The Crooked Path

Back at Steep Wisdom, the Ninja are setting up defensive security around the shop to keep Morro and his ghosts away as Zane placed up a sign. "There. This should keep customers away. Close for renovations." He said to his friends, while Kai placed a bucket at the entrance while Melissa was meaning the catapults.

"More like fortifications." Kai said as he put the bucket of water up. "If Morro and his ghouls show up here looking to steal the Sword of Sanctuary, they won't know what hit them." He said confidently as Cole came out.

Cole opened the door and the bucket of water was about to fall on him, but he quickly jumped out of the way as he jumped to the side before the water hit him.

"Careful, you know, not all of us are immune to water," Cole said to Kai with a look as he jumped over the puddle. "And I for one would like to stick around long enough for Misako, Rachel, Luci and Sensei to figure out the last clue." He said as he jumped over the mote with Jay covering it up with sticks.

"We got Cyclondo, we got the sword, now they just have to figure out where the tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master is." Jay said as he covered up the mote.

"Let's hope they figure it out soon." Melissa said in concern. "I don't know how long we'll be able to hold out if Morro strikes again."

Inside the tea shop, Misako, Rachel, Luci and Wu are studying many books and scrolls to figure out the last clue to the tomb, a skull as Wu looked at it. "We know the skull represents his tomb." He said to them.

"But from everything that was ever written, there's nothing in Ninjago that matches its description," Misako said as she looked at the map, scroll and book in front of her, "The clues are all right here, what are we missing?"

"There's been many rumors, but the Tomb is so old and so hard to find, the First Spinjitzu Master sure chose it well." Rachel added while looking through a scroll.

"We mustn't give up," Wu told her, "If Morro finds it and takes the Realm Crystal, I would hate to think what will happen next." He said in concern.

Suddenly they heard bells ringing, "The early detection warning," Luci said in worry.

"Intruder!" Kai shouted from outside.

"Let them have it! Launch!" Jay called out as each ninja then launched their water balloons onto the sign, releasing water as they looked and saw they splattered the mailman.

The mailman gave a sigh. "No wonder you're going out of business." He said as he gave Melissa the letter as she opened it and read it.

"No, you're the one going out of business." Jay countered as the mailman left. "Who sends letters anymore?"

"One: Everyone still does." Melissa said with a bored tone before she showed the letter with a frown. "Two: he's right, guys. It says they'll shut us down unless we drum up some business."

"Well, don't tell Ronin." Cole said to them. "If this place is worthless, he won't stick around. And we need all the help we can get."

"Yeah, let's keep this to ourselves." Melissa said as she put the letter away. "Come on, we're gonna need more water balloons." She said as they walked off to restock.

At the back of Steep Wisdom, Ronin was cleaning his ship as he whistled while behind him, while Nya was still trying as she was trying to reverse the flow of the water.

"Come on, Nya, become the water, reverse the flow." Nya muttered to herself, but saw the water drop fall as she sighed and groaned in frustration as she turned to see Ronin watching.

"Giving up already?" Ronin asked.

"Of course not." Nya answered. "Sensei thinks if I get over my fear of failure, I'll be able to control the water. Sure, I made it rain when I wasn't even paying attention, but here I can't seem to stop a single drop." She said as she tried to stop another drop, but it fell down as she sighs in defeat.

"Wanna know about failure, you should've asked me." Ronin said with a smile as Nya turned to him. "Heck, I've made a career out of it. Word of advice: Don't try so hard. You can't fail if you don't care." He said as he filled his bucket up with water.

"Don't try?" Nya questioned in surprise. "What sort of backwards advice is that?" Nya questioned. "Of course, I'm gonna try hard, that's how one excels-"

"Speaking of backwards…" Ronin spoke up with a smirk as he gestured behind Nya.

Nya turned to see the water drops are being reversed, much to her amazement and joy. "Oh, my gosh! I'm doing it! I'm really doing it!" Nya cheered in joy.

Ronin gave a laugh as he walked back to his ship. "Like I said, don't care so much. Usually, when someone wants something too badly, they'll trip over their own feet," he mentioned as he went back to washing his ship while whistling.

