Disclaimer: Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and Legends of Chima are both own by LEGO Company.
Deep within the perilous scorpion cave, the dust settles as silence overtakes the cavern. All eyes were drawn to the piles of rock and debris that had once been a passageway. A sharp gasp breaks the silence, shocked at what he saw, or more accurately what he didn't.
"NOO!" Cragger yells in distress, looking on at the last place his friend had been before the cave-in. "Laval, are you okay?" Eris cries out hopefully, the eagle on the verge of tears as she looks upon the crossfire's outcome. But they weren't the only ones watching, "Surrender now. You cannot beat us. We have more soldiers, more weapons, and most of all... more chi!" the scorpion king brags maliciously, showing an orb of chi.
While the crawlers stay back for now, the heroes are rightfully cautious, "Y'know, he makes a compelling argument." Bladvic says fearfully. "We'll. Never. Surrender!" Cragger states simply, his anger barely contained. But dude! Where are we supposed to get more chi?" Gorzan asks the others, worried about their chances of success.
While this is happening, outside in Lavertus's lair, another conversation is taking place. "Lavertus! You sure we can't do anything to help our friends out?!" Rhinona pleaded with the exiled warrior, but his mind would not be sway. "Never! Not if Crominus is there," he shouted the fury palpable in his tone, and a deep anger in his eyes, anger mixed with sorrow.
"What do you have against the crocodile king anyway?" the young rhino asked, having noticed the hidden pain within his eyes. "He ruined everything for me!" he tells her harshly, the pain growing as memories resurfaced. "If it wasn't for Crominus, well..." he sighs, the floodgates opening as he retold his tale.
"A long, long time ago, I was in love with a young crocodile princess named Crunket. But a prince from one of the other royal families also loved her. His name was, Crominus." Lavertus explained, thinking back fondly at his past, a time when he could stroll side by side with his beloved, a time were a scheming Crominus spied on them from the trees. "And he was very, very jealous. So, Crominus obtained the seeds for a very rare and powerful flower. It is called, the persuader plant, and it will only grow in a certain part of the crocodile swamp. One sniff from that magic flower, and I had to do everything he said." he told her, remembering encountering the young croc and getting a face full of pollen.
"I command you to stay away from Princess Crunket." Crominus had said, whispering into his ear. "The persuader plant worked for a while. But sometimes, love is more powerful than magic." Lavertus said, remembering the time he forced himself to snap out of the trance, in order to be with his beloved. Much to Crominus frustration who growls more angrily once he sees the spell wares off Lavertus.
"But Crominus had another plan." Lavertus continues, eyes hollowed as he remembers what happened next. "I command you to steal all the chi." The prince had spoken into his ear once again, and with that, his fate was sealed. "I had no choice. Crominus knew I would be exiled for this crime." He explained, the sorrow in his voice returning as he recalled the moment the spell wore off, the look in his brother's eyes as he was surrounded by the guards, and the dread he felt once he dropped the chi into the pool and was sent to exile.
"If I ever told the lions how a croc made me steal chi, the tribes would battle for sure! My sweet, sweet princess would get dragged into the hostility." he told, thinking back at a sobbing Crunket bidding farewell with a hug, handing him her pink scarf as something to remember her by. "I could not let her get hurt, so I kept my secret, and went into exile, for love. Crominus eventually married my princess and became king. He got the girl and the tribe. All I got was... This scarf." He finished, practically spitting the last words, as past emotions flooded through him, and his tale ended.
"That's awful. I'm so sorry you had to live through that." Rinona told him sympathetically, feeling for the poor lion's misfortune. "I haven't "lived" since that day," Lavertus revealed all pretense of the quirky guy lost as he laid himself bare before his young listener. "I understand, but you can't let some old grudge stop you from helping us. If you really want to fix this, take all that golden chi in your secret room there, save my friends, and finally, confront Crominus about this, make him understand your sacrifice!" Rinona told him, urging him to help once again, and this time Lavertus listened, a thoughtful growl escaping him.
Back inside the scorpion caves, the heroes had gotten nowhere, still discussing a way forward. Fed up with all the rambling, Cragger cried out "We can't stay here! We've got to see if Laval is okay!" he told the others, eager to get going. "I'm not worried about that liar! And you two covering for him!" Woriz snapped back, still unsure how to feel about the new development. "Hey! Laval never lied; he just didn't tell anyone." Cragger tried to defend, embarrassing himself slightly as the others glared at him.
