#or better at shurikens than Zane

[queennai714]

Random hcs I have because I may be cringe but I'm free part 28 (Ninjago)

(Except I feel so strongly about this one, I have to remind myself on a daily basis that it hasn't been explicitly stated on the show)

Kai is the best at hand-to-hand

Jay is the Weapons Expert

Simple as that

Nothing could convince me otherwise except seeing an episode worth of proof from the show itself, which they wouldn't even do since it's basically canon atp

[dilemmalion]

Hey wait can we talk about the Battle Between Brothers short? I’m sure they probably didn’t think nearly this hard about it but I wonder if there is anything we could discuss about the Golden Weapons that Wu and Garmadon are fighting with

(Screenshots taken from the wiki)

So since each weapon is associated with one of the four original Ninja, I find it interesting that Wu is holding the Scythe (Cole) and Shurikens (Zane) while Garmadon is holding the Sword (Kai) and Nunchucks (Jay) because I think it could be argued that the Ninja have associations/parallels with either brother respectively in a lot of ways.

It seems implied that Cole views Wu almost like a father figure, which makes sense since Cole’s dad wasn’t really there for him. Then there’s also their dynamic in Master of the Mountain that reinforces this. And Cole literally becomes a sort of role model for Young Wu in Hunted. Zane and Wu also seem to have a pretty close relationship, which I say is shown a lot at the end of the Fire Chapter when Wu says Zane was “one of the kindest, bravest souls I have ever known.” And then they barely expand upon this anywhere else after the ice chapter but oh well I’m not salty haha

Whereas with Garmadon, Kai obviously has a lot of parallels with him especially at the beginning of the series. Kai himself probably could have become a villain because of his obsession with being the Green Ninja. Both he and Garmadon are ambitious and willing to do what it takes to get what they want, and they are both very passionate about their personal relationships and are prone to self sacrifice. To be honest though I’m not really sure what the parallels Garmadon has with Jay yet, other than I guess they both have taken a lot of big risks that have affected them either for the better or worse, idk. Anyway I think my point still stands to some extent

Anyway yeah I’m gonna go cry about the Spinjitzu brothers again for the thirty-second time this week have a good day

[felikatze]

hi hi yes this is my season 8 write up you’ve probably seen one of these already by now and i gotta say what the fuck was that how the fuck was that oh my god oh my god. is this still the silly lego ninja show. am i dreaming.

this is the first one i’m actually structuring in advance because i have so many thoughts i have so so so many oh my godddddddddd. oh my god.

BROOOOOOOOO

i had. feelings about this season. 2.6k words of them.

i did not like the first two eps because (gestures at fake out romance plot) i’m sorry i hate ninjago romance plots and pixane are the only bitches i respect. the first two eps went HARD on building up harumi as super duper sweet trust me like the whole fuckin princess jasmine sequence made me cringe. do not like themmmm i do not. after that we’re good though. props to these eps to starting on the harumi lloyd parallels via comparing her position as jade princess with lloyd’s as the green ninja in addition to their both at this point primarily green color schemes. lloyd is unshippable to me though sorry. aroace lloyd supremacy.

one thing i noticed this season is how the ninja use their elemental powers differently. instead of just spawning their elements in, they take advantage of the environment. one scene that comes to mind is nya using the rain to safely land the bounty or jay redirecting lightning and using power lines to shock the big stone monster in episode 10.

i really like this change! this makes fight choreography more interesting by including the environment! nya bursting some pipes to blast away garmadon? kai using torch fires to throw at people? i love that!! it’s great!! feels natural feels good to watch!!

the elements look amazing as well! particle effects this season are off the shits! this season just plain looks good. love the redesigns on the spinjitzu effects to differentiate them and incorporate elements better than just color. LOVE the lighting. looks so good. i already praised season 5 for this but this takes the cake.

speaking of more changes. weapons!! i called season 7 sexy for giving everyone their unique weapons back and there’s some changes here! nya got a trident!! love that!! so cool!! thematic!! and no ninja has a polearm yet so. vry cool vry cool.

last time, i complained that kai and zane got the short end of the stick cuz people keep infringing on their weapons. that’s fixed now! kai gets TWO swords, which is SICK. i just think duel wielding is sexy. zane gets a bow, which i’m more hmmm abt. it’s still the only long distance weapon of the squad, so i guess it works. shurikens still seem to be mainly zane’s thing, as they’re how the gang recognize zane’s plan to go undercover.

cole also gets a hammer instead of a scythe. i GET IT hammers are better for a blunt force character like him, but.. scythes are sick. ninjago gets a pass due to my affinity for blunt force weaponry. this time.

speaking of cole. admire how he was just READY to be a dad upon finding a random baby in a dungeon somewhere. said baby being Wu is objectively hilarious because cryptic old man wisdom is replaced by baby babble. cole is just so. he is Taking Care Of This Baby. in the beginning of the season before finding the baby he’s already Dad Mode somehow because he’s telling everyone to eat their veggies. i love him. it’s so funny. someone has to save the baby from plunging off the airship? cole’s here. someone gotta play with the baby? cole. someone gotta hold the baby? cole. misako only takes over because he’s busy after everything’s gone to shit. cole is the dad friend.

REDESIGNS. redesigns. i like em. i’ve watched the lego ninjago movie twice i like the movie and i think the designs are good. they’re a bit more complex than the previous ones esp in the hair and it fits better with the improved graphics n shit. i just wish they’d been more consistent with the past designs. like the side kai’s scar is on being the opposite one to his notched eyebrow. or jay missing his slit eyebrow. this is just about eyebrows. jay’s freckles are cute though. only redesign i dont like is zane’s i think his eyes and hair look weird and why does nya have a mole now feels weird. anyway.

i heard the redesigns are so it’s easier for potential new fans from the lego ninjago movie which is hilarious. the potential that THIS is someone’s first season of ninjago. the one that dregdes up emotional conflicts from season 2, the one season that breaks the status quo by having the ninja lose at the end, the one season that doesn’t have weekend whip as the intro. hello. HELLO.

how did we get here

moments i enjoyed: zane undercover, mister E fight

OKAY ONTO THE SEASON ITSELF OKAYYY.

i rlly liked zane’s stint undercover i think that was a great sequence. (how many akira slides do ya want? oh? all of them? okay). motorcycle races were fun. (fun fact german dub just refers to the sons of garmadon as “garmadon’s bike gang” which is kinda funny aint it. german dub never change you fuckhead). the fights this season were cool for aforementioned elemental reasons but also just sick in general. i enjoyed zane getting trashed by mister e (ohhh like “mystery” okay okay). fucked up that zane dies again but whatever it was a cool fight.

what i disliked abt the general sequence was cole’s singing which i KNOWWW is supposed to be bad i aint even talking abt kirby morrow since (dub watcher) but like. yeah whatever the irony of cole being a horrible singer but they did not have to make it a running joke. i didn’t like harumi’s singing either i just don’t like singing in non-musical shows. only good singing was when everyone was singing weekend whip karaoke. german dub show me the forbidden weekend whip german cover full version. i liked those lyrics.

PIXAL OFFICAL RETURN SHE’S HERE I LOVE HERRRR (<- PIXAL STAN SINCE SEASON 3). i am mildly heartbroken by pixal being soo afraid of the possibility of going back into the computer and how she’s so afraid she won’t be useful being the way she wants to be. this is where zane pulls thru because the only one who doesn’t respect pixal’s autonomy is pixal herself. everyone is always so supportive of her choices even back in season 3 and i like that this is continued here i LOVE pixal becoming samurai x and making it her own thing. she still takes on a support role occasionally but she’s doing what she wants to do and everyone loves her for it (including me). pixane is the only romance subplot i respect (jaya is valid only when a coinflip lands on heads). i wanted to say something else about pixal here but i forgot. i love her.

BACK TO PLOT OKAY OKAY. episode 7 makes me sick in the head. i think how the harumi reveal is handled is done SUPER WELL esp in regards to lloyd. i think on the ninja side tracking her comms is kinda goofy how she just goes to background evil smirking cue cliffhänger. BUT.

when she tells lloyd to take the mask i immediatly went like “Oh god she knew he’s part oni” and THEN lloyd says “how’d you know i’m part oni” like OH SHIT!!! OH SHIT!!! lloyd piecing it all together was so fuckin satisfying cuz it’s all the stuff i ALSO noticed. good shit.

this is where i get into harumi bcuz *rotates her in my mind* this is insane.

her motivation is so understandable but also so twisted. FIRST OF ALL her backstory confirms something cartoons typically like to avoid. death tolls. her parents died in the season 1 finale. this fucks me up because now you gotta ask yourself, where else did people die here? who else didn’t make it? because it’s not just season 1. did you know that nya straight up killed everyone in the cursed realm? chen appears as a ghost in day of the departed. she killed him and all his followers but does she even realize? hello? okay? who did the stone army kill? who did the nindroids kill? not to sound like a broken record but DEATH IS REAL IN NINJAGO.

additionally the flashback shows harumi and lloyd to be the same age which fucks me up for a PLETHORA of reasons least of all that lloyd’s age now actually matches his appearance. the flashback also confirms time exists and years pass. how old is everyone. are the other ninja all in their mid twenties now. christ.

OKAY BACK TO HARUMI. her motivation is so. it’s somewhat of a running gag that whenever the ninja bring up the great devourer someone chimes in with “garmadon defeated it, not you.” it’s perfectly logical for harumi to now idolize the person who is repeatedly stated to have defeated the thing that killed her parents.

(side note her title being “the quiet one” because she temporarily went mute because of trauma is SO FUCKED UP GOD. side side note the german dub makes a really smart choice in how to translate her title because it calls her “der stille boss” / the silent boss. german is a HIGHLY gendered language and for a LOT of nouns, specifically occupational nouns, there’s the -in suffix to make them feminine, which would spoil who the quiet one is cuz you’d immediatly look toward the newest girl. but “boss” is a loanword, and thus uses the generic masculine without any actual implication of gender. the script also doesn’t substitute the title for pronouns ever, to further avoid masculine connotation. props to that choice.)

moving on, i brought it up already, but paralling jade princess / green ninja. delicious. harumi never wanted to be a princess she never wanted the responsibility but her being “chosen” by the emperor and empress. god. this directly puts the ninja “failing” as the deciding factor that pushed her into the fate she abhors. godddd. insane. insane.

HER METHOD IS STILL SO WRONG THOUGH AND SHE WORKS SO WELL AS A VILLAIN AND AS A FOIL TO LLOYD. i want to talk about episode 8 now she is so needlessly cruel. like i GET where she’s coming from but it feels like she made all the wrong conclusions. what she doesnt get is without the ninja EVERYONE would be dead not just her parents. furthermore she seems to have it out for lloyd specifically when like, lloyd wasn’t even a ninja back then. the show COULD’VE brought up how he was the one to release the serpentine in the first place but it doesn’t sadly.

she’s soooo needlessly cruel it’s kind of horrifying. she reminds me of lime witch’s heart a little bit if there’s any fanbase overlap besides literally just me and anybody knows who i’m talking about. she just wants him to suffer as she did she wants someone who gets it she wants someone who went through the same experience she did.

BUT LIKE AGAIN THIS IS WHERE THE PARALLELS COME IN. she and lloyd were the same age in season 1 he was not a ninja during that fight. he was also chosen for a fate he didn’t want at way too young an age and he had to deal with it. them being the same is what makes her so cruel.

i gotta talk abt the garmadon revival and episode 9 now. first of all i’m SUPER happy klaus-dieter klebsch reprised his role as garmadon in the german dub because he is THE garmadon voice to me always and forever. he does evil laughs good and the voice direction is eh with how drawn out all of garmadon’s dialogue is but the performance is on point as always. anyway.

isn’t it fucked up how harumi doesn’t just want to destroy lloyd emotionally by kidnapping his mom and emotionally manipulating him but also deliberatly in making him fight his dad again. remember season 2 when garmadon was like a complex character who was very conflicted between his essentially Obligation to be evil and the love he still has for his family. like i remember that version of garmadon, lloyd remembers that version of garmadon. the one who still put family above all despite everything and that’s why it HURTS man. garmadon’s dialogue in episode nine dear god. like the “i wore many masks” dialogue and the finishing touch of “i don’t have a son” cue garmadon throwing lloyd through a wall again. like the garmadon we got to know from s3-4 might as well be dead because it’s not him that came back. it’s really not.

bringing up season 2 again it’s understandable why lloyd wanted to confront garmadon on his own so badly bcuz despite being told that he won’t be the same the entire season the last time lloyd confronted garmadon with love it worked. it brought him back and this time it DOESN’T and because last time it did is why this hits so hard for lloyd (and also for me).

GOD the ending of episode 9 where lloyd gets thrown through a wall and he lands in the sand and groans and to desparately comfort himself he pulls out the picture he keeps of himself and his father, but the wind blows it away out of his hand into the desert. heavy handed symbolism but it WORKS okay it WORKS. sensei garmadon is DEAD he‘s GONE but lloyd still has to grapple with killing his father all over again.

it’s Inch Resting how harumi essentially Stole garmadon for herself like. harumi has a TON of parental issues and she idolized garmadon for however many years it’s been since season 1 and he’s like. a bit fixated on her as the one who brought him back i.e breaking her out of jail. that’s what i mean by her being cruel cuz like she’s the one fighting with garmadon now she’s the one “important” to him (as much as anyone can be important to the revived garm like geez man)

tldr feels bad man

ONTO THE FINALE THAT’S SICK. actually having them just LOSE bcuz in ep 8 you think like “ah they won” but then you (I) looked at the episode counter and saw 8 out of 10. and you go. ah. they never defeat the villain till the darkest hour. the darkest hour is still coming.

like they LOSE they SPLIT UP THE TEAM. inch resting how the guys stranded in the realm of oni and dragons are the “original team” essentially i.e. the og four ninja + baby wu and how the ones still in ninjago are the “new team” i.e lloyd nya pixal + misako and whichever side characters they’re gonna scrounge up.