"Wow!" Nya cheered in amazement.

Just as Ronin started scrubbing, he suddenly froze up and dropped the brush as if something was calling to him.

At the same time, Bansha was telepathically communicating with Ronin at Ronin's old pawn shop, "Well, can he hear you?" Morro questioned Bansha.

"Oh, he can hear me." Bansha said with glee.

"Then tell him it's time to pay his debt," Morro said with a smirk. "Tell him to bring me the sword." He added as they shared a sinister look, knowing that Morro has him right where they want them.

Back in Steep Wisdom, Ronin is looking under the shelves for the Sword before he hears the doors open. "Thanks for gathering on short notice," Misako said as she and the others entered the shop as Ronin stood up in surprise.

"Looking for something?" Kai asked.

"Just making sure the tea blends are in alphabetical order," Ronin said quickly as he looked at the shelves and picked at them, giving the others a nervous smile. "Yep, there we go. A to Z, heh." He said nervously as Melissa gave him a suspicious look, knowing that he's up to something.

The others huddled together while Zane's Falcon was on its owner's shoulder. "So you three figure out where the tomb is?" Jay asked Misako, Luci, and Rachel.

"Not yet, but we think we know how to locate it," Misako said as Ronin was about to exit the shop but Wu came in.

"Oh! Hey, heh," Ronin said as he backed away while Wu came inside.

"Zane?" Luci asked as the falcon then created the skull projection and Wu turned off the lights.

"To bring you up to date, the skull symbol refers to the Tombs entrance." Rachel said to them.

"We also know my father's resting site where the Realm Crystal resides, is protected by three deadly tests, designed to keep anyone unworthy away, and only the Sword of Sanctuary can see past its riddles," Wu explained as the projection of the Sword and the scroll Morro has next.

"Yeah, but where is it?" Cole asked.

"At first we thought that Scroll and the Sword together could be the key, it wasn't until Melissa told us there was a map on the back of the Scroll that it all fell into place," Misako explained.

"After Morro opened it up, it all made sense as to why." Melissa said in realization. "If you use the sword on the map, the blade's reflection will reveal the tomb's location." She stated as Ronin grabbed his hat and snuck out.

"Exactly," Misako said with a smile.

"And since our Scroll doesn't have a map, we'll have to get our hands on Morro's." Cole said with a serious look as Ronin walked out, leaving the group without being noticed.

Ronin looked around and turned to the storage room on the left side of the tea shop as he entered it and saw a lone Sword compartment. "Ah," Ronin said with a smile, guessing where the Sword was placed as he opened it, only to be shocked that it was empty.

"Something about what you said stuck with me." Nya said with a smirk as Ronin turned and saw her leaning on a barrel while holding the Sword of Sanctuary as she pointed it at Ronin.

"Oh, yeah, and what's that?" Ronin asked with a nervous tone.

"That you don't care." Nya said as she jumped down from the barrel. "If you don't, why are you here? Sure, this tea shop could potentially help pay off your debt in time. Or you could speed things up by just giving them the sword in return for your cursed soul." She summarized with a serious look.

"So where does that leave us?" Ronin asked with a smile.

"Don't need the sword to tell me where this is going!" Nya told him as the two started fighting, with Ronin using a hoe. They clashed before they got into a standstill as their weapons faced the ground.

"I need that sword." Ronin grunted. "I don't wanna have to hurt you."

"You had no problem with that when you erased my friends' minds and brainwashed the Serpentine." Nya said with a look.

"Okay, fair point, but not you, Nya." Ronin said to her.

"We'll see about that," Nya said as she saw on the Sword's reflection Ronin kissing her as she gave a gasp and then immediately stomped on his foot.

"Ow! What did I do to deserve that?!" Ronin asked in confusion.

"You know what you were about to do." Nya said, but before she could do anything else, Ronin used the hoe and tripped her as she lost her grip of the sword and got stuck in the sword cabinet as Ronin held the Sword up.