Seeing that this was getting there nowhere, Eris intervened, "Hey, Laval helped each of you find your legend beasts. You can't abandon him now that he needs your help with the lion beast." She pointed out harshly, glaring back at her so-called friends, so eager to leave behind one of their own for something he couldn't have known. They had all made mistakes during the war, some more than others, yet none held it against them so why could they not do the same for Laval.
Her words managed to reach the others, all of them contemplating before agreeing to help. "Yeah! We started this together, we'll end it together! So come on!" Cragger called out, leading the charge as they all rushed into battle atop their beasts. "Okay, fine. But I'm only fighting for you guys, not Laval!" Woriz called from the back, being the last one to join the fight.
The heroes fight their way through the crawlers and towards the entrance of the room where the lion beast is kept captive, stopping because they don't see him anywhere. "Laval?" Eris cried out, the worry heavy on her voice. "Where is he?" Cragger wondered aloud, he too worried for his buddy. Suddenly, bats screech from behind, blasting at the heroes in a frenzy.
Meanwhile, further up ahead, Laval wakes up and stands, walking over to a little pond with the lion legend beast stranded on a tiny island. He gasps excitedly, "Legend beast? Legend beast! Are you okay?!" he asks the beast from across the pond, the beast responding with a fearful roar at the water surrounding him.
"No chains, no guards, just water. Just like every other lion, you can't swim." Laval realises, looking at the situation before him, the beast growling in agreement. But Laval was not discouraged, "Don't worry! I'll save you! I still have one orb of chi left!" he exclaims, showing him an orb of chi. The lion roars, seeming like he doesn't want him to plug it.
"What? This chi won't help? Use the chi that's inside all of us?" Laval hears the beast say, imparting his wisdom upon the young prince. But Laval doesn't understand, "What does that mean?" he tries to ask, knowing he would get no answer, as he tries to decipher the meaning behind the message.
Back in the main chamber, the bats are still screeching as the fighting continues. Gorzan hits away his enemies after he has a bite of a banana while the crocs fight side by side. "A family that fights together!" Cragger started, "Stays together!" Crominus finishes, as the father and son duo lay the smackdown on the incoming crawlers. "Prepare for landing! Or crashing!" Razar cries from above, while the wolf beast howls while chasing after some crawlers. Herding them towards the bear beast who rolls right over the crawlers and approaches the wolves. "Now, you're on a roll!" Woriz quips, his spirits lifted as the battles goes on.
While back with Laval, the lion legend beast continuously roars and growls for him not to plug the chi. Eventually he relents and puts the orb away, stepping carefully into the water. "I hope you're right about this "inner chi" lion beast, cause I need something to help me swim. What did Cragger say the other day? Water is like friendship, it only pulls you down when you fight it." he begins to say as he successfully starts to swim towards the beast. "Hey! It's working! I'm floating, right where I want to go!" he exclaims happily, as he gets closer to the other side.
Back on the battlefield, all the crawler's firepower is so far focused on Eris and Razar, who dodge all the blasts. "This way!" Razar calls out, as he leads Eris and the eagle beast forward, narrowly avoiding a giant web. "Ugh! Someone needs to squat that spider!" Eris cries in annoyance as she circles the air.
"Leave it to me, dudes!" Gorzan responds from below, as the gorilla beast jumps for the attack. Unfortunately, it isn't fast enough and Spinlyn manages to catch it with a giant web. "Bummer..." Gorzan says as he tries to free his beast from the webs. Seeing this, Plovar decided to intervene. "Time to beautify!" the small bird cries out resolutely. "Not now, Plovar! my teeth are fine!" Cragger cries, misunderstanding his diminutive companion. "Oh, I wasn't talking about you, just leave her to me, Craggy-wag," he says confidently as he flies to Spinlyn. Leaving a confused Cragger behind, baffled as to what the bird was up to.