ALSO LLOYD THINKS THE OG TEAM IS DEAD WHAT THE FUCK. HE THINKS THEY’RE DEAD HE DOESN’T KNOW THEY HAD TRAVELER’S TEA.

my expectations for season 9 are ALL OVER THE PLACE. will lloyd and nya continue to think their friends are dead or will this be cleared up. how the hell is the og squad gonna fare against mythical creatures (and loads of em too). how’s lloyd gonna get back up and get back at harumi.

the last scene of the season between lloyd and harumi is really nice cuz “ninja never give up” motif is always cool AND how lloyd paralles HIMSELF to harumi by framing himself as a villain since “the worst one is the one you can’t catch.”

fun fact “ninja never give up” in german sounds really nice as a phrase cuz it’s trochaic, i.e entirely in trochaic meter. ninja geben niemals auf :)

lloyd jumping off a building landing squarely on the rest of the new crew’s boat is cool it’s a really cool shot to end on because it’s also like very hopeful despite the. extended darkest hour moment. an end is just a new beginning :) good albeit cheesy use of phrase motifs. he’s not giving up even if all his friends are dead and his powers are gone harumi!! suck it!!!!

IN CONCLUSION: oh my god what the fuck. this is the first season that made me actually tear up dear fucking god.

[themadauthorshatter]

.... I'm more just clearing put as much clutter as I can before moving onto more stuff, sue me

REWRITE OF THE PG-13 NINJAGO SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 REWRITE!!!

We begin with Wu meditating before the golden weapons in the monastery, having a vision of Lord Garmadon as he cackles, a snake curling around him and lashing forward, the ninja all injured or being injured somehow by a snake(Cole getting constricted until he's bending in ways he shouldn't bend, Jay being poisoned, Kai vomiting and hypnotized, and Zane seizing and convulsing on the ground as his body roots and decays(HMMMM?)), a small shadowed figure running away and then green energy glowing in front of him and absorbing him, the green becoming two eyes and rearing back to reveal that it's actually a giant ass snake.

Wu breaks form his meditation and leaves to check on his students, who are making a lot of noise.

First place to look: the training area.

No ninja, save for Nya and Zane who are working very hard and do not want or need any distractions right now, thank you very much.

Wu first asks Nya where the others are, and she's been training since earlier in the morning, so she couldn't tell.

He asks Zane instead and Zane simply stops, shrugs, and continues what he's doing, moving a little too quickly for an honest answer. (Hmmmmmm?)

Wu does not buy it and asks Zane where the others are.

Zane covers his mouth with his hands and parkours to the top of the monastery and looks for the falcon.

Wu demands to know where the others are, Nya saves him and points to where the boys are.

They're all playing video games and kicking back, Kai and Cole being guided by Jay, but all of them having a good time.

Wu puts an end to the shenanigans and shouts for Zane to get down so he can talk to all of them; Nya is only allowed to continue training.

He yells at them all, Cole apologizes for slumming around, but Kai and Jay have each other's backs, saying there's been nothing but peace since Garmadon was banished, so they’re kickimg back and relaxing, seeing as how they've earned it.

Wu isn't convinced as none of them have tried harnessing the power in their elemental weapons, which are collecting dust because they're sitting on their asses and doing nothing, except for Zane, who simply left his shurikens with Wu because Wu asked him to.

The ninja are all demurred by this and Kai asks why Wu's up in arms about it now qhen they'll train later, which gives Wu the opening to give his, 'never put off for tomorrow what can be done today' speech and tell them they need to figure their weapons out NOW, because he had a vision and bad stuff happened in it.

Speaking of now, we cut to a village as a woman collects and buys some fruit. As she does so, a shadow sneaks behind her and reaches out woth a claw-like hand, though it pulls away when she sees it and screams.

Back at the monastery, an alram goes off as evil is spotted, sending the nunja into a panicked race to get to their dragons, all having non-elemental weapons because time.

They all rush to get to their dragons, with Zane and Cole being better than Kai and Jay to show how the latter two have really been slipping up.

Wu is not amused and Nya is mildly entertained.

While they saddle up and fly away, Wu watches with a little bit of worry and hopes the ninja will be okay, though Nya sneaks away to do... Nya stuff(HMMMMMM!?!?!)

Eh, I'm sure it's nothing, so we check on the boys as they decide to have a little race, seeing who can fly their dragon the best, Cole doing so the normal way, Kai on his dragon's neck for increased speed, Jay stuck to his dragon's seat because he's going so fast, and Zane on Shard's tail and flying backwards as a, 'fuck you all for getting me in trouble' to the others.

They all arrive at the same time and reach the village, seeing the people in a panic as they describe a shadow in the market. The ninja are instantly on edge and race into action, ready to fight who they believe is Lord Garmadon.

They find the shadow near a fruit cart, which sees them as well, and a chase ensues, the villagers in a panic as the ninja are mostly unable to catch it.

Cole, fed up, commands Kai to saty with him and for Jay and Zane to get ahead of it and make sure neither get spotted in the process, cut it off so they don’t wear themselves out.

Zane and Jay do just that, Jay taking a speedy, lightning shortcut while Zane does some The Office style hardcore parkour, only he's more successful and stops the shadow in its tracks, leading it to a balcony in an abandoned house.

It ends up falling, but Zane catches it and breaks its fall, holding on as the rest of the ninja arrive.

They ask who the shadow is, and we see that it's the real start of the show: Lloyd, who is dirty, raggedy, and skinnier that a pair of woman's jeans.

They ask what he was doing and Lloyd apologizes, explaining that he was just trying to get something to eat as he's very hungry. The villagers see the shadow and scold him, telling him he should be ashamed of himself for boarding into their community and disturbing their way of life, something that makes Lloyd curl up in Zane's arms.

Kai comes to the boy’s defense, explaining that he's just a kid, around 7 or 8, and was just looking for a meal because he's starving.

Cole asks what Lloyd's name is, and he gives it, before asking if he's lost, if his parents are around, all that jazz.

Lloyd winces and looks away, admitting that it's a long story.

CUT TO THE NINJA AND LLOYD AT THE FOUNTAIN WITH A BUNCH OF FOOD THEY PURCHASED!!!!

Lloyd explains that he ran away from a boarding school, where he was mistreated and thrown out of, and has been scavenging around different villages for about six months now with varying degrees of success. He did try asking for food, but he was always asked where his parents were, so he left that behind, instead resorting to digging through trach and compost bins so he could find something to eat. He doesn't have any parents because he doesn't know where they are, who they are, and if they're even alive.

The ninja are deeply saddened by this knowledge and ask if he's really been alone this whole time, going from village to village, because they can always find a boys/foster home for him, maybe take him into the monastery. Lloyd lights up at the offer, but declines, not wanting to bother any of them.

The team is a little bummed, but they draw a map and tell Lloyd that if he changes his mind, he can find them using the map.

Lloyd agrees and thanks them for the food before leaving to where he's hiding out at: an abandoned building that he fixed up using blankets.

The ninja return to the monastery and give the news to Wu that there wasn’t any real threat, just a kid people are giving a hard time for some reason.

Wu is a little suspicious, but doesn’t ask further and instructs the team to train, to connect with their weapons and understand their power.

Wu leaves them and the team does some basic training, though Jay does go inside to get some practice armor and bumps into Nya, who's civered in oil, has a bit of scraping on her and is simply dirty. Jay frets and asks if she's okay, but Nya brushes it off and goes to take a bath. Jay tries to believe her, but his worries die when he finds a scroll with the armor, one he brings back to show the others.

The scroll details a warrior in green that will vanquish darkness and bring peace to all of Ninjago, being so powerful that he can bring light where none can exist. His fate is laced with both glory and power, but also suffering and possible damnation as he is essentially the 'She-Ra' of the Ninjago universe:

The Green ninja.

All four are perplexed and intrigued, all curious as to who this warrior is.

Before they can speculate, Cole rerolls the scroll and returns it to Wu, scolding hinself and the others for prying into business they shouldn't when they don't even understand their weapons.

As he returns the scroll, Jay armors up, though he does ask Kai if he thinks any of them are the chosen one. Kai isn't sure because it could be any of them.

Jay is clever and fast, Kai is a quick thinker and has decent dexterity, Zane is the most practically skilled, and Cole is arguably the most experienced.

While he wonders who this green ninja person is, we cut back to Lloyd as he looks over the map he was given, contemplating if he really wants to go find the monastery and stay with the ninja. Before he can think fully, a little girl walks by with her mother, but stops to stare at him, her mother going to a clothes vendor.

The girl states that she and her mother are currently running errands, shoppong for things like clothes and food, before asking him where his mother is and qhy she isn’t with him.

Lloyd tries to ignore her, but the girl asks if his father killed her, if she'd been taken away by the skeleton army and if Samukai killed her for his master. To push even further, she asks if his father hates him so much that he didn't even take Lloyd back to the Underworld, where he belongs. Her mother believes that's where Lloyd belongs, so she's just asking why he's hanging around here.

Very hurt and upset, Lloyd beguns to defend himself, but it goes South when the mother returns and pulls her daughter away from him, calling him a demon and demanding he stay away from them both or he'll be lynched.

The two walk away, but Lloyd runs out of the village, crying and determined to find somewhere else to stay, as he's tired of being picked on and called a demon by everyone.

He leaves and finds his way to what he believes is a cave or a well of some kind. He goes inside and falls down, ending up in a cave made of ice.

Lloyd huddles up against a wall, even as something approaches him and asks him what he's doing, if he's lost, all those villainy questions.

Lloyd looks up and sees a giant snake, a Hypnobri by the name of Slitheraa. Before he can make a run for it, Slitheraa restrains and picks Lloyd up with his tail, asking him to tell him what he wants to know before he MAKES HIM. Slitheraa did begin to hypnotize Lloyd, to calm him down and possibly kill him for trespassing, but he sees Lloyd's red eyes and causes Slitheraa to put Lloyd on the ground and calm him down, assuring him that he won't be hurt him, even asking Lloyd what he wants as it can be acquired, as he now has an army.

Lloyd asks what he means and the rest of the Hypnobri reveal themselves, all cautious of Lloyd and some preparing for an attack.

Slitheraa commands them all to stand down as their leader has returned, showing Lloyd an image of a red eyed, boney, skeleton-esque figure freeing the snakes. How coincidental that Lloyd happens to be wearing a skeletal hoody and has red eyes.

Lloyd marvels at his new gains and we cut back to the monastery, the ninja train under the supervision of Wu, who gets a phone call from another part of the room and Nya reveals that it's a woman asking to speak with him. (HMMMM?)

As quickly as his old bones can carry him, Wu rushes to take the call and the ninja get an idea, as all are still holked on who the green ninja is:

They're going to hold a mock tournament. They'll all fight against one another and the winner is the green ninja. The determining of who fights who first will fall on a Ddakji game where the first two to flip their tiles will fight first followed by the next pair. Whoever wins will face each other, though the losers will have a chance to get back in in a duel of their own and the winner of said duel can fight one of the winners, decided by a coin toss from Nya, who's not hilding any biases. If the loser wins and agianst the winner, he can steal his place and fight the original winners opponent. The victor of all the matches is titled the Green ninja.

Nya objects and asks if this is a good idea, as she specifically remembers Wu telling them to harness their weapons, not fool around. Kai defends the team by explaining that this IS the team learning to harness their powers, it's just a little edgy because it's a competition. And Green Ninja is just a term they all came up with for fun.

With the team clear on the rules, they begin.

Cole and Zane win Ddakji first, and so are the first to fight, the two in armor and ready to wipe the floor with each other.

Zane stays regulated to long range, i.e. throwing shurikens at Cole, before going in with the ice shurikens. Cole is frozen to the ground and feigns taking a few hits, pretending to be injured, but pulls an Uno reverse card by hooking his scyth under Zane's armor and slamming him into the ground.

When he asks, Zane gives a thumbs up to assure him that he's still alive, though he is very disappointed.

Up next is Kai and Jay. The two are more clumsy, but eventually Kai deflects enough hits to cause them to ricochet back into Jay's face and cause him to stumble back before ultimately knocking him down.

Zane and Jay fight, because why not, and where Jay ends up with cuts and is frozen to the ground, Zane is only a little burned before he challenges Kai.

When they fight, it's Zane throwing ice laced shurikens while Kai deflects with flame and sword. The fight ends with Zane being burned as Kai awakens his sword.

Lastly, Cole and Kai step up to fight, beginning with some banner that if Kai wins, he gets to lead the team instead of Cole. Cole agrees, BUT ONLY IF KAI WINS. The fight begins with Cole swinging and throwing Kai and even striking to ground to make Kai fall.

Kai kips up and attacks, his sword becoming too hot for him to handle to the point he almost lights the area on fire.

Thankfully, Wu saves the day by sending the shurikens of ice to extinguish the flames.

When everyone is alright and the fire is put out, Wu sends Nya off to check on the village the ninja previously visited.

She accepts and Who jumps right into a lecture demanding to know what the ninja are thinking, acting so recklessly. Zane escaped to the roof and Jay admits that it was a simple competition, seeing who was the most capable in a fight out of sheer curiosity. Wu scolds them and, just as he leaves, Kai sighs and asks Cole if he wants to rematch or let Kai walk away the Green ninja.

Jay immediately shushes Kai, Zane literally throws himself off of the roof to tackle and silence Kai by covering his mouth, and Cole freezes as Wu weekend whips backnaround and flat out demands them all to explain what that means and how they all know.

MEANWHILE, Nya is finding nothing but interesting trinkets, but that's until she spots a familiar face: Lloyd, who she approaches, asks to confirm is him, because her brother is a blabbermouth, and gives a fruit or vegetable to, maybe even half of her sandwich because the kid needs one.

Lloyd thanks her and admits he's actually okay, as he found a place to stay and people to watch his back.

These people are seen offscreen by Nya, who pales and has a look of fear on her face.

CUT BACK TO THE MONASTERY! Wu explains that he doesn't know who the green ninja is. He doesn't know if it's any of them, but he does know that they need to find him or her because he saw the Serpentine in his vision, beings who are essentially giant sentient snakes that were locked away before Garmadon came to power. They're dangerous, all having their own skills and abilities, and only the green ninja can permanently seal them away. Or he can give them peace.

Just know that the ultimate decider of Fate is the Green Ninja. He's not some kind of Messiah, he just has to decide who lives or dies.