"Like I said, think too hard and you'll trip over yourself." Ronin said with a smirk as he flipped up his hat, dropped the hoe and rushed off.

"Ronin's getting away with the sword!" Nya called out as she was trying to break free

As Ronin rushed out of the shed, he was confronted by the other Ninja walking towards him with a glare. "Going somewhere, Ronin?" Melissa asked with a look. "I had a feeling you were up to no good!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Ronin suggested, but then the Ninja then set off their own traps, Kai, and Melissa, went through the covered channels, Zane was catapulted all over the place, Jay was pelted by water balloons, and Cole tried to avoid the water as much as possible, miraculously avoiding the balloons and splashes.

Ronin watches the Ninja getting caught in their own traps as he gives an amused laugh. "That was way too easy." He commented as Nya came in from behind him, but Ronin avoided her and went over Kai and passed the others as he entered the tea shop where Misako, Rachel, Luci and Wu were waiting with Misako holding a sword and Wu holding his staff.

"We're not gonna let you get away!" Misako declared with her sword raised.

Ronin gave a smirk as he use the Sword to avoid and block each of their strikes as he landed on the counter and sliced the herbs over him "Oh, now, that's a nice blend," Ronin commented as he created a smokescreen with the tea leaves as Kai and Cole rushed in while they, Wu, Rachel, Luci and Misako coughed, "We should fight more often," He added as he rushed out back and whistled.

Outside, Melissa saw R.E.X taking off as she tried to use Airjitzu after him, but Ronin was already out of reach as Melissa fell out of her Airjitzu as she screamed before hitting the roof before getting her suit caught in one of the edges from a pointed end. "He's getting away!" She called out to them. "To the Bounty!" She called as the others rushed off to the Bounty while she struggled to free herself, "But uhh, could someone get me down first?" She asked.

"Are we sure that's the wisest choice?" Wu asked as he then jumped up and summoned his energy dragon as Misako backed away a bit with a smile as Wu leaned down to her. "Care for a ride?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Misako answered as she climbed onto Wu's dragon and they took off with a roar and flew off at high speed.

In the air, Wu and the Bounty sore after Ronin's ship as they looked ahead and saw it in the distance. "He's fast," Wu commented.

"You're faster," Misako encouraged.

"Let's get him!" Wu called out as he went faster to Ronin's ship, but once closed, they saw that Ronin wasn't on it.

"He's not aboard the ship," Misako said in shock.

"It's a trick!" Wu yelled as the Bounty came next to R.E.X. as they saw it as well.

"Then where did Ronin go?!" Kai asked in shock.

"Wait, and where's Nya?" Melissa wondered.

Back at Steep Wisdom, Nya remained behind as she looked at the water stream behind the tea shop in deep thought as she was about to walk back before she heard a familiar whistle, which made her gasped as she turned and saw Ronin on a rowboat sailing downstream as she trotted after him. "Stop!" She yelled out.

"Yeah, right!" Ronin retorted as he kept sailing with Nya trying to follow.

"Why are you doing this?!" Nya questioned.

"You know why!" Ronin called out as Nya tripped and tried to catch up to him. "Giving Morro the Sword is the only thing that'll end my debt!"

"He'll never hold up his end of the bargain! You can't trust him!" Nya pointed out.

"I have to! It's my only shot!" Ronin stated as he kept going down stream, further away from Nya as she stopped and trying to catch her breath as she saw Ronin getting further away.

Nya looked ahead as she gave a determined expression as put her hands together. "Become the water. Become the water," she said to herself as she focused her powers as Ronin got further away. "Become the water." Slowly the stream's current stopped, along with the boat and log which shocked Ronin from that. "Reverse the flow, Nya." She then started reversing the river flow.

Ronin looked around before he looked back and saw Nya was doing it. "You gotta be kidding me," He muttered as Nya strained her powers while Ronin tried to shake himself free, but he was still being pushed back. Thinking quickly, he then released the sail on his boat to give him an extra push while Nya pulled harder, but then Ronin managed to fight the current. Nya strained to keep the flow in reverse before she had to let go in exhaustion . "Face it, Nya, you're not strong enough. You care too much!" He stated as Nya panted and sat on her haunches. "I'm sorry, Nya! I wish it didn't have to come to this!" he called as Nya growled as she slammed her hand down in frustration.