"Attack them, please! We shall destroy, THEN DEVOUR!" Spinlyn orders her troops before Plovar flies by her face. "What are you doing, pest?!" she exclaimed in annoyance, none too happy to see the bird. "Why, queeny darling. I am finding your greatest weapon ever, your ravishing beauty!" Plovar says over the top, feeding the arachnid's ego. "Oh, continue please," Spinlyn says arrogantly, soaking in the compliments with gusto, just as Plovar wanted.
"Except, without the proper beauty supplies, I fear you will be a few hours short from full bloom." He laments dramatically, getting the queen's undying attention. "What? But I need to be at full bloom, whatever that means. Get me those beauty supplies or else." she demands, panicking at the thought of not looking her best. "Okay then. Follow me." Plovar says jovially, a smirk hidden from her view. "Oh, beauty before battle." Spinlyn declared, following behind Plovar without a second thought.
Back with Laval, the lion legend beast growls in fear as he stares into the water. "Come on, legend beast! You can do this! You saved me once when I was sinking in the creek in Chima, now it's my turn to help you!" Laval said fondly, reminding the beast of their first encounter. The lion beast quickly dips his paws into the water but takes them out in fear. "Just use that inner chi you were teaching me about. Oh yeah, and have a little faith in the wisdom of a good friend. Let the water lift you up, and carry you where you wanna go." Laval told the beast, giving him the courage to enter the water and both the lions head back to shore.
In the meantime, deeper into the caverns, Plovar leads Spinlyn to a part of the cave with a giant mud pond. "Have you ever had a mud bath?" he asks casually, easing her into the situation. "Well no. It's very... Sticky." Spinlyn replies, entering the mud. "That's how beauty mud works, it sticks, and then pulls the beauty right out of you. Try going deeper." Plovar reassures her, leading her deeper into the pit.
Becoming unscomfortable, Spinlyn tries to get out, "Am I not beautiful yet? "Because I don't think I can move." She says, struggling to get out. "Exactly. That's the most beautiful part, see ya." Plovar reveals jovially, smirking satisfied as he makes his leave. Realising she had been tricked, Spinlyn cries out, "Why you little pest!" she screeches loudly, three spiders including Sparacon hear their queen's distress call and stop from fighting to go save her.
"Get me out of here! Now!" the queen orders, without knowing, the spiders hop in but get stuck as well. "Uh... I think we're stuck too." Sparacon reveals imparasly, as he struggles to get out. Fed up with her soldier's incompetence, Spinlyn screams to the heavens in defeat.
Meanwhile, as the battle continues, Rogon takes a moment to look at his surroundings and comes to a startling realization. "Alas, this subterranean chamber is a concave geological entity." He points out excitedly, much to his comrade's confusion. "Huh?" Worriz exclaims, being to only one to verbally express his confusion. "We're inside a giant rock, and I know everything about rocks." the rhino said confidently, blasting at multiple rocks on the ceiling that comes crashing down on the crawlers, then he begins to shoot at the statue of the great scorpion.
"NO! NOT THE GREAT SCORPION!" Scorm cries out in panic, as he tries to hold the statue up. The rest of the scorpion are quick to retaliate, Rogon is shot off his beast from a scorpion truck and the rest of the heroes are fired at. When suddenly, while Scorm still tries to lift the great scorpion, a roar is heard with Laval and the final legend beast returning.
Reinvigorated by the sight of their missing friend, the group prepare for a final stand. "Ready to give up yet?" Cragger called out cockily, taunting their opponents. "Ready to be trapped in here forever?" Scorm retaliated, grabbing a gun, and blasting at the ceiling, blocking off one of the entrances and carrying on with all the others.
"He's gonna bring the whole cave down with that thing!" Eris panicked as the heroes tried to escape through one exit, but it was blocked off. "WOAH! NOT THAT WAY!" Worriz cries out as the group quickly try to go to the next but that's blocked off as well. "ONLY ONE EXIT LEFT!" Laval calls out, leading the others to the last exit, they almost get there but Scorm shoots it off.
Undeterred, the heroes continue to go for the tunnel, "If he blocks that tunnel, we'll be stuck in here forever!" Laval reminds the others, as they try to make a break for it before Scorm fires once more. But before Scorm can fire, something else fires back and makes Scorm shoot the ceiling, making the rocks above fall.
