Then they saw the creatures gathering around near the center of the city. As the Falcon flew higher to see where the creatures were going, they saw a large dark tower, with dark purple and black clouds that covered the top of it. The tower was cylinder-shaped and very wide, with white and red spikes protruding in vertical lines from the top to the bottom on four different sides of it. The tower itself was black, with gray smoke leaking out from five evenly-spaced, horizontal cuts around the tower. There was one large balcony near the top of the tower, not covered by clouds, with big, black double doors with silver outlining. There was another set of the same double doors on the bottom of the tower, which served as the entrance. Around the ground of the tower, besides in front of the entrance doors, was a hedge of gray spiked plants like barbed wire, and red buds that were yet to bloom. As the creatures continued gathering near the front of the tower, while the flying ones flew around it, a distinguished laugh was heard from the tower.

"T-That laugh…" Kai said, as he seemingly became pale.

"That's Darkness," Flare said, with slight coldness.

"He… He's taken over," Christa said, sadly.

"Not for long," Auria said in a low voice.

"How could we let this happen? We shouldn't have left the city alone. The people couldn't fend for themselves against him," Lloyd said in distraught.

"We didn't see any of this coming Lloyd. Darkness is very cunning and clever, but I'm sure we'll find a way," Misako said to reassure her son's confidence.

Then a beeping was heard, and before anyone could question it, the Falcon was screeching out as someone or something grabbed it. The Ninja crew were wondering what was going on since they couldn't see clearly on the projection.

"What's going on?!" Cole asked.

"Did one of those flying things catch him?" Lucy asked in worry.

Then the Falcon's vision came back into focus as they saw who grabbed him.

"KERRIE!" The whole Ninja crew cried out, when they saw the crystal-user appear on the projection.

She was holding the Falcon by his back, while it could be seen that she was using her crystal power to tie him up.

"Well welly well. A little bird-y got lost? Heh heh heh heh. Aw, how inconvenient for you," Kerrie said with mischief in her eyes and a grim smile.

"Oh no!" Nya said in worry.

"This is bad. This is really bad! If she finds out that the Falcon is with us, she might track us," Jay said.

"Or she might hurt him!" Dr. Julien said in worry.

Then Kerrie looked down to her bird that she was riding and said,

"Are you hungry boy? I have a little bird-y for you."

Her bird twisted his head towards his master, and looked at the Falcon.

"Oh the horror!" Someone yelled out from the crowd among the Ninja crew.

However, Kerrie's bird started to sniff the Falcon and look at him carefully, and then he turned around and spat.

"What? You don't want it? … Wait a minute," Kerrie said, as she looked at the Falcon carefully.

Then she noticed what looked like a square mark around the Falcon's torso. When she tapped that spot, she noticed that it was very hard and made a light echo. Kerrie's eyes widened from her discovery, and then a devious smile grew on her face with evil-intent in her eyes.

"Your not just any bird. You belong to the Ninja! Your that robotic bird that they have on their team. I remember hearing of you from Darkness," Kerrie said, as she pointed towards the Falcon.

"How did Darkness know about the Falcon?" Jay asked.

"He has a lot of resources at his disposable, maybe someone saw the Falcon with us and told him," Misako said.

Marcell looked away sadly, as Lucy turned towards her. Then Lucy thought about something, and her eyes widened in shock.

"M-Marcell, did y-you tell him?" Lucy asked.

The Ninja crew looked towards Marcell, and then she looked towards them and said,

"When I was first looking for Raven, I remember seeing the Falcon with Zane, as he gave him a letter and sent him off. I told Silva about him, and she said that she would 'take it into account.' That must have meant that she was going to tell Darkness."

Marcell looked down in shame, as the others gasped. Then Sensei Wu approached Marcell and said,

"It is not your fault Marcell. You didn't intend for this to happen."

Marcell nodded slowly towards Sensei Wu. Then Kerrie laughed on the projection and said,

"Well if the Ninja are watching this, I'd like to say congratulations! Now you see what's going on here in Ninjago city, and now I get to track where you are. Of course, your little Falcon doesn't have to be active for me to do so..."