Later on, Ronin returned to Stiix as he looked around for anybody following him as he made it to his former pawn shop as he entered and closed the door. Inside the pawn shop, Ronin turned and saw Morro sitting on a throne with his ghosts beside him.

"Good evening," Morro said with a smirk as Ronin turned and saw Ghoul-Tar blocking the exit.

"And good night," Ghoul-Tar added.

"Heh, I like what you've done with the place," Ronin commented at the new look of his old shop. "Pretty gutsy making your hideout right here in Stiix. With this much water, they'd never come looking for you here."

"I've never been afraid of anything," Morro pointed out as Ghoul-Tar inspected the sword to see if it's a replica.

"The Sword is no fake," Ghoul-Tar informed them as he gave Morro the sword.

"Huh. For once, the crook makes good," Morro commented with a smile as he looked at the Sword before he walked up to the scroll of Airjitzu on the table. He stabbed it in the middle at the map side, they watched as the Sword revealed an X at the ocean edge of Ninjago. "The Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master." He said in reverence.

"Now what about my soul?" Ronin asked. "The deal was you'd remove the curse and free me."

"You can have your soul. But the deal has changed," Morro said to him with a frown. "We want the Ninja too."

"Whoa, now hold on," Ronin said as he took off his mask. "A deal's a deal. What do you care about the Ninja? I thought you said you weren't afraid of them."

"I'm not. But the Preeminent requires certain safeguards to make sure her plans go without any setbacks," Morro explained as the ghosts around him gave maniacal laughs.

"Forget it. I'll keep my cursed soul," Ronin said firmly. "The Sword's one thing, but my friends are another."

"Since when do you have friends?" Bansha mocked as the ghosts laughed again as Ronin was about to walk out, but Ghoul-Tar held him by the shoulder.

"We still have need of your services, Ronin," Soul Archer said with a smirk as Ghoul-Tar held him back as he moved towards Morro.

Morro looked at the map. "The Realm Crystal will be ours." He said to them while still looking intensely at the map.

The Ninja, Wu, Misako, Rachel and Luci made their way back into Steep Wisdom. "That greedy slimy crook!" Melissa exclaimed in anger. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!"

"Well obviously he's taken the sword to Morro," Jay told them.

"But where is Morro?" Zane reminded. "He could be anywhere."

"Look, Nya, we know you're not a ninja yet, but if you're gonna be one of us-" Cole shouted at her.

"I'm sorry!" Nya interrupted him in guilt. "I should have told you when I first suspected Ronin would steal it!"

"We all had a feeling Ronin was up to something, Nya." Melissa told her.

"Enough!" Wu spoke up, breaking up the fight. "We all knew the path to save Lloyd was never going to be a straight line. We were all fooled Ronin, but that doesn't make us fools. At a time like this, we mustn't butt heads but put our heads together."

Jay then snorted as they all turned to him. "I'm sorry, you said, 'butt heads'." He said as he giggled.

Suddenly, Zane's falcon cawed and from its eye came a projection of Ronin, "I can't talk loud, but I wanted to let you know, Nya, you were right." Ronin said to Nya as she gave a surprised look. "Morro didn't hold up his end of the bargain. And Misako, Rachel, and Luci were right too. The scroll and sword did reveal the tomb. I know where it's located." He said as they looked at each other in surprise. "I know you don't have the sword, but I know you can beat them to the tomb." He said as he turned to the side. "They're coming."

"Where is it? Where's the tomb, Ronin?" Melissa asked desperately.

"The Cave of Despair! The tomb is in the Caves of Despair!" Ronin quickly said before his hologram flickered and was shut off.

"The Caves of Despair? That is where I hid the Scythe of Quakes," Wu recalled in confusion, "I don't recall there being a tomb there."

"But there are still miles of unexplored mines," Misako stated in thought. "It could be there."

"But why should we believe him? It could be a trap," Nya pointed out.