The ninja are frightened by the prospect of powerful snakes, after having battled woth undead skeletons, but Jay asks if they're still sealed away, if they can't hurt anyone.

They get their answer when an alram goes off and Nya reveals the city is under attack by snakes. (Good going, Jay.)

They race there, a fight close to the original episode 1 plays out, but instead of candy, the Serpentine are attacking villagers and taking what food they can, having spent DECADES underground. Cole still gets into an altercation with Skales, but this time Skales puts up a fight, revealing himself to be the most battle prepped out of all his brethren, before hypnotizing Cole. The sequence of this happening would look like Cole's dealing with Vertigo as all other sounds drown out and he only hears the rattle of a snake tail and Skales's voice.

Thankfully, Kai snaps him out of it and the ninja cause the Serpentine to retreat. The villagers are accounted for with no one really being injured, but Kai looks around, concerned.

"Wait. Where's Lloyd?"

The ninja immediately split with Wu behind them, all calling and searching for Lloyd, asking anyone passing by if they've seen him, and they express disdain as Lloyd brought the snakes in the first place.

Thankfully, Zane finds Lloyd, who's been hiding because he was spotted by a villager that slapped him, something that made the snakes attack in the first place. The ninja call for Zane and say they need to head back, but Zane hold a hand out to Lloyd, silently asking him to come with them, so he's safe.

Lloyd shakes his head and instead begs Zane to not tell Wu that he was even in the village to begin with, as he'll get insanely mad at him and probably send him back to the boarding school he was at. Zane, seeing the distress on Lloyd's face, reluctantly agrees and only watches Lloyd as he crawls away to a one of those sewer/manhole things that are underground(maybe even a well), following the snakes back to the cave.

Zane, saddened, rejoins the group and states he did find Lloyd, but lost him, something that deeply hurts Wu.

When asked, Wu reveals that Lloyd is someone he's been looking for because Lloyd is his nephew. He's been worried sick and looking for any lead on where he was or would be and he thought he'd find him here, even kicking himself for not asking about that kid they met.

Cole, recovering from the hypnosis/mind control, comforts Wu and tells him they'll find Lloyd and bring him home.

Wu accepts that offer and thanks Cole for the support.

While the team return to the monastery, the Serpentine somewhat have a feast of some wild animals and fruits and veggies, savoring a job well done; Lloyd eats a small space away from them, though there are a few younger Hypnobri that sit with him and eat with him. They're grateful to have gotten some decent food after so long, to have been in the open, feel the sun, the wind, so many things, all because of Lloyd, who blushes and admits that it was an accident, apologizing for what happened at the village.

Slitheraa brushes it off and tells Lloyd not to worry about it as they still got out with a good amount of food and supplies, enough to FIGHT BACK against the billage and the ninja.

Lloyd objects to that and offers an alternative: going somewhere where they CAN'T be seen, somewhere they can hide in plain sight. A Hypnobri asks(whines) if they have to hide underground and Lloyd admits he was thinking more along the lines of being ABOVE ground.

Slitheraa commends Lloyd for his wit, as no one expects snakes abive ground, and the Serpentine speak up about seeing woods beyond the village, one where people disappear in, calling the perfect place.

The tribe, excited and eager, agree to move out after their celebration, toasting to their new found fortune and their hope: Lloyd.

The episode ends with Lloyd spotting Skales, who glares back at him as we cut to a shot of Cole lying in bed as he fights a migraine.

[miraculous-ninjabird]

If you're still doing the drabble prompts, then could you write something about Zane having deja vu while doing little things? Maybe catching something that's about to fall off a shelf while doing chores?

SO! I’m not exactly sure what you were going for but I tried my best.

Zane has an odd experience during training...

Not many things in Zane’s life made sense. One of the biggest ones was his so-called ‘6th sense’. Nobody before had been able to explain why sometimes he just...knew things. Things like accurately predicting weather patterns, having a 100% success rate at being able to catch things thrown at him, even if he wasn’t paying attention or always knowing when someone else was in the room, regardless of how well they were hidden. This afternoon’s training had been another prime example.

As tended to happen during most of their training sessions, things had not gone according to plan. Wu had instructed them to plan an odd little game of hide and go seek. There was one seeker and three hiders. The odd part was that the three hiders were tasked with trying to get as many ‘hits’ in on the seeker as possible without getting caught. For the most part they were all pretty bad at it. The courtyard was littered with practice shurikens that had missed their mark. Zane took his turn as seeker last, and at that point not a single person had been able to score a hit.

He didn’t expect this round to be any different. He would likely discover where they were all hiding before a single shuriken was thrown. Stepping out into the courtyard, he was already on high alert. Focused eyes scan the area for anything out of place. It takes less than ten seconds for him to spot Kai, huddled on a concealed portion of rooftop. Zane watches as Kai shifts his weight in an attempt to get a better vantage point.

Suddenly, an odd feeling settles in Zane’s gut. It’s almost like he can see what is about to happen. Images of rotting wood giving way, Kai plummeting to the ground, and group panic as Kai hits his head assault Zane’s vision. Like he’d seen the exact same thing happen before.

Without stopping to think about the implications of what he’d just seen, Zane leaps into action.

“KAI, NO! DO NOT STEP THERE!” he cries, but it’s too late. The wood beneath Kai groans ominously before splintering. He lets out a startled yelp as he loses his balance and topples head first over the edge. Zane slides into position just in time to catch him. The sudden weight is a little much, and Zane also falters backwards, landing heavily on his ass.

“GAH! Zane!” Kai gasps, looking disoriented. “What just happened?”

“The wood where you stepped was rotten. You fell and I caught you.” Zane informs him.

“Yeah but...how did you know that was going to happen? I’m grateful you caught me and all but there is no way you could have known the wood was bad from that far away.”

“I..am not entirely sure. I just saw you moving, and it was like I saw what would happen. I knew if I did not do something you would end up seriously hurt.”

“Wow. That’s a little weird. But whatever. You saved me, that's the important part.”

One day, Zane might learn why he seemed to have these visions. But for now, he was content with not knowing as long as they continued to help him protect his friends.

[mcfanely]

Zane power headcanons!

No matter where he is or what the weather is like, his breath always fogs up. Sure, maybe in the colder months it's really clear, but you know when you eat an ice lolly and breathe out and there's just that small bit of cool breath visible? That's Zane in the warmer months.

Due to Zane's power, and the fact that his body runs a lot colder than other people's, he drinks his tea piping hot. Like, just brewed, absolutely scalding. It's because he can withstand more extreme temperatures, both on the hot side and the cool side due to his tendency to run very cold. That and if he holds his cup for too long, it has the chance of freezing over.

Have you ever heard ice when it splinters and cracks, especially over a huge lake? That pinging ringing noise (That's honestly so pretty) Zane can make that noise when he whistles. The other ninja just think it's a quirk of him being a nindroid, but Zane knows better.

Zane can superfreeze the air around him. Usually, this can result in small and sudden snow flurries, even inside. But that's not the only thing he can use it for; he can create bellows of fog and mist in an instant, and if he tries hard enough he can force the air around him to solidify, however briefly, and it makes a great method of defence.

Linking to the previous point, there are times when Zane is just so calm and relaxed, that his powers surface involuntarily. Though it's not dangerous, it's just that the air around him just seems to sparkle and glimmer with the tiny ice crystals that are forming.

Zane's hair used to be a bit darker than what it currently is. More of a dusty blond; but from the moment the previous Elemental Master of Ice transferred his powers, it has just become paler and paler. Hence why his eyebrows are much darker, and his hair is such a shock of solid white.

There's a slight rumour that goes around the places that Zane has visited and helped, that his presence brings a dancing show in the sky. The aurora borialis always appears in places where Zane had provided aid, for no other reason than it is an expression of his joy and happiness to have aided in some way. Any positive emotions can cause the sky to light up in a plethora of colours, sometimes Zane has control over it, sometimes he doesn't. Though more often than not, on cold nights in the monastery, the sky is awash with colour.

Whenever the ninja ruffle his hair, as a form of brotherly annoyance, there always seems to be a thin layer of frost there.

Whilst Zane favours long range weapons, he's not opposed to closer ranged mele weaponry. Expecially when he's out of shurikens or crossbow bolts, just a brief touch to the ground or a clap of his hands and a staff of ice can quickly form when he's in a pinch.

Gotta love my icey nindroid.

Jay, Cole, Zane, Lloyd, Kai

[spinchip]

zane 4: I don’t think I can do this anymore.

A/N: accidentally write 2.3k of zangst...

He’s been getting worse.

Cole knows he’s not the only one who’s noticed, and he knows everyone is trying to do their part to coax Zane out of the husk that came back from the Never Realm, but the jarring reality is that nothing they’ve been doing is helping. At first he could barely stand to be in the same room as them all, cringing away from the cacophony of noise and sound, casual touches overwhelming after centuries in isolation. It had hurt to see him withdraw so quickly from them, but he still hung around one on one or if they were in smaller groups. They had to be patient, it’s not like he could just snap back from something so deeply traumatic. They shouldn’t have expected him to be okay.

But he just kept getting worse.

He rarely comes out of his room at all, he can’t bring himself to train- his own ice has him flinching, and he fumbles with his bow and shuriken, too out of practice to use them properly. Sensei Wu had gently suggested he try a bo staff or a podao and Zane had left training half a second after he’d touched one. He hadn’t come back for the past two weeks. He seemed out of place in the kitchen, stumbling over things he used to do with ease, unfamiliar once more with the place he’d practically lived in for years. He didn’t even cook anymore, or play chess, or read- anything he used to find fun he’d abandoned, even turning down video games and birdwatching with Pixal. He just… sat in his room, or on the roof of the monastery, or in the grass just beyond the gate and did not much else.

Pixal sat with him sometimes, trying to get him to open up, but he never did. Cole had walked out on her several times sitting in the hallway outside Zanes bedroom door talking quietly, locked out and begging him to let her in. The others tread lightly around him, trying not to spook him away when he comes out on his own, trying to avoid thinking about how tired he looks. He moves like each act is a chore, lifting his arms to get a glass of water as if his arms were weighed down with concrete, his shoulder slumped with exhaustion.

Two days ago the ninja were called out on a routine mission, some stragglers from the SOG still hanging around had gotten rowdy. Ultraviolet had escaped prison and had rallied a few into a few petty acts of crime in the street- the Ninja were barely necessary, but they were called out on every SOG round up, just in case. It should have been easy, maybe a little bit of a fight with Violet, but a refresher. Cole was almost looking forward to something to break up the monotony.

And then Zane had almost killed her, and things had gotten so so much worse.

It was like he became a different person on the battlefield, using his ice liberally and with a recklessness Cole had never seen from the nindroid before. He froze a few gang members up to their waists, ice crawling up their legs so fast they couldn’t fight it. Ultraviolet either couldn’t tell or didn’t care about the change in him, taunting them all. It wasn’t until she landed a hit on Nya that things got scary- Zane was across the battlefield in an instant, laying into her like it was the only thing he wanted to do. She dodges most of it, but the strikes that hit home were strong enough to put her to the floor. He froze her there, up to her waist, trapping her forearms in thick blocks of ice so she could only wiggle her shoulders to try and break free.

Then he raised his open palm towards her head, and she was laughing and taunting but her voice stuttered and died when she saw the look on his face. Detached and cold, empty, and deeply haunted. Frost swirled around his fingers, and Cole was struck with the awful reality that he’s about to execute her, I can’t watch this-

Cole lunges but Lloyd is faster, slamming into Zanes side a second before ice shards explode out of his palm. They miss Ultraviolet by a hair, smashing into the asphalt next to her hand hard enough to break it, big ugly cracks spreading out across the pavement, and the woman before them looked like she had never been more scared in her life. Her eyes blown wide, her face even more ashen as she looked at the place where the ice shattered the road- that could have been her head.

Zane comes back to himself, jerking away from Lloyd even as he tries to chase after him, gasping at his wrists and offering hushed comforts that Zane doesn’t seem to be able to hear. The entire street has gone eerily silent, watching with wide-eyed shock as Zane almost murders Ultraviolet. Frost starts inching out of the ground where Zane steps, patches of ice crawling across the street, and when he turns away from her and looks across the other SOG gang members- they put up their hands and surrender without any more fight, afraid of him.

Zane turned and ran, racing back to his vehicle and disappearing without a word, leaving them all to deal with the aftermath.

As Cole uses a pick he’d conjured out of earth to chip Ultraviolet out, she looks at him with those spooked eyes and tries to be cocky and uncaring again, “I thought murder wasn’t your style.” she shoots, When he doesn’t respond she asks, more subdued, “Do you think he was really going to kill me?”

Cole isn’t lying when he says yes.

Zane beats them home, obviously, and he locks himself in his room. Each of them take a crack at trying to get him to talk, or just come out for a second and let them see him. Lloyd gets him to at least talk through the door and reassure them he’s fine.

“He says he needs space.” Lloyd had reported back to them all, expression pinched.

And then it had been radio silence the past few days. He wasn’t coming out for anything, holed up in his room and hiding from them all. It was Kai that heard it, yelling for everyone else to come back to Zanes room- a crash, apparently. The sound of something breaking, and now Zane wasn’t responding. They all called through the door, worry spiking with each progressive minute, and Kai was the one who made the decision to force their way in.

It wasn’t something made lightly, but they just… needed to know he was safe.

The lock breaks out of the frame easily, and when they all pile in it’s pretty obvious that Zane left. His mirror is smashed in, a big dent right in the middle, spiderweb cracks spreading out across the rest of it. Jay walks up to it and puts his fist right in the center of it all, looking back at them with deep sorrow when it fits perfectly.

Nya motions to the window, “it’s open.” She says softly, “You think he’s out there?”

A heartbeat passes, “Let me go talk to him.” Cole says before Pixal can volunteer, “I… I’ve known him a long time. Let me try.” Before Pixal and Lloyd and Kai and Nya, before even Jay, it had just been Cole and Zane for a really long time. He knows Zane better than anyone.

Lloyds mouth twists and he doesn’t look happy about it, but he nods slowly.