"Woah! The tunnel's fighting back, dudes!" Gorzan cried out in amazement. "It's not the tunnel. It's... LAVERTUS!" Laval corrected excitedly, as he spotted the wind shadow comes in and starts firing upon the enemies, but Lavertus wasn't the one on the wheel. "Actually, it looks like Rinona is flying this one, and Lavertus is-" Eris starts to point out before Lavertus jumps off the rope hanging from the Windshadow while screaming, "Falling?" she then finishes, looking baffled as she stares at him as he lands right by Crominus.
"I don't believe it, it's him!" Crominus exclaims surprised, while Lavertus is helped up and by the first sight of Crominus he glares with hate. "A well-executed egress, sister! commence counter result post haste!" Rogon called to Rinona from the ground. "Wait. Did you just call Rinona your sister?!" Eris asks confused, needing to make sure she heard that right. "This is the common nomenclature for one to call their sibling, is it not?" Rogon asks straightforwardly, not truly understanding the confusion. "Uh... Yeah? but, she said she was your special friend, so I thought that meant girlfriend!" she said, laughing embarrass at the misunderstanding, now feeling guilty at not trusting her. "Never mind! commence counter result post haste, Rogon's sister!" she cried out as well, trying to avoid the awkwardness of the situation.
"What are they yapping about? Woah!" Rinona asks from the air, not understanding what they were yapping about before she is shot. Not wasting any time, Lavertus runs to the distance and pulls out a golden chi. "Time to raise the roofs!" he shouts out as he lets the golden chi do its work by placing it on the ground. Unaware of what his foes were up to, Scorm continues his assault, "HA!" he exclaims as he shoots at the wind shadow and nearly brings it down, blocking the exit tunnel.
"AH!" Rinona cries out as she tries to regain control, while the golden chi helps to keep the roof solid, barely managing to fly the wind shadow out. "Everyone! Out!" Lavertus orders urgently, as they all head for the outside, even though Scorm's trying not to let them pass, Lavertus makes sure nothing comes falling with the power of the golden chi. "I don't know how long this will hold, so, go! NOW!" he orders again, willing to sacrifice himself for the team.
"I'm not leaving you, Lavertus!" Laval cries out, unwilling to let anyone behind. "Yes, you are. And so are you, Cragger." Lavertus said resolutely, his mind already set in stone. "As for you, we have unfinished business you and I, don't we, Lavertus?" Crominus said seriously, as he went to Lavertus. "Yes, we do," Lavertus replied, letting go of the fading golden chi. Dad! What are you doing? We've got to get out of here!" Cragger cried in a panic, not wanting to risk losing his father once again.
But his words fell on deaf ears, as the two enemies met and Lavertus almost attacked Crominus, but whispered something in the crocodile king's ear and handed him over the pink scarf which he leaves with. Solemnly, Crominus walks back towards the group, "Dad?! Is everything okay?!" Cragger asked, unsure of what to make out of the situation. Lavertus then sends both the beasts forward, Cragger and Laval scream in surprise as they rush forward.
With one final look, Lavertus spoke, "Tell my brother, your dad, that I miss him greatly, Laval." He said, revealing his final secret and bidding his nephew goodbye. "Huh?!" Laval said surprised, struggling to understand what had been revealed. With nothing to hold him back, Lavertus strengthened his resolve, "FOR CHIMA! And my sweet, sweet Crunket." he declared, putting on his helmet and sacrificing himself by letting the rocks fall.
"LAVERTUS! SHADOWIND!" Laval cried out distraught, not wanting to believe what was happening before his eyes, but before they could turn back, the cave was blocked off by a huge mountain of rocks. "Can't stop! It's All coming down! Come on, Laval! This is what Lavertus wants! Don't let his sacrifice be for nothing!" Cragger called out, rushing forward as they narrowly managed to leave the caves behind.
Laval, just barely, escapes the cave and jumps to the safety of the outside world, "Woah!" he exclaims in surprise. Behind him, a tiny rock is pushed aside, revealing the scornful face of the scorpion king himself, "This. Isn't. Over, lion! I'll find a way out of here and then, I'll grab all your chi!" he declared between huffs, exhausted from the ordeal.