"We don't have the scroll and we don't have the Sword." Melissa reminded her. "With Lloyd's life at stake, what other choice do we have?" The others looked at each other with determination as they all nodded.

"We're in." Cole said with determination.

"Fool me once, shame on you," Nya spoke up as they all turned to her. "Fool me twice, shame on me. What good will it do us if it's all just a setup?"

"If it is, maybe we'll find out where the real Tomb is," Kai suggested.

"Kai is right." Wu said in agreement. "Even a misstep could be a step in the right direction. We can not afford to do nothing. The Ninja will go. As for Nya, you're still not ready." He said as Nya groaned.

"Okay, gang, gear up." Melissa said to them. "We leave in a few." She instructed as they walked off while Melissa stayed behind with Nya with a look. "Nya, we talked about this. We're supposed to be a team. You could've told us that Ronin would steal the sword to pay off his debt."

"I know I should've told you, don't rub it in." Nya said with a frown as she crossed her arms.

"I know you felt guilty, and you're still new at this whole Ninja thing, but you have to remember that being a Ninja is way more different then being a Samurai." Melissa said to her.

"But I don't know the first thing about being a Ninja, I am so used to being a Samurai that I don't know anything about being a Ninja." Nya said stubbornly.

"Well, there's one thing that all Ninjas and Samurais have in common, Nya." Melissa said with a firm look. "They look out for one another and fight with honor, something you hadn't done when you first became a Samurai and all you did was just showboating and rubbing it in the guys' faces. And only used mechanical weapons and swinging a huge sword, thinking bigger is better. And when things get too hard for you, you quit and give up."

"I-I… I never really-" Nya tried to say.

"Nya, like Sensei said, your weakness is that you give up too easily. You only want what comes easy for you to do things your way and do things the quick easy way." Melissa said to her. "And not everything is about you. You have to push aside your pride and focus on everyone else." She said as she took a step forward. "And there's a saying about this Nya, the easy solution is not always the best solution."

Nya gave a sigh as she gave a defeated look. "You're right. I guess I never really thought about it that way." She said,

"That's why Wu said you're not ready yet." Melissa said with a nod.

"So, I guess this is the part where you give me that 'Nya Treatment?'" Nya asked while quoting with her fingers, knowing what's coming next.

"Pretty much, but since we all figured that Ronin was up to no good, I'll go easy on ya." Melissa said as she got behind Nya, who accepted it as Melissa then grab hold of Nya's waistband and gave it a firm yank, which made Nya squeaked as she was lifted up a bit and was held there for a moment before she was lowered down as Melissa let go. "And there. I told ya I'd go easy."

"Still hurts, but none worse than what you usually do." Nya said while tucking her underwear back in place.

"No special wedgie treatments today, Nya." Melissa told her. "Now, I need to get ready for the mission. You keep training." She said as Nya nodded as Melissa walked out.

"Well, it could've been worse." Nya said while rubbing her backside.

Back at the pawn shop in Stiix, Ronin felt dizzy as Ghoul-Tar held up a camera. "That wrap." He said as he turned it off as Ronin fell to his knees while the ghosts started laughing. As he began to recover, Morro came out of Ronin's body to end his possession. Morro's ghost form resembled how he looked like what his mortal body would, only he wore a ghostly Gi like the Ninja's first Gi but bore a ghostly Serpent sigil.

"Pretty good impersonation," Ronin groaned as he turned to Morro weakly. "But they'll never buy that it was me."

"We shall see," Morro said as a groan was heard as they looked up and saw Lloyd caged up in a Vengestone cage to prevent him from using his Elemental Powers to escape when Morro came out of his body.

"You're no Ninja of Yang. The Ninja of Yang would never need to lie." Lloyd said while clenching the cage as he glared down at Morro.

"Sorry, pal. You won't be the Ninja of Yang for long." Morro said to Lloyd. "Save your strength, because I'll be needing it." He then turned to the ghosts. "Let's prepare for a voyage. We head to the tomb at dawn to make up for lost time."

