate invisible gusts of wind, sending Kai's Shadow duplicates flying in every direction.

Nya takes this opportunity to help Kai to his feet. He casts her a grateful look, then his eyes catch on something across the room. Nya turns to see the old man—Wu.

There follows a myriad of chaotic events. Nya hides behind Kai, fending off the incoming wave of unrestrained panic. Too many loud noises and they're too close to a lava pool and she's too exhausted.

Garmadon says something about "the other three," and Nya thinks that must be the team she's heard so little about.

"My brother must not unite the four weapons! We must keep them apart," Wu bellows.

Though these shenanigans have been going on for quite a while, Nya feels like she just stumbled into the mess. All her previous fear had been centered around anticipating this very moment. But now—

Well, now there's a whole new set of problems. And she's afraid they might be here to stay.

"Awaken, Guardian of the Deep!" Garmadon yells suddenly, and the whole floor gives a mighty rumble. "They're stealing the Sword! You must not let them escape."

Nya edges closer to Kai as the interior of the volcano rattles, earthquake-level vibrations sending bits of rock crumbling down the ancient walls.

Fissures crawl and weave over the floor, splitting open into yawning cracks. A particularly jagged one passes right under Nya's foot and she leaps away hastily.

Wu tries to jump over to them, but his feet find themselves perched on the monstrous head of—

OH—

Nya's vision goes blurry and for a moment she teeters on the edge of consciousness.

That's—

It's a—

Blindly, Nya reaches for Kai's hand, just to feel it, to make sure she's not dreaming. Because—

The head rises out of the magma, revealing a real, live fire-breathing dragon. It rears up and delivers a deafening roar.

Nya screams, shielding her head. Pillars of stone collapse in front of the entrance, sealing them all inside. She doesn't know where to look or who to latch onto—everywhere she turns is another catastrophe.

"There's no way out," Kai panics. "He's taken away all our options."

The old man, looking grim, finds purchase on a stone moving through the magma. "All but one," he says.

He and Kai are shouting back and forth, the dragon is towering over everyone, the floor is ripping apart, and Nya is seconds away from accepting death with open arms. If they survive this, she won't know what to do with herself.

Her eyes never leave the dragon. It paces, huge clawed feet stomping into the unsteady earth. Its piercing, feral gaze is sizing her up, waiting for a sudden movement.

Her dad—he used to tell stories about dragons. Nya vaguely remembers something like that, maybe—

"Nooo!" Kai screams, and Nya whips around in time to see her brother fall to his knees.

"Then I will see you there, brother!" snarls Garmadon.

His shadow dives into the boiling depths and disappears.

Sensei Wu is gone. And so is the Sword of Fire.

Kai despairs, "This is all my fault! Sensei won't be able to hold up for long."

Nya's first thought is that none of this is Kai's fault; if anything, she should've been paying more attention to her surroundings. Maybe then she wouldn't have been kidnapped.

Her second thought is that she and Kai are in immediate mortal peril and he needs to get the hell up off the ground.

"Forget Sensei," she says. "What about us?"

The dragon, displeased at the commotion, roars again. Kai flies to his feet, angling himself in front of her as the animal's searing breath whooshes through their hair.

"Look for another way out!" Kai offers.

"There isn't another way out, you said—"

"What about the hole you fell through?"

Nya pulls a face. "Can you fly?"

"No—"

"Then I don't see how we can get back up there."

"What do we do?" Kai squeezes his eyes shut as another thunderous roar jostles them.

"You're asking me?"

The dragon whips its massive tail toward them and Kai throws both Nya and himself to the ground. The tail goes soaring over their heads, trailing hot wind in its wake.

Groaning, Nya rolls onto her back, pushing up onto her elbows. Her heart rockets into her throat.

"Move!"

She and Kai scramble away, seconds before one of the dragon's feet can trample over them.

Nya checks frantically behind her—she ended up on the opposite side of Kai. They're separated by the dragon's wingspan.

"It's the Sword's guardian," Kai calls. "And I think it's angry."

"Where's the Sword?"

"Sensei took it to the Underworld!"

"The Underworld?"

So that's what was going on while Nya's brain had been short-circuiting.

Logic fights for dominance, finally arriving in the foreground of her consciousness. Abruptly, Nya makes a startling connection.

If Sensei dropped into the Underworld, the Fire Temple must be some kind of waystation. Or if not, it's very close to the Underworld—a hotspot, of sorts (punny).

And dragons are supposed to be able to travel to the Underworld.

Theoretically, they're not in bad shape. The only thing they have to do is tame the dragon.

The creature in question is clearly unhappy with being outnumbered. It swoops its giant head down, roaring right in Nya's face. Then it lunges.