Cole hoists himself up and out the window with a good deal more trouble than he’s sure Zane had, stupid skinny nindroid, who is nowhere to be seen on the other side. He sighs a little, running a hand through his hair with discontent, and turns back toward the monastery, squinting up at the roof through the darkness. He can’t tell from down here, but it’s honestly the most likely place he’d have gone to hide. He climbs up the wall with little difficulty, hauling himself up on top of the roof and flopping down on his belly. He rolls onto his back and sits up, looking around to catch a certain Nindroid smiling tiredly at him a few steps away.

“Very Graceful.” Zane offers, which is the most Cole has heard him say in nearly a week.

“I get the job done.” he comments, scooting across the roof to sit next to him, “You worried us. We heard your mirror break and then you didn't respond.”

Zane is quiet for a long time, “... How badly is my door broken?”

“Nothing a little work won’t fix.” Cole sighs, looking over at Zane.

It’s hard to explain, but he’s… lost something. Some spark of life or optimism. All he is now is tired and hurt and worn in a way Cole is familiar with on an intimate level, but his own funk had never been this ongoing. His time as a ghost had made him want to...  to give up, but he’d come back. Zane wasn’t coming back.

“What do you need?” He asks and when Zane looks at him, even the blue of his eyes is dull and faded, “What will help, Zane?”

“I don’t know.” He says honestly, “I just… I don’t think I can do this anymore.” he looks up across the expanse of stars twinkling in the sky, eyes distant.

“Do what?” Zane doesn’t answer and Cole leans in, resting a hand on his shoulder to ground him, “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”

It’s something they’ve all said to a certain degree a thousand times before, but maybe he needed to hear it a thousand and one, or maybe it’s gotten bad enough that he finally realizes he needs to talk before it gets any worse, but when Zane looks at Cole again he knows this is a turning point. Whatever he says next will change things.

“I don’t think I can be a ninja anymore.” Zane basically whispers it, barely managing to push it out past his teeth, a truth he’s been harboring so deeply within himself it took getting to his darkest moment to admit it, “i’m sorry.” he adds, face starting to break as the reality of what he’s just admitted catches up with him.

Cole shakes his head, “Don’t- Don’t apologize, Zane, you have nothing to apologize for.” He swallows down his own devastation, the idea of Zane not being a ninja anymore is- is heartbreaking. He doesn’t want that, to go into battle without his calm presence by his side, and almost immediately he feels his stomach roil at his own thoughts. Selfish.

“What I did in the Never Realm- I can’t forget it, it’s all I think about here, it’s all I know. Pain, death, devastation. Everytime I put on my gi I think about hurting people again.” He confesses, voice strained and hushed, “Everytime I call my ice and I feel that rush, I can't remember what I stand for. I just want to use it. On anything. And when I come down all I feel is guilt and shame, and when I look in the mirror all I see is a monster- I just can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to be here anymore.” he breaks, tears running down his face, biting his lip to stop himself from talking any more.

“Then don’t.” Cole reaches out again, taking Zanes other shoulder and turning him to face him, “Stop being a ninja- go- go out, see the world, remember what you love about life and about Ninjago. Remember what you’re fighting for.”

Zane looks at him with wide wet eyes, a new light flickering there, something soft and aching. It’s as if Cole has given him something, a new hope in the permission to leave.

“We’ll be here when you want to come back, be it just to visit or to stay. We’re your family, we’ll support you through whatever you need.” Cole pulls him in close and Zane accepts the hug, twisting his fingers into Coles gi desperately, “Just be sure to send postcards, alright? And- and any fancy candies that we don’t get here in Ninjago City.”

Zane laughs and it sounds watery, but Cole doesn’t mind if he cries because it’ll cover up the sound of his own tears.

In the morning, Zane quietly tells them all that he plans to leave, and they understand. It hurts, and no one’s exactly happy about it, but… they understand. If he needs to go, if space and time away from all this will help him heal, then by the first spinjitzu master they’ll be the ones to help him pack. He politely refuses Pixal and Kais offer to come with him and they take it with as much grace as they can. He sits with Lloyd the longest, breaks it to him the gentlest of them all, and Cole gives them as much space as they need to talk it out. Lloyd doesn’t have the best track record with abandonment, and this will be the hardest for him to grasp, but he does.

They will all let him go, even though it will be hard. There is no party, no celebration, just a quiet dinner that Zane makes himself, a few heartfelt goodbyes, and then Zane is gone.

The first postcard is a family event, it’s sealed up in an envelope with pictures and a letter to them all. He’s found a therapist to talk to over his Borg cell while he travels, he’s safe, he’s optimistic, and he misses them all greatly.

With it comes a little box, for Cole written on a small tag, and it’s filled with candy.

[drowsydregon]

dunno if you’ve done this one yet but. ( I flex on u ) hey bum bum bum got any technoshipping hcs?

always got smthn

> jay always likes to give zane little tweaks. he can scope out minor problems like no other, n nobody fixes nindroid bugs better than him. (even pixal’s gone to jay a couple times after seeing his work on zane)

> jay likes to carry zane around, despite zane being a lot bigger than him

> jay’s tried different hair styles on zane, but he honestly just prefers zane’s hair how it is

> zane is actually a lot better at video games than jay, but he lets him win 90% of the time. it’s chess that he doesn’t let jay win at (he has a reputation, after all!)

> back when they still had the golden weapons, zane would let jay play with his shurikens. nowadays, zane and jay practice archery together

> jay likes petsitting the falcon when zane’s out… although sometimes it seems like the falcon is petsitting him.

[robobirdie]

Chapter 14: Tears between Realms

“What is that?” Jay inquired as they stood around one of the large tables in the main hall. The ninja and Misako along with the knights and Fea stood looking at the Red-Diamond Shuriken which was placed on the centre of the table. It had been the knights who had found Zane first. They had found him wandering the building looking for them carrying the strange object. They were relieved when they found he was fine and not under the Stags control. He had even showed the knights the Ashers shrine he had found and they had alerted the town guards who were looking into who had made it.

“It looks like the Red Diamond Star also sometimes called Whetu’s or Astara’s Star,” Fae expressed adjusting her glasses to get a better look.

“What does it do?” Lloyd inquired.

“The hyenoid could not tell me all he knew was it was special,” Zane replied.

“It says here that this artefact is a Piece of Creation. Unlike the Ancestor Scrolls this item has much weaker powers. Its main power is to harness the strength of the wielder to deal twice its normal damage and it can dispel some types of curses. It never loses its edge and like a boomerang will return to its thrower. It is also believed to reveal hidden knowledge but this has never been proven,” Ava read looking up the object on a tablet she had found in this place. Zane felt like telling them about the vision he’d gotten about the Stag but after what had been going on he felt it best to leave that out. Maybe he thought he could tell the other ninja later when they were on their own.

“That’s just what it can do, there is much more attributed to this item. Legend says that there are two of these so called Red Diamond items in existence and both come from the same origins. Despite the name they’re not made of diamond nor any mineral. Legend states they are pieces of the heart of Astara or as people around the wastes here call her Whetu herself which she willingly gave to protect the realms from darkness. Some tales even claim she sacrificed her whole heart to make them. The heart was bathed and polished in the light of the realms turning it to a crystal like substance which was then cut and polished by the Minomer folk into two items; the Red Diamond Shurikan and the Red Diamond Amulet also known as the Amulet of Souls. Both were imbued with great power. The amulet was said to have been given to the Dragon Master as a sign of his right as ruler to the realm and to aid in the protection of the realms alongside a sword Mystara had crafted from the golden rays of light known as Dawn-bringer for him while the shurikan was gifted to those Astara deemed worthy to be her champion to guard the realm and the light of all creation from the influences of darkness,” Fae elaborated and Jay cut in wondering, “if she gave her heart than how’d she live?”

“Don’t know that’s just what legends say. It could be literal or the use of the term heart could have a figurative meaning and not a literal one. Though most accounts seem to point to it literally being the heart however some tribes mythology claim it was her blood and not her heart she gave up with the term heart referring to her love of the realm which drove her to give part of herself to protect the realms. These legends come from the Mythic era, long before written history so it is hard to determine a lot of details,” Fae stated.

“What’s this Whetu? We’ve heard a few folk here mention this being,” Cole asked from where he stood next to Zane. He had placed the item Tafari had given him on the table in front of Zane. He had joined the others after they had found Zane but since they were occupied with the strange object Zane had he had not yet told them of the item he had.

“Whetu is a spirit that is worshipped by many tribes around the Blackwood dating back to mythic times. According to most sources she is the same entity as Astara from the Tribunal; a protector for the people and the realm. The difference in name is simply to do with regional language differences in the past. Natives often use Whetu which when translated means star while most others in the realm will use the name Astara when talking of her. Many folk around here have small shrines or statues to her. There is one in a planter by the bedrooms if you want to take a look,” Fae explained.

“From what I’ve read I would prefer this Sheoth, he sounds like a lot of fun,” Aaron noted cutting in to which Lance responded with, “figures you’d choose the one of insanity.”

“Whetu is said to be a Guardian Spirit protecting her followers from the horrors of the Blackwood and the Ashers along with other evils. There are many who still believe in her today and believe she still protects the lands despite the fact she disappeared long ago. Of the tribunal she is the most loved and commonly worshipped. While all of the Tribunal care for and offer protection of the living the acts and methods of Mystara and Sheoth are less open than Astaras were. Astara took a more active and open method of caring and protecting the living. Because of her disappearance she has come to encompass mystery and magic. Because she enjoyed the times of dawn and dusk with a love for the features of the sky particularly those after the sun has set the moon and star become symbols for her. It is said the Lunar-heart Rose, a glowing pinkish rose that flowers only during the hours of dusk and dawn, and the ore commonly forged into Lunar steel were created by her. It is also believed other realms have a belief in her as her doings aided in protecting all realms and led to her having influences in other realms. Since her true name has been lost to time each realm has its own name for her. We often call her Astara or depending on where you are in the realm Whetu. What she is called in your world I do not know but you probably know,” Fae added, “Though a shape shifter she often appeared to her followers in our realm in the same form as a black cat folk resembling a panther with two small horns on her forehead and small pale cream lunar marking on her forehead and star like specklings on her back and chest. Her eyes are often said to be a stunning golden color reflecting with moonlight. She is sometimes labelled the mistress of dawn and dusk or is called the lord of twilight since it was believed that was when she desired to appear or speak to her monks and followers.”

“I have never heard these tales of her before. Did this item ever hold any significance?” Misako pried interested in the history behind the piece and folklore of this realm.

“Indeed. Along with being made from herself she would pass it to those who proved their merit to her to become her champion. A hero for the common folk, when they passed it would come back to her till she chose a new champion. Many have wielded it through history including some notable warriors,” Fae went on.

“So since it was brought to Zane does that mean she sees him as her champion?” Jay proclaimed.

“I don’t think so. In most tales she makes her suspected champion prove themselves through a quest or trial to prove their virtues and prove they are worthy to wield it also I don’t think she would use a hyenoid to deliver her item to a champion she’d probably do it herself,” Fae explained.

“In our experience we’ve often found there’s some truth behind myths,” Kai interjected.

“Even so this shuriken disappeared around the time Holamaya fell to the Stag; the Red Diamond Amulet disappeared long before that along with Dawn-bringer when the Dragon Master passed. Both those the remaining son of the Dragon Master likely knows the location of but this weapon not even he knew what had happened to it. The last one to wield this shurikan, Astaras last champion was Jules the Wise,” Fae commented.

“You mean that figure we saw in the museum,” Nya spoke.

“Yes, he disappeared along with Holamaya over 40 years ago. That was where he was last reported. No one has ever heard of him since. It was like he just disappeared. When the city was rediscovered they hoped to find some evidence of what had become of him or if he didn’t make it what remained. So far nothing has been found in the area outside the city and since we cannot access the inside of the city what happened to him is still unsolved,” Fae explained.

“Does the name Juib mean anything?” Zane inquired.

“Not really, some tales state Jules the Wise had a Robo-bill he called Juib that was like a beloved pet to him. He had lost his entire family in the reptilian war so the Robo-bill became his companion sort of like a robotic cat. Nothing more, why do you ask?” Fae questioned.

“The hyenoid said that is who told him wanted me to have the shuriken,” Zane replied.

“If he did have a pet Robo-bill as the tales suggest then it likely serves the Black Stag now,” Ava noted.

“Why do you think they would give this to us? If it’s that special why didn’t they keep it themselves so they could use it,” Lloyd pondered wary of why they had been given this item and why this minion of the Stag had secretly met with Zane.

“You’re right that is intriguing,” Clay pondered equally disliking how they had gotten the item and why they might have been given it while Jay worried, “You don’t think it’s some sort of trap or trick by the Stag?”

“Possibly but it could also be useless to him. He’s tremendously powerful on his own, much more powerful than this weapon so this object is probably useless to him. He probably doesn’t care about it so he let the scimitar constructs do what they wanted with it. They probably noted your preference for ranged weapons and seeing you as a Cub of the Fang possibly inspired them to give you this as a gift,” Robin told Zane and Fae added, “that could be the case. What their intentions are for giving you this only they would know. The ways of thinking for Scimitar Constructs are often hard to work out even for those studying them.”

“Just to be on the safe side I think it’s best if it’s inspected for tampering or bugs. If it’s clean you should keep it, could prove useful against the Stag,” Clay explained.

“Sounds like a good idea, better safe than sorry,” Lloyd agreed, “speaking of which Cole did Tafari give you anything?”

“She gave me this,” Cole replied picking up the strange stone she had given him and showing it off stating, “she called it Dragons Blood stone. We have to put this rate by your heart and hook it up to your neural network Zane. She said it won’t fully protect you but can help. She has one of these hooked up inside her that’s why the Stag didn’t affect her. It apparently did try to control her but this helped her fight him off.” Cole gave the stone to Zane who looked it over before holding it close to himself.

“Sounds good, come Zane, you still need to be looked after. We can install that while we’re working on you,” Nya stated as she and Jay led Zane off to be looked after, Zane tightly clutching the stone as if he thought it would save his life. Robin followed eager to learn more about Zanes make. Misako was eager to know more on the mythology of the realm curious if it could reveal a little more on the stag or what item they were to be looking for so Fae agreed to take her to the cities library to look at some texts on the realms mythology and history.

“Anything else she tell you?” Clay pried after they had left.