"What about Ronin?" Soul Archer questioned while pointing to the down con-man.

"Leave him. He served his purpose." Morro said as Ronin laid there weakly.

At the Cave of Despair, the Ninja walked down the abandoned mining area, the Skulkin towers still standing. "The Caves of Despair," Kai muttered.

"This is where we first came for the Golden Weapons," Cole noted.

"So, this is the place where you got the Scythe of Quakes?" Melissa asked, looking around the mining area. "And also the Obsidian Scythe?"

"Yeah. We've been here twice." Cole nodded. "It's like everything comes full circle."

"Don't say that. Full circle means it's coming to an end, and I don't wanna hear that before I go into the Caves of Despair, one of my least favorite words," Jay said in fear, "How do we even know the tomb is in there?" He questioned as Zane did a scan.

"Searching for clues," Pixal said as she scanned the area before Zane's eyes landed on a cave and saw the skull symbol next to it.

The Ninja came to the cave and looked at the symbol, "The third symbol," Kai said.

"Good enough for me, let's go," Jay told them as the Ninja walked into the cave while at a tower, Ghoul-Tar drew the skull symbol on a pole and laughed.

The Ninja walked into the cave as they saw broken rails, flipped over minecarts, "There's another symbol," Jay noted as they saw another skull on a minecart.

"Uugh, this place is even creepier since our tussle with Rocky," Cole noted.

"And it looks like it only gets darker the deeper we go." Melissa added before they came up with five lanterns.

"Then it's a good thing we have a little light." Kai said with a smile.

"Wait! What if this is one of the tests?" Cole stated as Jay gasped.

"Yeah, Sensei said that the tomb was gonna be protected by three deadly tests!" Jay reminded them, "Maybe if we pick the wrong Lantern…"

"Only one way to find out." Melissa said as she slowly made her way to the lanterns and the others watched nervously as Melissa grabbed one of the lanterns and nothing happened.

"Okay, they're just normal lanterns." Kai said in relief as they all grabbed a lantern.

"Alright boys, let's head into the shadows and follow the buzzards." Melissa quipped as she took the lead.

Jay slowly walked up to his lantern as he looked away and took it out of its hook, expecting for something to happen, but nothing came. "Like I thought, just a lantern." He said as he walked up to the others. "Wait!"

They kept walking down the tunnel before Melissa looked down. "Looks like there was a cave-in." She noted as Jay sniffed the air.

"Ugh! What's that smell?" Jay questioned while covering his nose.

"My senses pick up traces of Kethanol." Zane informed them. "A highly flammable gas released from deep well mining."

"Sure. Bet that's what all Nindroids say." Cole scoffed.

"If you're implying that smell came from me-" Zane tried to say before Melissa shushed them.

"Look, some of these rocks have been moved recently, maybe Morro and his Ghostly crew have already been through here," Kai said as they walked into the cave while flipping up their hoods as they saw a hole with sparks and smoke emitting from it, "Ash. It looks like this place has been burned, one of the tests?" He suggested, feeling the ground and noticing the blackened color of the area.

"The Kethanol Geyser," Zane told them, "We can not stay long, it might erupt at any moment." He advised as they looked around the cave.

"Look." Cole said as they walked up to the remains of a slightly burned skeleton with green and grayish clothes still on while it has a familiar hairstyle with a green streak.

"Ew! You think it's him?" Jay asked.

"The First Spinjitzu Master." Kai said in awed. "But where's the Realm Crystal?" He asked while searching for the Crystal.

"No, that's not the First Spinjitzu Master." Melissa said as she approached the burnt skeleton and took a closer look and saw a familiar symbol on the clothing and recognized the green streak in the hair as she gasped in shock. "It's Morro."

"Melissa is correct. It's the Master of Wind." Zane said after inspecting the skeleton. "These are the remains of Morro's mortal body." He explained as the Ninja looked in shock.

"Well, Sensei told us he never came back from looking for the Tomb." Jay reminded them.

"And it looks like he sadly met his end, badly." Melissa said with a cringe before noticing something beside the skeleton. "Hey, what's this?" She asked as she grabbed a bag that was near the skeleton.