Laval pulls his sword out with a chi and prepares to strike Scorm, but realizes something, "Y'know, I learned something today. These orbs aren't everything. There's a little bit of chi, inside all of us, and-" he begins before being rudely interrupted by Scorm. "Oh, just stop blabbering and give me the chi already!" he exclaims in annoyance and outrage.
Laval merely gives him a pitying look, "You really want it?" he asks, passing the chi over to him, "You just have to ask." he tells him with a kind smile. "W-W-What are you doing?" Scorm babbles in utter surprise, unable to comprehend what was going on. "This is what we do with chi in Chima, we share it." Laval reveals, stepping down from the rock once another blocks Scorm from the outside, "Use it well, use it wisely." He mutters calmly to the rocks, hoping Scorm has heard him. Shortly after, all the heroes depart, ready to return to Chima where they belong and where the legend beasts are needed.
Back in Chima, Lagravis sighs as he stares at the horizon from the rooftops, wondering what awaits him this day. Would the battle be over, or would he have to rally his people to defend once more? He didn't know, but he forced himself to hope for better times and his son's safe return. He had almost given up until he saw all the heroes return to the temple with their mission complete.
"Laval?" he exclaims with joy, as he goes to the horn and lets out a roar to all the tribes. From all corners of Chima, from the spires to the swamp, his call resonated, and all rejoiced. The eagles gasp in excitement, while the gorillas hoot while banging their chests, the wolves howl in celebration, and even the serpentine hiss in excitement. All celebrated in the apparent victory, while in the swamp, Crunket and Acidicus simply enjoys a job well done.
Outside the lion temple, the tribes assemble to welcome their champions home. Atop the podium, Lagravis and the other leaders, the Serpentine included, prepared to address the populace. "This is one of the happiest days in the history of Chima! All the legendary beasts have returned! And... So has my son!" Lagravis spoke, voice full of pride as he is reunited with Laval through a hug.
Crunket arrives with a huge smile seeing Crominus, who quickly hops off the crocodile beast and runs towards her, "Oh my queen, words cannot express the joy I feel to see you again!" he says getting nearer. "Who needs words? Just hug me!" she says, wrapping Crominus in a loving embrace.
When they finally broke from the hug, Crominus walked over to Lagravis, "I owe you an apology, Lagravis." he said regretfully. "Me?" Lagravis spoke, not thinking of any reason for the crocodile king to apologize. "Yes. When last we spoke, I said some things. I greatly misjudged your son and all the lions. They are truly among the noblest tribes in all of Chima." he says sincerely. At that, Lagravis could not help but smile, "That Crominus," he says as he handshakes Crominus, "Was the best apology ever."
They all share a laugh, before Laval jumps in, "Hey, we couldn't have done this without that rocking croc Cragger!" wanting to give praise for his beat fiends efforts during their trails. "Yes, but perhaps the most we owe it to is... Lavertus." Crominus says with melancholy, thinking back at the fallen hero. "What? You saw my brother?" Lagravis exclaimed in disbelief, surprised that they had encountered his long-thought-lost brother.
"Woah! So, it's true?" Laval said in awe, still finding it hard to believe that his hero had turned out to be his uncle all along. "Dude! That means your uncle is ShadoWind! Sweet." Gorzan acknowledges, unknowingly sharing the same sentiment as Laval. "What are you talking about? Lavertus has been in exile for years, for stealing our chi." Lagravis reiterates, being very mush in the dark from the rest of the group. "That's not exactly what happened," Crominus said apprehensively, knowing that he finally had to come clean about his past.
A few minutes later, Crominus has presumably already told Lagravis what really happened and the reason of Lavertus's exile. "It was all my fault, and I feel terrible for what I did to him. Those persuader plants have brought us nothing but trouble!" he affirmed harshly. "You can say that again," Crooler mumbled quietly, thinking of her own limited experience with the plant, as her father continued talking. "I never realized until today how truly noble Lavertus had been." He said solemnly, carefully contemplating his words.
"But what did he whisper to you in the cave before it collapsed?" Laval interjected suddenly; his curiosity picked as he listened to the tale. "He said he hated me all these years, but then, he met this extraordinary young crocodile here," Crominus revealed, gesturing towards his son as he did so. "Who? Me?" Cragger asked, halfway flattered, and confused.