“She also said she’ll lend us her Star Stone when we enter the wastes,” Cole replied. He’d promised to keep the talk they’d had private and he intended to uphold his promise.

“Wow she’s willing to let us use it? I wonder if she’d let us study it a bit,” Ava expressed.

“She also said we don’t have to lock Zane up at night,” Cole explained. At those words the knights became nervous.

“You sure that’s a good idea,” Clay inquired.

“Yha we’re aware he was wandering around last night,” Macy added stunning them. They thought no one else had seen Zanes mindless wandering. No one had been awake, or at least they hadn’t noticed anyone else up.

“Yha he came into our room mumbling something about things being wrong and some other weird stuff while stacking a bunch of stuff in strange tower like formations,” Aaron elaborated.

“It is hard to get any beauty rest when someone’s rummaging through your room. At least he was trying to be quite about it though,” Lance stated.

“Yha he wouldn’t respond to us or even seem to realize we were there, it was creepy,” Axl expressed.

“You didn’t tell anyone did you?” Lloyd inquired as he, Cole and Kai became worried. If they had told anyone some of the townspeople might want to take drastic action and could harm their friend.

“Don’t worry we didn’t, we trust your judgment of your friend. We don’t hold prejudices like the folk here. We know better and understand. You know him better than these people do,” Clay explained, “you know if you want we have someone who could help you check your friend over to see if anything’s wrong. He also knows a great deal about magic he might know some way to help Zane combat the Stags influence.”

“You do, who is this person?” Lloyd inquired.

“Our mentor Merlok,” Clay stated and Aaron added, “he’s like an over three hundred year old wizard.”

“Why haven’t we met him? Is he still back in your realm? Do you need help getting him here?” Kai wondered.

“No he came here with us,” Macy began and the knights nervously looked around before continuing. It was just them in the room so the three ninja were confused why the knights were nervous.

“He’s just not in a form the people here would take kindly to so we’ve had to keep him hidden,” Ava noted.

“Is he like an un-dead or something?” Cole wondered and Ava responded, “no he’s like Zane, more technology than flesh.”

“Long story but there was an incident and he got digitized and fused with our ships operating system,” Clay explained.

“We worried what people here would do to him if they knew so we’ve been keeping him a secret,” Aaron added and Lance stated, “we’ve been keeping him in a mini version of the Fortrex in our room.”

“Miraculously for some reason the Stag never bothered with trying to control him,” Clay noted and Ava added, “we still have to figure out why. Either he was strong enough to fight the Stag off, the Stag was not interested in him or maybe the Stag was unaware he was here.”

“How come you never told us before?” Lloyd wondered.

“We were not sure if we could trust you but seeing how much you care for Zane like a family member…” Macy began and Axl finished, “we feel we can trust you now.”

“You understand just because they’re not human doesn’t mean they’re not family,” Aaron proclaimed.

“Your right, if you think he could help we’d be glad for him to take a look. I’m pretty sure Zane would approve of the help,” Lloyd agreed and Clay stated, “We’ll bring him over while Nya and Jay are still working on Zane.”

“Just because this might help I wouldn’t let your guard down, you can’t trust folk around here won’t try to hurt him. It’s also not 100 percent guarantee the Stag won’t try to sway him. He could still end up controlling your friend. If he ends up wandering around in a trance again and one of the towns folk find him things could go real bad for you guys especially after today’s events,” Macy disclosed.

“We won’t, we never let our guard down,” Kai boasted though Cole and Lloyd knew that wasn’t really true.

“On a lighter note I’ve heard the pieces to repair the ship we’ll be using should be coming in tomorrow. Sadly it will however take a few days possibly a week or more to complete the repairs so we have some time to train and prepare for the outing,” Clay explained and Cole agreed, “I think today showed we could use some extra time to train.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Lloyd agreed.

“Speaking of training after we bring Merlok to you I think I’m going to see if anyone here is willing to teach me some defensive moves against these Asher people,” Clay mentioned and Aaron expressed, “dude after the fight we just went through don’t you want to take a break.”

“No. The fight showed us we are not ready for the wastes, we need to train more to be prepared,” Clay expressed and Lance stated, “if you want to train go ahead, I’m going to see if this strange rustic town has a spa.”

“You can look for a spa later, now’s a time for training,” Clay declared.

“What do you guys think?” Aaron asked the ninja who were not wanting to get involved with their squabble.

“Well training is always good but so is resting,” Kai noted and Lloyd stated, “It’s up to you what you do. We’re going to take a break and check on our friend and see how he’s doing.”

“Alright, your free to join us in whatever we end up doing if you want,” Macy expressed while Clay and Lance continued to squabble over what they should do till Macy suggested that since they were strangers to this realm and it would help their relations with the townsfolk that they help with the cleaning and repairs from the Stags attack. Cole, Lloyd and Kai meanwhile headed off to see how Nya and Jay were doing with Zane. On their way to the medical center Hassiri came up to them holding something in his hand.

“Have you found your droid friend?” Hassiri inquired.

“The knights found him, he was just wandering around a little upset,” Lloyd replied. He didn’t want to reveal too much details not sure who they could trust here. He didn’t want to risk someone hurting Zane.

“That’s good. I thought you could use this for your friend,” Hassiri stated handing Cole the object he had. It was a bottle of some sort of oily looking substance. Cole lifted the lid to give it a sniff.

“What is this? It smells like a mix of oil and the Sea,” Cole noted. They were wary of the substance worried of what it was and what Hassiri’s intentions with it were.

“Scimitar Oil; It’s a special mechanical oil for droids and other constructs. Don’t worry it won’t hurt your pal. They say it has restorative properties for those like him. You can use it like you would other oils. It’s apparently good for droids like him. It also has a special effect for them if you make them eat or drink it. I’m not sure how it works but it can help calm those like him down when anxious or stressed; it can also apparently help relieve stress a bit kind of like some sort of tea for droids and can make them feel better. I was never really good with technology or magic so I can’t tell you much else about it. I’m not entirely sure how it’s made either, I do know a main component comes from an algae from a nearby fresh water sea and an ancient recipe the Scimitar folk came up with but other than that I don’t know. You would have to ask some of the scholars more about it they know more than me. They use this stuff for their constructs all the time,” Hassiri explained.

“Why are you giving this to us?” Lloyd questioned.

“I guess you could call it a gift for your pal so he can see not all of us here hate him. I wouldn’t be surprised if this incident makes him fearful of everyone. I wouldn’t blame him. Most people here do not understand constructs like him and will act out against him especially with what the Stag did with him. With what the Stag did I wouldn’t be surprised if most folk come to dislike or hate you guys after this. You should know there will always be some here who won’t hold this against you. You have no control over the Stag, there’s a reason we call him a daemon. We’re willing to help you even if most people here won’t. Most of the scientists here are still willing to help you and if you ever need anything you can ask me, even Zane,” Hassiri noted. He seemed nervous as he talked to them but they were unsure why he would be nervous and if his nervousness should worry them.

“That’s nice of you but you don’t have to,” Cole expressed.

“Don’t think much of it I’m always glad to offer any aid you need; now I have to help with getting the city functioning again. When your friends been fixed up your free to come help us,” Hassiri stated and Lloyd stated, “we probably will.” Hassiri then left headed for the main cavern of the Under-city.

“That was a little odd. Do you think we should trust this stuff he gave us?” Kai wondered once Hassiri was out of ear shot.  

“I don’t know. I don’t think it would hurt to try it, Hassiri has been nice to Zane so far…” Lloyd began and Kai expressed, “yha but after what the Stag did with Zane how do we know these people are not going to try and hurt him or worse.”

“We’re just going to have to stay on guard. Hopefully this incident doesn’t foul people’s views of us or hinder our quest,” Lloyd noted before they continued on.

Most of the sky now had the cursed look to it. There were a few patches that lacked it or where it was only partially coating. There were small mounds of ash building up along the walls and walkway and some strange plants and fungi had started growing in the courtyard. It was hard to tell what time of day it was due to the darkness and discoloration caused by the cursed skies though technology stated it was late evening. The racer fabricant was perched on the wall his head bent over and tail just hanging down as if sleeping or meditating. Pixal was cautious of approaching it. Though she knew it meant no harm, it had been protecting them night and day since it had arrived, she was unsure if it would understand what she wanted to ask it. The creature seemed bestial in many ways even though it was cybernetic. She was unsure if it was capable of higher functioning thoughts or if it was more simple minded. The night before she had a vision of a strange dark stag wandering the monastery grounds which were coated in a dark low lying fog and ash with strange plants and fungi some dead and twisted looking growing all over. Darkness followed the stag as it moved. The Stag took up residence in Zane’s room where it seemed to enslave Zane turning his eyes black with an eerie aquamarine iridescence. It seemed to corrupt him turning him dark and evil. When she tried to rescue Zane or even just talk to this entity it made Zane attack her while it snarled like a wolf behind him baring its un-deer like teeth and uttering something in a language she could not identify. The language unnerved her making her afraid for her life. She could not recall how it had ended but it had disturbed her. She had never originally had dreams before. When she was in Zane’s head through him she became aware of what it felt like to dream and the effects it had on him both physical and mental. After she had rebuilt her body she found herself having these dreams or visions from time to time. After what the necromancers had said and the vision she had she was curious to know a few things that only this being might know. The data the hyenoids had given her did not cover everything from this world. Oddly they had put very little data on the Stag or these Ashers though she was not sure why. When she was close enough she touched the fabricants tail and it turned its head to look at her.

“I do not know if you can speak let alone understand but I would like to ask you something,” she inquired. The racer remained silent as it tilted its head as if confused.

“Maybe I should ask Razak, it does not look like you understand,” she contemplated when it looked like the fabricant wouldn’t respond. She prepared to leave when Pelagius finally replied.

“I am capable of understanding to an extent,” it did not move its jaws at it quietly spoke, the sound seemed to emanate from the implants in its chest, “we might have been created from beasts but our creators gave us higher knowledge and the ability to use their tongues in order for us to better work for them. I am just not comfortable using their speech. It feels odd to me and I am not comfortable talking to most folk, to you though I feel safe to speak, Sister of the Fang.” The fabricants voice was slightly metallic and there was also a beast like roughness to the voice.

“My friends are headed to a place dominated by an entity they call the Black Stag, what do you know of this being?” she inquired. Pelagius just stared at her with his glowing red eyes for a few moments as if thinking the question over before responding.

“I know one of my kind serves him. My master had him over many decades ago once. I had recently come into my masters’ service. His presence made me fearful, if it was not for the fact my master was there I fear he might have taken me to serve him. Master was never fond of him. I think he only invited him to assess what he was and his intentions. He has never talked to him since. Pure blooded Oni are not supposed to feel fear but the Stag makes my master fear,” Pelagius regaled, “fabricants and robotics in my world we have a term for him the others do not we call him Akulakhan (a-kul-a-khan), the cursed one with no name. He is powerful, ancient and dangerous but there are far worse things than the Stag there. There is one thing my master fears more than the Stag and that is the wastes themselves. He rarely ventures beyond the fences that contain the wastes. It is not the flora or fauna he fears nor the geological activity or ash. It is what lies there, hidden, a great deep darkness; horrors and corruption that could give the Oni chills. It stems from the Red Tower, the Dragons Maw, the Oni’s Heart. That volcano, at its base sits the heart of the Ashers kingdom, the heart of their corruption and evil.”

“What do you mean? The necromancers said the Stag would destroy them, that he was the worst thing in the wastes,” Pixal inquired confused, from what she had heard the Stag sounded like the worse thing in these foreign lands. What was worse there?

“Of course they would say that, they are in league with the worse beings of the wastes possibly of all the realms, Ashers. They worship the Oni. Not good ones like Sheoth or your Mistake but the dark evil ones. It has corrupted them in ways you could never fathom. Their cruelty and dark values are on par with the Oni, possibly even worse. They are the living embodiments of darkness, corruption and destruction. To them your friends are both a threat and a potential asset. If they could harness them or their powers the Ashers would be unstoppable. They could resurrect the Oni and conquer the realms. They could do unspeakable things and spread a darkness few could imagine. They might do your friends in before they ever reach the Forbidden City or worse corrupt them to serve their cause, turn them into Ash Ghouls or worse. If they cannot make them their slaves then they might try to rip their powers from their bodies even if it means destroying them and they would do it in the most painful and torturous ways to them. That is not even the worst thing. The worst is the Blight a horrid condition not even you or I would be spared from. Despite folk labelling it a disease it is not one, no one knows what it truly is. Who it effects, what it does; No disease, parasite, virus or the likes is like it. It could best be described as a curse. It affects all living things and drives them mad. Few last long with the condition. A few weeks’ no more, stronger folk might last a little longer but in the end it will take them too. If they get the Blight they will never make it back. My master believes the Blight is tied to something in the wastes, a curse or corruption, something the Ashers have done. I would not want to enter the ash wastes. Your friends are either very brave or very foolish to enter. I do however admire their courage to enter that place knowing what is there they must be very brave,” Pelagius continued. What Pelagius had to say lowered her emotions. Would she ever see the others again or was it all over. She tried her hardest to hide her feelings but some of it ended up showing, she needed to stay strong if they had any chance of success. But remaining trapped here and being powerless to help save their world from this menace was taking a toll on everyone there.

“I sense that answer upset you. I would not worry they are in good hands. They are being watched over by those who care. There are those willing to help them no matter the cost and they have each other that is better than most who enter the wastes. They are strong, I am sure they will be okay. I know of one who lives there, she will watch over them and keep them safe I guarantee it, she has protected my Sister of the Fang who works for the Stag and my master would trust her with his life,” Pelagius consoled her turning around to face her and leaning over to rub his metal beak on the top of her head giving off a bird like purring grumbling noise. It cheered her up a little and Pelagius let her stroke his beak. Pelagius then whipped his head up to look over the landscape and mutter, “something is out there.”

“Is it the necromancers?” Pixal inquired stabilizing her emotions, now was not the time to lose hope they had to stay strong.