"Looks like Morro's travel bag." Cole noted. "Wu did say he packed for the search before he left."

Melissa opened the bag and saw some clothing, a toothbrush and some other items, but then she saw something in the bottom and she pulled out a photo of himself and Wu when they were younger, smiling and happy.

"Wow, they look really happy in this photo." Melissa said before looking at the skeleton before frowning. "Guys, I don't think Morro saw Wu only as his Master, I think he saw him as a father."

The Ninja all gave a thoughtful look. "Well, Wu did say that he found Morro when he was digging for some food by the trash at the old Monastery." Kai said to him. "Morro must've seen him as a parent figure."

Melissa then looked back at the photo and gave a thoughtful look. "He wasn't just obsessed with becoming the Green Ninja, he wanted to make Wu proud of him." She said with a frown.

"And apparently, died trying." Jay added with a cringed. "So if he's here, that means…"

"It is trap!" Ghoul-Tar yelled as the Ninja gasped while Melissa put Morro's bundle on her back. "Now Ninja suffer same fate!" He called as he slammed his weapon down, causing a cave in that blocked their entrance as they all coughed from the dust.

"There's no way out!" Kai shouted in panic. "If this was a test, I say we certainly failed it!" He added as Jay gave a cough.

"And all this gas is making a little, light headed," Jay said dizziedly.

"The cavern's a virtual oven, if those Geysers decide to ignite, we'll be cooked." Cole told them as Zane scanned the area.

"Pixal's located an opening, the cave in must have created a gap," Zane told them as he saw an opening above them.

"But a gap to where, for all we know it could lead to another dead end," Jay stated as they looked around, "And for the record that's another of my least favorite words: Dead Ends!"

Cole then saw the Geyser getting ready to erupt, "Too late!" He called out as he quickly picked up a huge boulder with his super strength, which Zane got what he was planning.

"Cole! No!" Zane yelled out, but it was too late as Cole put the boulder onto the geyser.

"Heh, solved that problem," Cole said in relief.

"Correction, you made it worse," Zane said in dread, "Now the pressure will compact the explosion multipling the damage tenfold!" He stated.

"Oh, what are you trying to say?" Jay asked in worry, already knowing the answer.

"When that rock goes, every cave within a ten mile radius will be filled with a wall of fire so hot, it'll incinerate everything in its path!" Zane explained as the geyser started to let out steam.

"In other words, we'll be getting what Morro received here!" Melissa exclaimed in panic.

"Guess we better get hot on our heels!" Kai told them as the boys did Airjitzu.

"Cyclon-do!" Jay called as they flew towards the gap.

But before Melissa joined them, she looked back to Morro's remains before she rushed over to them, and took his scarf and Wind emblem, putting them in his bundle, and Airjitzu after her team as they ran down the tunnel as fast as they could.

Back in the room they came from, the geyser exploded as lava started pouring in and the remains of Morro's body melted in the lava. The Lava soon reached the gap in the ceiling as both Kai saw it hot on their tails. "Hurry!" Zane called out as they ran faster. Most of them came to a sudden halt as there was a giant hole in the floor while the heat was almost on top of them.

"Go! Go! Go!" Melissa called out before they all jumped down the hole and into a minecart and avoided the fire as it blew over them. But then, the minecart started moving forward on its own.

"Great, now what?" Jay asked as they looked down to the tracks. "How do we stop this thing?!" Soon the cart started to speed up down the tracks as they held on tight.

"Obstacle!" Pixal warned Zane as the tracks up ahead were broken. They all screamed as the minecart jumped the track and over to the other before continuing onward. Jay was unfortunate to have landed outside the cart as he held onto it while running on the tracks.

Kai then reached down to Jay. "Almost got you!" he called as he almost had Jay , but the lightning ninja lost his grip and nearly went flying before Melissa caught him.

"Hold on, Jay!" Melissa exclaimed as she pulled Jay back into the cart as they continued onward.