"Yes, if Lavertus and I had continued to fight over Queen Crunket, one of Chima's greatest heroes may have never been born," Crominus answered passionately, his voice prideful yet regretful. "He called me a great hero? Did you hear that? Huh? Huh?" Cragger said giddily, excited that ShadoWind himself had called him a hero. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Laval replied dismissively, inwardly jealous at the high praise.
"Lavertus now understood the true purpose of his exile, his sacrifice. Then," Crominus continued, showing them the scarf, "he handed me this scarf and said..." he continues solemnly, putting the scarf back where it originally belonged; Crunket's neck. "Keep them safe." He finished, his words pained with emotion, poor Crunket could barely contain it and started crying.
"Please, please, please!" Crominus begs, kneeling to Lagravis, "Forgive me for what I've done, Lagravis! I'll do anything to make it up to you, I'll pledge my servitude forever!" he declared, all pride lost as he laid himself bare before his peers. He need not wait long for an answer, "No." Lagravis said with finality, as he helped Crominus up. "We shall exist as equals and allies, in peace. That is what Lavertus would've wanted." The king declared, knowing it was what his brother would have wanted.
With a nod of affirmation, Crominus agreed, "Very well. Let us now save Mount Cavora together!" he declared, holding up his hand with Lagravis's, "For Chima! And for Lavertus!" he exclaimed, as everyone around agreed in excitement.
Shortly after, beneath the shadow of Mount Cavora, our heroes await to end this crisis for good. "So, tell me Laval. How did you ever beat those powerful Outland tribes?" Lagrivis asked, walking over to his son. "Sometimes it's not about power, Dad. Sure, they were stronger and had more chi, but in a way, not having chi liberated us. We had to rely more on each other and our inner strength, our inner chi." Laval answered sagely, showing just how much, he had grown.
"Ah yes, son. There is a little bit of Mount Cavora in all of us." Lagravis agreed, proud to see how much wiser Laval had become. "That's why the legend beasts never drank the chi water in the great story. They knew that, and as promised, they showed it to us, when we needed it most." Laval finished wisely, as all the legend beasts began to roar, then charged off in the distance and let their spirits fly into Mount Cavora.
"Woah," Laval exclaimed in utter wonder, as the falls restarted, raining down on Chima, chi, to which everyone celebrated with cheers. "Wow. But whatever happened to the legend beasts?" Eris asked, also caught in the splendor before her. "Don't know, but I'm sure they'll be back when we need them most, just like the great story says," Laval told her, sure in his words. Eris stared at him and smiled warmly, sure that things were finally looking up for them.
Meanwhile, far below the Outlands, Scorm walked solemnly about the caverns. Having managed to squeeze himself back to safety, his mind had been lit ablaze by Laval's words. "I can't believe that lion was so... Vicious! And so... So... Kind! So viciously kind! His gift hurt me more than any weapon ever could! I blame THIS for all our troubles!" he declares dramatically, lifting the chi orb above his head.
"If we never had chi, if we never changed, we never would've known what it was like to be so... Broken! Defeated! Alone..." he said, a deep chasm opening up in his chest. "We never would've known this crushing tragedy of nothingness! No more chi! EVER!" he declares in agony, as he chucks the chi Laval gave him down a giant hole.
The orb fell down into the darkness until it landed somewhere unknown. A frost-covered rocky floor illuminated by its glow, until it was grabbed by a purple hand. An icy fog escaping his breath as it slithered away further into the black. Unaware that behind him a creature had awakened from inside the ice.
Author's Notes:
And with that, the dark tribe's saga comes to a close. What is next for our heroes, who was that mysterious figure and that thing on the ice. Well, you'll have to wait until next time to find out. The next saga will start with some more original events before going into the Fire vs Ice thing. And thanks to your help, I have decided to keep it here, on this story. You all seem to prefer it that way, and the only reason I even thought to put it as a sequel story was for your ease of reading. But since that seems to not be an issue, I will just keep it as is. However, it will be some time before I continue this, I plan to take a small break to mentally rest, before continuing with my other story "Bucky O'Hare and the Aparoid Invasion"; give it a look if you're interested, and also check out my other stories as while. But not to worry, I have this story planned out and will make sure to finish it, just be patient. I assure you, it'll be quite worth it!
Thanks for reading, until next time! :)