“No this is something else,” Pelagius replied before taking off to investigate. Once Pelagius had left Seliel came up to her. Seliel had been wandering around trying to find some solace from her worries when she had been drawn to talking in the courtyard. Everyone else was inside trying to find signals from places where the necromancers had not yet reached and arguing whether they should try and fight back the necromancers or wait for the ninja to return. They were all getting impatient and wanting to do something instead of just waiting around. Some of the other elemental masters such as Karlof, Gryphon, Tox and the Pale Man and some random folk like the mail man, the police commissioner from Ninjago city, Clutch Powers and even some serpentine had found their way to the monastery. Many had tales of seeing horrid and monstrous creatures, members of these Ashers, joining the necromancers and turning people into freakish beings like them. No one was standing a chance against them. Any who tried to fight them were being taken out and some folk who were fleeing were finding themselves suffering strange new illnesses. Any elemental masters they caught were being corrupted and turned into slaves for the necromancers, just like the Dragon Guard. Things were looking grim.

“I couldn’t help but over hear you out here,” Seliel spoke.

“I was hoping to acquire some knowledge from the racer. Being from the realm this evil originated I was hoping he had some knowledge we could use,” Pixal explained.

“A lot of it didn’t seem very good,” Seliel confessed.

“No it did not and if those things are coming here things might be worse than we thought,” Pixal noted looking at the ash and various flora that had started spreading trying to hide her emotions.

“You’re worried for them aren’t you? Worried what you’ll do if he doesn’t return,” Seliel commented.

“We all are. Now is not the time to think about that. We have to remain focused on what is occurring here. Until they return we need to keep the enemies at bay,” Pixal replied not acknowledging the last part of Seliels question trying to not address her emotions.

“You know you don’t have to hide your feelings from me. Cole has told me of you and the others and about you and Zane. About how special you are compared to other droids and your relationship,” Seliel acknowledged, “you know you kind of remind me of Cole. He tends to hide his feelings too. I get the feeling he likes me but he doesn’t show or say it much, like he’s afraid to acknowledge it and I don’t know why. He’s very closed off. It would be nice if he would admit his feelings to me and open up once in a while.”

“He has experienced much loss in his life. Loss can do things to people and can hurt them in many ways. Ways that can be hard to overcome. It messes with one’s mind and can make it hard for one to address their emotions. They become closed off to avoid the pains of their past and afraid to have to face them again…” Pixal began to explain before what looked to be one of the ungulate folk from this foreign realm dropping onto the ground next to them brought an end to their conversation. The folk landed on his back and lay dazed for a few seconds as Pelagius landed on the monasteries wall and threw down a knapsack which likely belonged to this folk. As the folk sat up they could see his left leg was badly injured. A bite mark which was possibly infected was on the left leg. The folk looked to have been wandering the woods for some time muddy with leaves and twigs sticking out of his hair and damaged clothes. The folk took a few seconds to register where he was seeming dazed but the moment he saw Pixal it was like something in his mind snapped and he freaked.

“No, no please don’t hurt me, I’ll worship you’re master… I’ll do whatever he wants just let me live,” the folk screamed in a gruff voice cowering and holding his arms over his face to protect his head. The folks panicking drew everyone else out to see what was wrong.

“What is going on?” Wu demanded.

“The racer fabricant found him. I think he is from this other realm,” Pixal explained.

“If the plants and animals are ending up here then it would make sense people could too,” Seliel added. The folk just remained cowering.

“He looks hurt we should maybe bring him inside and give him some help,” Maya expressed.

“He might know something useful,” Skylor added. It took a bit of coaxing to pull the folks arms away from his face and when they did he seemed to relax a bit looking around.

“You’re…you’re not folk from Lost Realm. This isn’t the Wastes,” the folk stated looking around with a mixture of confusion and relief.

“No you are in Ninjago. We will not hurt you. Why don’t you tell us who you are?” Wu asked.

“I’m Mahei, I work as an engineer for the Ghost Fence in Balmora,” the folk replied.

“Come we will get your leg mended and you can tell us how you got here,” Wu explained as Ronin and Karlof helped him up and helped Mahei limp into the monastery. Pixal picked up his bag and curious to see what was in it, maybe find more about this strange folk, she looked in and saw a book. ‘Keikiary’s Guide to the Ash Wastes’. She took out the book and showed it to master Wu.

“This Mahei could provide us with some valuable insight into what the ninja are up to. It appears he comes from this Ash Wastes the necromancers spoke of,” Pixal explained. They sat Mahei up in the TV room on the one couch. They had chained the hyenoids Razak and Ed together and they sat on the floor in the room. Ed was trying to play with a toy car while Razak kept trying to read, annoyed that he was tied to Ed. Mahei was terrified of the two hyenoids at first believing them to be spies for the Stag but they managed to convince him they were harmless prisoners. It took half an hour to mend his leg; they ended up pulling a few small reptilian teeth out of the wound. After his leg was mended they all gathered around to hear how Mahei had gotten to Ninjago. Mahei remained agitated and shaking even after his wounds were tended to as if he was still in shock.

“I don’t know. I had the day off so I went to the arena to watch the show. Everyone enjoys the arena, a lot more entertaining than television in the wastes. A lot of folk enjoy seeing our enemies get beaten up, brings hope I guess. The outlanders were being tested…” Mahei began before he was cut off.

“Outlanders what is this term you use?” Karlof inquired.

“Outlanders are anyone not from the kingdoms around the Blackwoods. As I was saying I heard these outlanders are like the Dragon Guard but they’re from another realm and would be going up against the Stag soon so I wanted to see what they were like. See if they have the potential. No one’s ever won against the Stag, well except that Tafari. She creeps me out; I think she’s his spy if you ask me. Any way everything seemed fine. Everyone was worried the Stag was going to show up after all the one of them is a metal skin. The Stag loves claiming them for his service,” Mahei continued.

“Metal skin, are you talking about Zane?” Pixal inquired.

“Hey I don’t know their names just that they’re foolish enough to enter the Forbidden City. They’re doomed if you ask me. Legends say even daedra fear the Stag, how terrible is something if the daedra fear it,” Mahei proclaimed.

“Daedra?” Seliel pondered.

“Daedra, most other places call them Oni; around the Blackwood some folk call them daedra I’m not sure where the term comes from but I think it has something to do with myths that the word Oni is cursed or just muttering it draws Ashers to you or something like that. I’m not too sure. I was not very good at history. Anyway everything seemed to be going fine at first then things went bad, real bad. The Stag showed up in his full horrifying glory. Every beast in town and nearby went nuts. So did the metal skins including the outlanders’ one. Turned him on the others it did. I managed to get out of the arena and outside so I don’t know how things went. I was trying to get home but a Venom-fang got my leg. If you want to know what they look like I have a book in my bag that shows them. Warning if you see them don’t let them get close, they’re very dangerous. Then again everything in the wastes is dangerous. Their venom causes hallucinations, even after you take the anti-venom shot you still end up hallucinating. In my poisoned state I must have run into the woods outside of town. I remember being in the forests north of the wastes then I’m in a different forest, one I don’t recognise. I don’t remember exactly how it happened it’s kinda foggy,” Mahei explained.

“You likely wandered through a portal in the wilderness,” Seliel explained.

“No portals you could see, portals can easily be found. They’re also temporary. I don’t recall anything like a portal. It was more like a tear, it cannot be seen but it can be felt. You just seamlessly end up wandering through without realising it and it’s always there allowing anything to pass through at all times blurring its position as it blends the areas around it,” Mahei expressed.

“You mean a portal could be anywhere and we can’t see it,” Dareth stammered.

“That would explain how the ash, the strange plants and creatures just seem to be showing up, it is like two rivers meeting washing debris from both flows together before washing them ashore,” Wu hypothesized.

“A tear would make sense for what the raven described. As it grows the boundaries between the realms disappear and they end up spilling together till they are a part of each other. One realm out of two, a Plane Meld,” Pixal deduced.

“That would mean then that there is stuff from our world spilling into this place, the Lost Realm as you called it, as well. Innocent people could be wandering through without knowing it,” Skylor stated.

“I’m pretty sure most folk in the Lost Realm wouldn’t hurt them but I would pity the poor fools who end up wandering into the wastes. That place is a living nightmare,” Mahei mumbled.

“It might be a wise idea to get that creature to see if any of these tears can be located nearby,” Ronin advised.

“Good idea would not want anyone accidentally stepping through,” Wu expressed before addressing Mahei, “the outlanders as you call them, do you know anything about them or what they are doing?”

“Not really. I hear they want to enter the Forbidden City to retrieve something to destroy that daedra Dagon; them and another group of outlanders who call themselves Nexo Knights. If you’re wondering I know nothing of this place except it is home to the Black Stag and his bestial and robotic minions. Also some scholars were foolish enough to build an outpost just outside the ruins, haven’t heard from them in a while. They apparently found some pretty interesting things there though. The outlanders are supposed to be leaving in a couple days. Most of the folk in the town are worried what will happen when they enter the city. It is said when outlanders enter the city it will bring death and destruction to Balmora. That’s if they make it, a lot of us have a bet they won’t even reach the ruins, the Ashers will get them before they even get close. Those beings are the worst things you could ever encounter,” Mahei told them.

“You don’t know the ninja very well. They won’t give up. They’ll reach this Forbidden City,” Skylor stated.

“I don’t know, what this deer guy is saying doesn’t sound very good,” Dareth exclaimed.

“We must have faith they will make it and find what we need to rid Ninjago from this daemon,” Wu expressed before addressing Mahei, “Until they return and Dagon is vanquished you can stay here. You might be able to impart some knowledge on the stuff that is turning up from your world.”

“I don’t know how useful I could be. I’ll admit I’m not a very knowledgeable person,” Mahei explained nervously as Jay’s mom Edna brought over a tray with some tea to the strange folk.

“Here you go deery a little something to calm your nerves,” Edna expressed. Mahei took a look at the tea as if weary of taking something from a stranger but then he noticed her hands. He knocked the tray from her hands stunning everyone else and held her hands out to inspect them. Her finger tips had started to turn a reddish color much like a rash. No one had really noticed or cared.

“Hey now mister I don’t…” Jays father Ed began but Mahei wasn’t listening.

“How long have you had this?” he inquired staring at the rash a look of horror and worry on his face.

“It’s just a rash, started this morning. Probably has to do with the ash,” Edna explained calmly, “sweet of you to worry.” He let her hands go but remained staring at them.

“It comes from the ash alright but that’s not a rash,” Mahei expressed, “that’s Blight. The Curse of the Wastes.”

“Are you sure? There is a lot of strange things showing up here someone’s bound to have a reaction to one of these new things,” Skylor expressed.

“Could be but if it spreads up your arms and develops a pattern like cooling lava as it spreads and you get a feeling that something’s wrong but you don’t know what it is or why it is wrong then it’s the Blight,” Mahei expressed and it was with his words some of them took note that this folks hands were reddish in color while the rest of his body was deer like in color. His arms were covered by long sleeves so it was hard to tell what his arms looked like but they were wondering.

“You speak as if you know this condition from experience,” Seliel suggested. Mahei let out a deep breath and rolled up the sleeve on his one arm to show off markings just as he had described.

“I don’t know how I got it. You have to be bit or scratched by the infected to get it and we remove the infected from town to keep everyone safe. My doctor says I probably got bit by a little bug that had it without knowing it. I’ve had it for a week, I probably don’t have much time left. Oddly it was glowing and uncomfortable until I got to your world. Now the glow has stopped and I don’t feel anything,” Mahei moaned, “I’ve heard tales that the farther you go from the Red Tower the slower the Blight works so the longer you can live. It might take longer to progress here then back in the Lost Realm, until the tear brings the Tower here of course.”

“This Blight, the fabricant said it has no cure. He believes it is some sort of curse. Is that true?” Pixal inquired.

“I’m afraid yes, it’s always fatal and no one’s ever been able to find a cure. Some in my world fear it will one day break free of the wastes and destroy us all. I thought that idea was crazy… till I got it,” Mahei replied staring at his arm in sorrow.

“If this Blight was to enter Ninjago…” Wu began.

“It could spread just like in the Lost Realm and wreck havoc. Cities have fallen because of it; many perish from it every year. It’s terrible what it has done,” Mahei butt in. Wu seemed to think something over. Ever since the ninja had left Wu had been trying to figure out why his father had warned him of this place and what this dreaded darkness was that hid in this realm. When the ash had started falling around the monastery he noted the strange darkness coming from it but it didn’t feel like something to worry too much about. When he saw the Asher Sorcerer he had good reason to believe it was that thing and others like it they should worry about. Then hearing about this Stag entity he wondered if that was the hidden darkness. Now hearing about this maybe it was this Blight his father had warned him of or maybe, even worse, it was a combination of these things.

“Edna keep an eye on the rash, if it starts growing let someone know,” Wu began.

“Oh I’m pretty sure it’s nothing,” Edna replied picking up the tray and tea cups.

“Anyone else have a rash starting up, put forth your hands so we can check,” Wu proclaimed. As they all did it they found some of them also had the starts of this rash. Wu, Maya and Coles father Lou also had it plus a few others. Pixal did not join in until Mahei demanded she did it too as it affected all living things, even the ones he called Metal Skins. When she did, taking off her gloves, she found she too had it and it was farther along than the others. Most of her hands had it. She was both shocked and confused. How could it infect her? How could she, or any of them have got it and what did it mean for Ninjago if this curse was spreading here?

“I’d say that settles it if it’s showing on the metal skin then that is the Blight. That means its spreading out of the wastes, the realms could be doomed,” Mahei exclaimed.

“That doesn’t mean we all have this blight. It could still be a rash and Pixal… maybe that’s just discoloration from touching some of the plants or fungi we’ve been trying to remove from the grounds,” Skylor expressed though she was not too sure of her own words.

“We will have to keep an eye on it and if anyone else starts showing it,” Wu proclaimed.

“We evacuated as many as we could but some of us were not so fortunate. We’ve noticed the strange figures moving through the area the last few nights. All are dark and robbed and just seemed to be creeping about in the woods. A few people who went out at night disappeared. We decided it best to flee before it was too late. We don’t know what it is but they’re clearly up to something. Ever since we started seeing these shadow beings we’ve heard strange sounds in the woods around town,” the man who was the mayor of a small town not far from the monastery explained. A group of about ten people of various ages from the town had come to the monastery early in the morning having fled their town as soon as the sun was up bring anything they could including not just supplies and personal items but pets and livestock which they had put in the monastery grounds causing quite a bit of ruckus as some of the animals weren’t getting along real well or were in rather foul moods for having to climb up the mountain so early in the morning. The mayor and some of the townsfolk had come in and were talking with Wu, Pixal, Maya, Ray and Seliel in the monasteries library.