Further down the tunnel, Ghoul-Tar was humming to himself, thinking the Ninja were done for before to his shock, he saw the wheeling towards him as he ready his scythe. But before he could do anything, Jay threw his Areoblade at him, which went through Ghoul-Tar as he went poofed and his scythe disappeared as well.

Jay then caught his Aeroblade. "I caught it, guys! I caught it!" He cheered in joy.

Melissa then saw something up ahead. "Looks like we're coming to a dead end!" She exclaimed in fear.

"There's that word again! Never said that word!" Jay yelled as they crashed into the warning boarded-up sign and went further down the tracks. "Ah! What do we do?! What do we do?!"

"Use the Aeroblades as brakes!" Zane shouted as he and Kai put their Aeroblades to the wheels, trying to slow down the cart; it didn't seem to be working as they were only going faster.

"It almost feels like we're going faster!" Jay complained in a panic. They all shouted as the turns were sharper and longer before they saw the end of the tracks leading towards a pool of lava up ahead. They all screamed in fear as they drew closer to the lava, but then they looked to the side as they saw R.E.X. flying in and lowering the ladder as they all quickly grabbed hold of as the ship then started floating back up.

"R.E.X?" Kai said in surprise to see Ronin's airship.

"Ahahah! I could kiss Ronin!" Cole cheered in relief before he frowned under his mask. "After I clobber him for getting us into this mess." He growled.

"Get in line with the clobbering." Melissa said as they climbed aboard R.E.X., but they saw no signs of Ronin.

"Oh, ho, ho! Autopilot!" Jay complained. "Course he's too scared to show his face." He said sarcastically before the monitor turned on to show Ronin.

"Hey, Ninja, if you're getting this message I'm sure you might have some choice words for me." Ronin said with a smile.

"Oh, I got more than a few words for you," Melissa assured with a glare. "And you can bet that some of those words have more than four letters and I'm not talking about 'trap'.

"But I wanted to tell you, it wasn't me who sent you to this trap." Ronin said, which surprised them. "I was under the control of Morro. I know you think I'm a crook by taking the Sword, and I wanna make things right by offering my airship R.E.X. as a peace offering." He explained with a smile. "I know it's not what you had in mind, but I've remotely entered the location of the tomb, the real one this time." He added as the monitor showed a map with a red dot in the middle of the ocean at the edge of Ninjago.

"Look at that." Kai said as he eyed the map. "The reason Misako, Rachel, and Luci never found the tomb in Ninjago was because it was never there in the first place."

"It's under the ocean, the last place where no ghost could go." Melissa said in realization. "That's why Morro needed Lloyd's body to get there, knowing he couldn't survive in a water environment."

"Morro has a head start, but R.E.X. should get you straight there in a jiff." Ronin continued as his screen started frizzing out. "And if it's any consolation, this'll be the last you see of me. If Nya wants to know the reason, tell her it's because I care. Hey, good luck, and go make things right." He said as the transmission ended.

The Ninja looked at each other before they gave a serious look. "Looks like we're headed to the tomb." Kai said with a serious look. "Time to buckle up." He said as R.E.X. flew off out of the hole before the flames caught up to them as they exited the Cave of Despair and flew off before it exploded as the Ninja gave serious looks.

Melissa then grabbed the photo that she put in her pocket and looked at it with a thoughtful look as she wondered, is Morro really evil or if there's still good inside of him.

A/N: And that is The Crooked Path, and even though Ronin took the Sword he made up for it and helped The Ninja show where The Realm Crystal really was, it also looks like they now know what happened to Morro. I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter, leave a review and tell me what you think.

Here's the Cast List.

Jillian Michaels as Lloyd; Tara Strong as Melissa; Vincent Tong as Kai; Michael Adamthwaite as Jay and Postman; Kirby Morrow as Cole; Brent Miller as Zane; Kelly Metzger as Nya; Paul Dobson as Wu and Ghoul-Tar; Kathleen Barr as Misako and Bansha; Andrew Francis as Morro; Brian Dobson as Soul Archer and Ronin; Veronica Taylor as Rachel; Alyson Court as Luci; Jennifer Hayward as Pixal.