Kerrie smiled with malicious intent, as she raised her other hand, and a crystal dagger was formed in it.

"NO!" Zane yelled out in anticipation of Kerrie's next action.

Then Kerrie moved her hand with the dagger back, and then she thrust the dagger towards the Falcon. Static was seen on the screen as a loud screech and an evil laugh were the last things heard. Auria and Zane both fell back after the impact of the blow.

"No. Not again... Falcon," Zane said with sadness, as he barely had the strength to stand.

Auria moved next to Zane and wrapped her arm around his shoulders and said,

"I'm very sorry Zane."

Zane was pretty distraught at this point, as he placed his hand on his face and closed his eyes.

"Alright everyone! Get your stuff, get everything you need and let's GO! We're leaving TODAY!" Marcell shouted out, and then the Vampires, Serpentine, and Viporeons shattered out to gather the remainder of their stuff.

"Today?" Lucy asked her sister.

"Today! Kerrie said she was going to track where we were, and I'm pretty sure she's going to let Darkness know. We have to leave now to get a head start," Marcell said.

"Then let's get ready to depart, everyone!" Terrin said, as he walked towards where the Bounty was supposed to be.

As the Ninja crew followed Terrin to the Bounty, Auria stood next to Zane, holding his hand as he held onto her hand, sadly. The ninja and kunoichi were very concerned about Zane, but they felt it was better to leave him alone for awhile. Christa was also concerned, yet she indeed noticed how concerned her sister was for him, which left her with suspicion.

"Zane. It'll be alright. We'll find him again," Dr. Julien said, and Zane looked towards his father with a half-heart smile.

"I understand father, but... I don't think his condition will be totally reversible," Zane said sadly, as he looked down.

Dr. Julien also downcast his eyes, sadly.

After everyone gathered their belongings and vehicles for carrying stuff, the Ninja Crew, Vampires, Serpentine, and Viporeons headed out towards Aeroplane until they could figure out what to do.

"For now we'll head towards Aeroplane to discuss further plans on how to reclaim Ninjago city. We'll at least gather near Mount Soaria. We wouldn't want to endanger the people of Aeroplane if we're actually there," Sensei Reine said to the Ninja crew, who were gathered around the Bounty's deck.

Each person agreed, and then Sensei Reine retreated inside the Bounty, along with King Terrin. Everyone else cleared the deck, besides Raven, Christa, Lucy, and Lloyd, since Lucy and Raven were continuing their training. The rest of the ninja and kunoichi went to the television room in the Bounty to relax, since they were going to trade shifts with the Viporeons soon, so that they could rest from walking.

In the television room:

"This isn't right! That Kerrie! She's so messed up!" Jay said angrily, as he was pacing on one side of the room.

"I know man. She's just evil," Kai said, while sitting in the middle of the sofa.

"I knew something was weird about her, but I didn't think she was this bad. She's a good liar," Flare said, sitting next to Kai.

"If I only would've remembered sooner, than we could have apprehended her beforehand," Auria said, while leaning against the wall, looking down.

"Don't blame yourself Auria. You had no control over that," Nya said, sitting on the other side of Kai.

"Yeah, it's no one's fault about Kerrie being evil but Kerrie herself at this point. We have to be strong and keep moving ahead, so that if she tries to hurt anyone again, then we'll be there to take her down," Cole said, while standing near the sofa.

Zane was sitting near the edge of the sofa, looking down, but when he heard everyone else speaking, he was able to look up and feel more encouraged. He looked towards Auria, and saw that she still showed some distress. Then he stood up and walked towards her, and she looked up at him.

"Auria. Do not feel guilty for what happened to Falcon. What our friends say is true. Kerrie is the evil one, and we had no control over what she did to him... but we can still make a difference if we stand together and continue to fight in situations that we can control," Zane said.

Auria looked towards Zane with some surprise, and then she softly smiled and nodded.

"Yes. I agree. It's not over yet," Auria said, and Zane nodded.

The other Ninja and Samurai smiled and nodded too.

Falcon noooo!