“We’re not quite sure but we think they might have been planning something,” the mayor expressed and Pixal noted, “given the towns proximity to the monastery and the fact we know they are after us it is highly likely they are planning something.”

“Well we have one way of finding out,” Skylor noted as the folk from the Lost Realm Mahei led the hyenoid Razak into the room. They had Razak cuffed and wearing a muzzle with a leash attached. Anytime Razak tried to fiddle with the muzzle Mahei would give him a squirt of water from a spray bottle.

“Is the muzzle really necessary? It makes me feel like a dog,” Razak inquired to which Mahei stated bringing the droid to the others, “you were nipping people.”

“In my defence there is only so many times you can have kids poking their fingers into you that one can take,” Razak stated before Wu asked him, “you said you could offer us insight into the necromancers plans. What can you tell us about what they are doing around the village?”

“Well I can tell you the people just helped them speed up their plans. Sure they are not happy they could not take more of you to turn into their slaves but they will manage. They plan to use the town as a base of operations in order to launch an assault on your monastery in order to get a hold of you all. They have a few projects they are planning to test out that they hope will give them the upper hand to overwhelm Pelagius and the rest of you so you will not stand a chance,” Razak explained.

“That’s not good,” Ray noted and Wu agreed, “indeed. We should wait for nightfall then send a small group to scout out the village and see what they are up to.” They waited till the sun went down spending the day getting the villagers set up in the monastery. Once the sun was down a small group made of Pixal, Skylor, Seliel, Ray, Maya, Wu and the elemental master of the mind Nero who had recently made his way to the monastery in order to evade capture by the necromancers and their allies headed down the mountain to the village. They hid in the woods behind some flora to scout out what was going on. There was defiantly something up. The town a small open settlement centered around a main road that went through the town headed towards the monastery had been taken over by the necromancers who had quickly overtaken it filling the place with their supplies, vehicles, artefacts and cages of various sizes holding all sorts of critters. The place was lit by fires and braziers along with strange dark and decorative lighting of a design they couldn’t recognize. Likely from the Ashers they all felt. In the cages people and all sorts of creatures all coming from a mix of realms including not just the Lost realm and Ninjago but by the looks some other foreign realm as well were being held. From what they could see the necromancers were building some strange structures out of stone magically merging rocks into narrow upside down U shaped arch like structures that bore glowing lightening like markings through cracks in their surface and short thick spikes decorating their outer surfaces. These markings came in a few colors and there was a distinct indent in the top of each arch. All the necromancers were going about their business working on their equipment, with their supplies and the portals. The necromancers were now a mix of folk from the Lost realm, Ninjago and at least one other realm. From their hiding place Wu’s group could see some of what was going on but not all of it and they couldn’t hear much of what they were doing; it was largely acolytes that they could hear which were mainly complaining of doing the heavy work and how they should keep one guy away from the kitchens due the terrible coffee he had made which some of them were drinking feeling sick from it and others were nearly vomiting from just the small of it. They could make out two Ashers there as well in the center of the town working on the rock structures which they were building in the center of the town. They had a feeling if there was any information to gain it would be from the Ashers and those in the center of town. They needed to get closer to the center to try and hear about what was going on but it was not going to be easy. The necromancers had Shambles patrolling the area, some un-dead looking hounds that were commonly used by the necromancers as guard dogs known as Skinned Hounds were fighting over some bones in a pen at the opposite end of the town from where they were hiding and some Corpse-birds roosting on various buildings overlooking the area. They quickly came up with an idea. The acolytes for the necromancers didn’t have the un-dead appearance of higher members and they wore attire that covered a great deal of their bodies, stained and dirty dark grey hooded robes with black gloves and shoes and skull masks that covered a great deal of their face leaving mainly the area around their eyes uncovered. If they could get a few of them close and take them out they could steal their attire and use it to blend in with the others allowing them to sneak in close to the center of their base. Using the power of the mind Nero was able to lure three non beast folk acolytes away from the main area making them think they saw possible intruders in the bush and to go check it out. They knocked them out tying them up to one of the large strange shrooms that had started growing in the area as a result of the meld. Pixal, Seliel and Nero dressed as acolytes while the rest decided to try and find a way to free some of those they had imprisoned.

All seemed good. None of the necromancers seemed to take note of them. Even the Shambles, Skinned Hounds and Corpse-birds didn’t seem to care about them. To help the illusion they each grabbed something to carry around to make it look like they were working. Seliel picked up a crate, while Nero and Pixal picked up some firewood. They cautiously made their way towards the center of town sticking closer to the edges of the main area than down the center.

“So far so good,” Seliel expressed and Nero noted, “I have read some of the minds of those we have passed it does not seem many of them here are fully understanding what they are doing. They plan an assault on the monastery they know that however some of their superiors including these Asher folks have something planned to aid them but have been keeping quiet about it.”

“Well then we’ll just have to get closer,” Seliel expressed as they stopped for a second for Pixal and Nero to throw a log each of wood into a brazier that looked low to help keep up the illusion of working there. They then continued into the center. Nero and Pixal kept occasionally throwing a log from those they had picked up into the braziers till they no longer had any more. While the three made their way towards the center the others made their way around the outskirts to the cages and using some tools they took from the necromancers supplies freed those in the cages. For some odd reason the necromancers were ignoring the dwellings of the town. They weren’t using them in any way nor even trying to take anything from them. Since the enemy was ignoring the structures and to prevent the people from being found they told them to hide in the villages tavern till they gave them the all clear. The tavern sat at the edge of town on the road headed out to the monastery and had been left unlocked. Luckily the enemy was focussed around the main road allowing the people to sneak around the backs of the buildings unseen. For the creatures since a great deal of them would be easily noticed if they ran off they unlatched the cages and left the doors in a state the creatures could push them open if they wanted too but so the cages didn’t look open. A few animals instantly bolted mainly the small creatures but most just chilled looking unsure what to do. As they were releasing everyone one person who was dressed as a knight refused to listen and insisted on launching an assault on ‘these monsters’ as he called them.

“No we do not want to let our presence be known. We have some who have infiltrated the main area under cover who are gathering information for us. We do not want to compromise their work,” Wu told the folk who relented, “ah so your stealth workers then alright we’ll play it by your game but if we get into trouble I’m not going to back down. Sir Swordmore Brickland will not hide when there is work to be done. I am coming with you.”

“Alright but you have to be quite and keep low,” Skylor told the folk. While they continued setting the cages free the three undercover got close to the center.

“What do you think those are?” Seliel inquired as they stood on the outskirts of the central area where the necromancers had built the structures. There was three of them placed primarily in a row slightly positioned to face a central point in front of them where three folk were working one of them looking through a book. Two of the three were Ashers though they were not full Ashers. Most of their features were gone though they still had hair and hadn’t yet developed any glowing marks to their ashy grey skin. The last was a necromancer who looked to have been a person from Ninjago.

“That crates supposed to go over there,” a voice talking to them startled them drawing their attention away from the three by the structures and to a group of people, a mix of both beast folk and non beast folk, who stood to the side of the area looking like they were taking a break.

“The crate… goes over there,” the one folk expressed pointing at the crate Seliel held then pointed to one of the vehicles nearby, a loading truck with more crates on it.

“Sorry just got a little distracted…” Seliel expressed heading over to put the crate on the truck the other two following and one of the people in the group stated, “first time seeing one of those Asher beings? Yha there’s something odd about them. Ones like those two are not too bad to look at. Trust us there are more unnerving and nastier looking ones out there. There’s these ones called sorcerers trust us you don’t want see one of those.”

“Let me guess you must be new bloods,” another of the folk expressed as the three came over to the group.

“New bloods?” Pixal wondered confused by their term.

“New members, recent recruits,” the first folk explained and Seliel responded, “yha, that’s us. Just got set up the other day, this is our first big job.”

“So you probably want to impress the higher ups then, why don’t you take these then to those two,” the second folk stated pointing to three dark purple crystals in a crate by them then at the two Ashers.

“What are they for?” Nero inquired as they each picked up a crystal and inspected it.

“Not entirely sure, something about powering those rock arches for something. We’re supposed to bring it to them but between us, I’m rather apprehensive about getting close to those Asher beings,” the third folk expressed. The three were hesitant. They didn’t want to help the enemy with their dark deeds but they also didn’t want to blow their cover. They still had very little clue on what was going on. Seeing no way out of it they slowly approached the Ashers carrying the crystals.

“I cannot read their minds, their blocking any form of mental prying or attacks and there’s something unnatural about them,” Nero whispered as they approached and Pixal quietly added, “I have never sensed anything like it. They’re not living or dead and they are giving off a very strange energy. It is like that of the Oni but with an intense heat; hotter than fire but not quite as hot as lava.” All three could agree as they got close to these Asher beings that they could feel very unpleasant and dark energies emanating from them putting them on edge. They wanted to flee from the Ashers presence but they held their ground not wanting to give anyone a reason to be suspicious of them.

“Ah finally someone brings them to us. You three place the crystals in the holder in the top of the arches one per arch then we can get things started,” the one Asher commanded them as they approached. They reluctantly followed orders using a ladder that was leaned against the one to climb up and place the gem into the arch. They went one by one to each arch and placed the gem in. Once in the holder the gem developed a glow like the markings on the stone. While they did this the others who had taken a peak to see what the three were doing from a rooftop were confused over why the three were helping them with whatever they were planning. Once the crystals were in place the Ashers told them to stand back by the buildings. The three headed over to the house the others were observing them by and stood by it. Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and look over to the arches. One by one the Ashers went from one arch to the next muttering an incantation. When the incantations were done energy danced across the stones before filling the center of the arch and changing the color of the glow in them to new ones. The first developed a bluish color, the central one red and the last a dark purplish glow. As they sparked to life they warped the areas around them. Any plant life died withering as the ground turned hard and blackened as if burned. This warping slowly spread out from the arches tainting the center of town with the dark energy that seemed to be powering them. All were emitting a strange low dark noise.

“Those look to be portals,” Wu expressed as his group snuck up to speak with the other three and Ray wondered, “but for what and to where?” No one was taking note of them all focussed on the portals. Shortly after opening they could hear strange noises coming from the portals before something came through. The first was the central portal. They could see waves of heat emanating from it as a large eight foot tall bulky humanoid crocodilian like creature made its way through grabbing part of the side of the portal to help push itself through. Its rough skin was broken randomly on its body with what appeared like seams of burning embers. It had scutes and bumps over all of its body with a notable rough patch on the top of the head. Spikes ran down the back of its neck and on its back, it had a notable ridge over its small fiery glowing eyes and a set of knarled horns stuck off the back of its head. Once through the portal it growled at the Ashers showing off its teeth and shaking its body a bit what looked like ash and flakes of burning flesh or scales falling off its hide. The ground around its portal developed cracks of burning embers emanating from the arches heart. Ash occasionally would fall out of it and the creature had a burning drool that burned areas it dripped onto. A nasty sulphuric and burning stench came from the beast. The next was the purple portal. A dark mist or fog was creeping out of it and dark shadowy flora had sprung up around the portal which a faint eerie cawing could be heard from. The cawing sounded like a crows but something about it sounded off and unnatural. A dark scythe came flying through the portal to land in the ground in front of it startling many of the necromancers along with those in Wu’s group. It was followed shortly after by something dark flying out to hover in front of the portal before it landed next to the scythe and gave off a deep barely bird sounding roar displaying its ragged feathered black wings and bony hand claws. The creature was a strange seven to eight foot tall un-dead looking half crow half human entity with a crows skull for a head and bony fingers and bird-ish feet. Icy green glowing orbs of light sat in the eye sockets of the creature, only the neck was well feathered with most of the body being a sickly greyish skin and it wore dark hooded robes that were adorned with metal and bony trinkets. The creature had the smell of a fetid bog to it. The last was the blue portal. The ground around it was blackened with a dark bluish black mist creeping out of it. Sickly green blue vines coated in blackened thorns creeped out from the portals and constricted around the stone of the arch and reached out to the surrounding area. A snake-ish hissing began emanating from it as a large strange greenish serpentine creature slithered out of the portal. The serpentine had a feminine build and bore four arms that ended in three long bony fingers that ended in long needle like claws on its humanoid upper half. The snake-ish head bore a strange spiked frill and had two sets of amber eyes one smaller set behind the first set. Its mid length snakes neck was rimmed on the sides by three spikes. The creature reeked of decay.

“What are these things?” Skylor wondered on edge and Seliel noted, “I don’t know but we’re partially responsible for letting them get here.” They were all startled and scared by what they were seeing.

“Technically we did not have much of a choice. We did not want to reveal our presence,” Pixal noted.

“Why do these pathetic meat bags summon us?” the serpentine creature hissed with a deep feminine voice that carried hints of being unnatural at the Ashers as she came out of the portal.

“You want beings the foreign dragons and that half machine freak Sheoth gave them can’t beat than these are it,” the one Asher proclaimed to those watching, “Dreadconda (dread-conda) are serpentine beings with a mastery in dark arts. They can siphon the energy from their targets, spit at them a paralyzing venom, constrict them and more. Vulcaroths (vulca-roth) are said to be born in lava. These large crocodilian humanoids aren’t very bright, rather animalistic and have very limited abilities in dark magic but they make up for it with their great strength and ability to breathe fire. Then there is the Noctern Crows powerful, crafty semi un-dead looking humanoid crow beings. Despite their bird brains they are crafty, calculating and can wield dark magic along with weapons and their claws and wings.” As he spoke of them the Asher pointed to each of the creatures.

“Bird Brained! This filthy mortal dares call a regal member of the Shadow Court bird brained!” the Noctern Crow cawed hints of a crows caw to its voice. It picked up its scythe with one hand looking angrily at the Ashers flexing and rotating it’s shoulders and neck as if prepping to fight.

“Are you sure about this? There’s something disturbing about these things not to mention they seem rather animal like,” the necromancer who stood next to the Ashers worried cowering a bit from the creatures as they looked at him growling and hissing mad at being called animalistic.