Nya screams, tossing herself to the right. The dragon's jaws snap shut over the air she'd just been occupying. Petrified, Nya darts back over to Kai, dodging pools of lava.

"The dragon can get the Sword back!" she cries over another reptilian screech.

"What?"

"We have to calm it down!"

"Calm down!" Kai yells at the dragon, unhelpfully. "We're not stealing the Sword!"

They receive an ear-splitting protest in return, as the winged guardian jumps back on its hind legs.

"It's the fire dragon," observes Nya. "Distract it with fire!"

"What fire?"

"Use your—sparkly tornado thing!"

"Spinjitzu—?"

"Whatever!"

Kai doesn't look hopeful, but he whips into an obliging funnel of flame. Nya steers clear. When all of this is over and done, she plans to grill Kai mercilessly about this strange new ability.

Amazingly, the tornado does seem to have a mesmerizing effect on the dragon. It pauses, amber eyes following Kai as he whirls in cautious circles—the surface area of their ledge is growing steadily smaller.

Nya sees her window of opportunity and goes for it.

She sidesteps Kai's tornado, keeping her hands out in front of her. It's crazy, but if they can get the dragon on their side, they might stand a chance.

Nya moves forward, eyes fixed on the prowling beast. Kai halts his spinning pyrotechnics and realizes, a moment too late, what his sister is plotting.

"Wait wait—" he hisses, grabbing for her arm. But Nya's already too far ahead.

Left without any distractions, the fire dragon fixes its stare on Nya. Shakily, she continues to advance, breaths slow and footsteps light. Kai is still protesting from behind—"Nya, I swear to FSM"—but she hardly hears him.

The dragon stomps with a crash and the ground shudders. Nya wobbles for balance.

"Easy, boy," she soothes. "Or—or girl."

This is one of those situations that requires an acceptance of fear. Anger won't tame a dragon. Anger won't get them out of here. She needs to be afraid. She needs to be afraid and do it anyway.

Take no shit, take no shit—

The mantra rings in her ears until it's louder than the dragon, louder than her own self-doubt.

"We're the good guys, I swear. We want to protect the Sword."

At the last word, the dragon's pupils dilate significantly. Nya takes a breath. It's listening.

"You want your Sword?" she asks.

The dragon levels its head at her, cocking it to one side. It growls—a deep, guttural sound in its throat. Much better than vicious roaring.

"We do, too," she continues. "But we need—"

"RAAAAAGGGHHH!"

Aaaaaand, they're back to square one.

Nya steps back a little, switching gears.

"Lord Garmadon is the bad guy, not us! He's gonna use the Sword for—really bad stuff!" The dragon quiets, observing her. "You can trust us, okay? My brother—he, uh . . . he loves fire. And you love fire. So that's a good place to start—"

"What're you doing?" laments Kai. "It can't understand you."

Nya ignores him, keeping her attention on the dragon. "You gotta help us get the Sword back. We're gonna take really good care of it, promise!"

The guardian lowers its head, the snout hovering mere inches from Nya's face. Kai's strangled noise accurately represents her discomfort, but to her surprise, she is not decapitated.

"We—" She inhales weakly. "We can work together, okay?"

The dragon is silent for a long moment, tilting its head at her. She remains perfectly still, too nervous to disrupt this fragile conjunction. They're in a bit of a time crunch here, and she's not sure how much longer they can wait.

Promptly, the apprehensive creature dips its head, exhaling twin puffs of smoke. Nya swallows, tensing as it nudges her in the stomach. The gesture seems tender, somehow. Like a truce.

"O-kay . . . are we good?" asks Nya, carefully reaching out a hand. The dragon doesn't move, so she rests her fingers on the snout.

A disbelieving laugh bubbles out. Nya turns to cast an exuberant look at Kai. He shakes his head, mystified.

The dragon bumps her again, peering around to give Kai the reptile-equivalent of a suspicious glare.

"Don't worry," Nya assures. "He's harmless. You two are practically twins."

"Very funny, sis."

Nya holds her hand out to Kai, who accepts it gratefully. Their new ally snorts, appeased.

It's the first breath of calm they've had in weeks. For once, Nya isn't scared of what's next. She's confident they're going to figure it out.

At this close range, and through the glow of magma, Kai gets his first good look at her. His expression softens in concern, then hardens again in rage.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Nya says. "Just—y'know. Collateral damage."

Kai reaches for one of the bruises on her arm. "How did—"

"It's fine. We have bigger problems—like getting out of here."

Resignedly, like he's planning to finish this conversation later, Kai backs away, hands in the air.

"Okay, okay. Got any more bright ideas?"

Nya grins, blinking between her brother and the dragon.

"Actually . . . yeah."