“Animals, these are not animals. Some would call them monsters, others would call them demons. In our realm they are commonly called demons. Beings who originated in the void and have come to live within the realms as part of its fauna. For example Noctern Crows are frequently found in the Underworld and the Realm of Madness. All are powerful with great resistances. They do not age and very little can kill them. It is believed they cannot ever truly be killed simply banished back to the void where in time they can return to the realm in which they deem home. They can also easily find ways to travel between any realm even the departed realm. Those fools in their monastery won’t stand a chance against these things,” the one Asher explained before the Dreadconda demanded, “does the Oni’s spawn think we’ll obey it and these meat sacks cause we will not.” Its words unnerved those watching; only the Ashers were unfazed.

“You don’t scare me. I get how you work. You’ll all want something for your kinds service. First I can offer your kinds places of great power in Lord Dagons new world with all the mortals you could desire to play with. You can do as you please with them. Steal their energy, enslave them, torture them even eat them if you want it’s all up to you,” the one Asher began and the Noctern Crow cawed, “Tasties yes but what about shinnies as well?”

“Of course anything shiny that catches your eyes is yours. Take whatever you want from the people. Their possessions, property, food even their lives,” the second Asher proclaimed and the creatures looked pleased.

“We need to stop this before they can bring more of those things here,” Wu proclaimed but they were not entirely sure how to do it. To make it worse there was still some in cages they needed to free and there was the people hiding in the tavern not to mention they were greatly outnumbered by necromancers. Sir Brickland wasn’t one for waiting around when something needed to be done.

“How’s this we drive those monsters back to where they came from and smash apart those portals of theirs. Why don’t we give some of these cultists a good spanking while we’re at it,” Brickland proposed and Ray noted, “that actually doesn’t sound too bad a plan.”

“Okay but how are we going to get those things back through the portals,” Maya wondered and Skylor inputted, “I could try to use their powers against them.”

“That could work, got any information on these things Pix?” Seliel inquired and after doing a quick search of the data she had been given Pixal replied, “Noctern Crows are much like the birds they are a part of. They can be tricked and persuaded with food along with shiny objects. The crocodilian ones are not very bright or agile and can also be tricked by food and like crocodiles if their mouths are held shut they lack the strength to open them. The serpentine one is hurt more by electricity than anything else, have a blind spot behind their heads due to the frill and can be hypnotized by certain sounds just like the serpentine. Truly they all have few weaknesses or ways to combat them. Those Ashers are right; these are very powerful and dangerous creatures.”

“Well we are going to have to work with what we have got. We do not want these things to be let loose here…” Wu began and Pixal cut in to say, “maybe we should call Pelagius for some aid. His powers could prove very useful here.”

“No, I do not fully trust him. He serves an Oni and we have no way of knowing what either’s intentions are. I think it is safer if he does not get involved,” Wu explained. Pixal had wanted to include Pelagius in their mission but some of the others especially Wu had been hesitant. Wu was not comfortable about the creature hanging around the monastery grounds all the time and was wary of its actions. So far Pelagius had not hurt anyone though he did scare some folk mainly kids with his appearance, bestial behaviours and strange mix of organic and robotic sounds. Pelagius had so far shown no signs he intended them harm and only wished to aid them however due to his affiliations with an Oni, one they didn’t know much about many were hesitant to fully trust him. Pixal wasn’t entirely sure why but she trusted him. Ever since meeting him she had trusted him and felt his intentions were sincere. Not only did he help protect them but he even sometimes improved moods around the monastery. Pelagius liked to try and mimic sounds he heard sometimes using them to mess with people in rather playful yet harmless ways like the afternoon he kept driving some of them nuts by mimicking the sound of the microwave going off making people constantly going to check it to see if something was going on. They had found he liked to dance to music he liked and while they had been at first scared by his appearance and how he fed on his prey mainly scavenged meat, rabbits, game birds, squirrels, insects and fish tearing at them with his serrated beak the kids had come to enjoy playing with him as Pelagius enjoyed catching pieces of fruits the kids would toss in the air for him, liked playing fetch and attempt to copy their moves when they would dance around him. Despite this Wu didn’t trust him much and disapproved of others interacting too much with him and frequently made sure none of the others would reveal much information or planning for anything around the creature. He was pretty sure while it didn’t appear able to speak it could understand their languages. He worried it may be spying and somehow relaying information to this Sheoth whose allegiance and intentions they didn’t know much about. Wu didn’t have to worry too much about Razak and Ed as not many, not even Pixal who was rather trusting to Pelagius, trusted the hyenoids and not even the kids would interact much with them as Razak had a habit of nipping and though friendly and playful Ed’s appearance scared them.

“Uh guys we better act fast,” Nero noted as they could see some of the necromancers drag one of the people from a cage near the center of town out and dragged them towards the monsters.

“Who would like the first sacrifice as a payment for our dealings,” the one Asher wondered. All of them looked to want to take the first sacrifice.

“Little snack mine,” the Vulcaroth growled and the Noctern Crow cawed, “no it is mine.” The crow pecked the Vulcaroth on the head and the Vulcaroth spat fire back at it causing the crow to protect itself with its wings. While the two fought the Dreadconda went to take the sacrifice who was terrified of its situation. Before it could take a chance to grab the sacrifice the Vulcaroth grabbed and bit the Dreadcondas tail pulling it back. The Dreadconda whipped back to grab the Vulcaroth to bite the top of its head while the Noctern Crow pecked and clawed at the Dreadcondas back.

“Looks like they don’t entirely get along we could use that,” Seliel noted before the one Asher addressed the monsters stopping their squabble, “guys, we have plenty more for you don’t worry. We can get you each a sacrifice. Why don’t we discuss your terms so we can get started?”

“Let’s not keep this going any longer, let’s get things rolling,” Sir Brickland proclaimed readying himself for a fight with a sword and shield he had grabbed from the Ashers supplies. He strolled out into the open and yelled out to draw everyone’s attention, “hey monsters why don’t you go for something a little more challenging.” They were all drawn to him turning to look at him.

“Puny knight make crunchy snack,” the Daedcroc expressed as the monsters turned their attentions to Brickland and began to stalk towards him. After removing their disguises Pixal who was dressed in her Samurai X attire and Seliel in her Phantom Ninja attire, an outfit she came up with to help in protecting her town, came to stand with Brickland to keep all their attentions on them so the others could sneak around and set the creatures off to help cause some chaos.

“These warriors think they stand a chance against you why don’t you show them what you monsters are made of,” the one Asher proclaimed while its pal noted, “seems we may have some intruders, search the camp for more.” The three charged at the monsters Brickland taking on the Vulcaroth, Seliel taking on the Dreadconda and Pixal taking on the Noctern Crow. Not long after they started to fight the encampment was sent into chaos as some of the creatures they had caged rushed out of their cages startled by the commotion and headed in all directions some including large species rushing through the camp to trash some of the necromancers equipment and supplies on their way out. Within the chaos Wu, Nero, Ray, Maya and Skylor rushed around taking out some of the necromancers and with the help of keys they found on some of them freeing more of the creatures and people sparking more chaos. This was further helped by some of the creatures notably some predators like Mire-Lions and Dire Bats launching attacks on the necromancers as well. There was one creature that not only joined in the attack but aided them in their attack and even surprised them with its abilities. They had been confused to find it in a cage large enough to comfortably house an elephant when the creature was no larger than a large housecat. They understood soon after releasing it why the Murk-wing Pryphon was in such a large cage. Once released it morphed in size from a pint sized creature to a large mino sized version of its self, its size now more accurately befitting a typical gryphon than the Pryphons normal size. Along with it's size change for attacks it could create cyclones of wind around itself, hit enemies with water twisters made of murky water, spit swamp water at enemies and send gusts of wind at foes, screech at them along with using its mighty nut cracking beak which in its large size now had the strength to crush some metals and large talons on enemies.

“Never underestimate the Pryphon. They may be small but they’re large at heart,” one of the folk from the Lost Realm proclaimed as the creature joined in the attack. Even some people helped out including another knight from the realm Brickland came from, a guard from Shintaro and a mage from the Lost Realm. There was even one folk from the Lost Realm which some of the people didn’t want them freeing though they did so anyway feeling she could help who was one of these folk known as a man beast, a were-wolf. She transformed into her beast form once freed and attacked the necromancers.

Not long after the fighting began fires started in the area as braziers were bowled over by creatures and the Vulcaroth used its fire breath attack to try and hit Brickland who used his shield to shelter from its attacks. While things seemed to be going good at the start it quickly didn’t turn out too great. The necromancers kept reanimating any shambles that got destroyed and they had plenty of skeletons and zombies they had secretly tucked away amongst their supplies that they animated for the fight. Along with them was the two Ashers who were masters of the dark arts and were skilled in combat. Even worse were the monsters. Not only were they powerful but they were resistant to normal weapons meaning they had to hit them more times to do any damage and even then it wasn’t much damage they did. The monsters however could do a great deal of damage and wielded dark powers which they didn’t care if they used on them, the necromancers or each other. The Vulcaroth could not only breath fire including a lava fire mix but if given a source of electricity such as the engine of a car that became exposed during the battle it could bite into it siphoning the electricity from it into itself then blasting this energy outwards to shock anything nearby. The Dreadconda could siphon energy from other living things, spit a venom that paralyzed for about a minute those it touched, wield dark magic including the ability to summon other monstrous creatures like bug serpent or hummingbird bug mixed creatures, constrict around victims not to mention had four arms tipped by sharp needle like claws. The Noctern Crow was quick, calculating, agile and could take to the air in attacks. Not only could it use different forms of magic but it could produce a screaming sound that not only irritated and disorientated everyone even the other monsters but could produce a screech that could reach pitches that could break glass which it did once startling everyone as anything made of glass including windows and dish wares in the cities center burst into pieces from its scream. The only thing they had going for them was the monsters clearly had no allegiances towards not only each other but any of the groups. They would take out necromancers and their constructs if they felt like it and really seemed to get on each other’s nerves. At one point the Dreadconda had managed to grab and pin a Dire Bat to the side of a building holding it there with its upper arms while it siphoned energy from the frightened creature with its lower arms. As it was doing this the Vulcaroth bit into the engine of a car that had been damaged by a large creature escaping the area. It sucked the energy from the engine then after a second to build up it exploded the electrical energy in a small circle around itself. The Dreadconda just happened to be within the limits of this circle getting shocked. Angered by who attacked it the monster abandoned the Dire Bat to attack the Vulcaroth slashing it across the chest and in retaliation the Vulcaroth blasted the serpentine with a blast of fire. When its blast was done the Dreadconda tossed a blast of dark energy at the croc creature which ducked its attack leading the blast to hit the Noctern Crow knocking it over to land face down atop Pixal who was fighting it. Pixal was unharmed by the creature landing on her but was a bit stunned. The Noctern Crow quickly got up turning to the other monsters angry and after taking a deep breath screamed a birdlike screech at them affecting everyone in the area glass nearby shattering with its final pitches.

Once everything and everyone were set free Wu’s team ushered all the people towards the inn to protect the people and formulate a plan. Things were not going well. They were over whelmed by the necromancers and their allies and instead of getting them put back through the portals the monsters were progressing outwards to the edges of the city following the fighting. As their forces had their backs pinned against the tavern, even the Pryphon was there with them reared up to intimidate the enemies, one of the Ashers called the fighting to a halt.

“Well well what do we have here? Trying to foil our plans are we,” the Asher proclaimed coming to the front line to look them all over, “you’re from the monastery aren’t you. Let’s see two dragons, two past dragons, two warriors, some freed prisoners and what is this one of the sons to the First Spinjitsu Master am I right. Well aren’t these quite the prizes.”

“We will not surrender to you,” Wu expressed and the Asher laughed, “we’d prefer it that way, makes you a lot worthier a prize. Now since you clearly are outnumbered and stand no chance of getting out of here at least not alive anyway let me tell you a little something. Once we’re finished with you we’re going to take over your monastery and we’ll wait for your precious ninja to return. When they do we’ll have something special waiting for them. They will think they are returning to those close to them but it will be some of us in disguise looking like those they care about and when they least expect it we’ll turn on them. They will either perish by our hands or succumb to the darkness of the realms and become monsters for us to enslave. Could you imagine how much of a shock it will be to them to have their own loved ones betray them? What a pleasurable sight that will be.”

“That is such a cruel thing to do,” Maya expressed and the Asher laughed, “cruel on the contrary I think it’s rather fun. Now take them out. We’ll need them in one piece but they don’t have to be breathing. As for you three the first one to take out the son of the First Spinjitsu Master will be greatly rewarded.” The Asher motioned for the fighting to resume and the monsters were the first to start an approach.

A sudden blast of ice hitting one of the large fires in the town caught every ones attention and stopping everyone. Most were left confused unsure what had done it or where the blast had come from. The monsters however looked to be aware of what had done it. They were looking up at the sky hissing and growling. When the others looked they at first didn’t see anything then they noticed something, a shadow moving across the dark sky. It came over the town and blew a coating of ice on some more fires circling again to land on one of the rooftops nearby.

“I have always wanted to suck the life energy from a dragon,” the Dreadconda hissed and the Noctern Crow cawed, “I get to peck out its eyes.” A large black scaled dragon with large polish bronze colored scale plates that looked to be made of metal adorning its back, head, front of legs and front of the forelimbs which were made into wings was perched atop the tallest building in the town. It used its wings to grip the sides of the structure to help balance on the roof and glared down at those gathered below.

“Deyra zu’u qahnaar hin vulom daal fin nil,” the dragon growled with a deep voice its mouth barely moving as it spoke. Pixal understood what it was saying as it spoke in the Scymer tongue. It had uttered ‘demons I vanquish your darkness to the void’. It seemed the monsters could understand the language as well as the Noctern Crow uttered, “I’d like to see you try.” The crow launched off to attack the dragon but before it could reach it the dragon hit it with a shout that sent it flying back and into a building smashing through its roof to lay dazed and stunned in the building.

“Hah hah, bird brain,” the Vulcaroth laughed before the dragon breathed ice onto it entombing it in ice. After a few seconds encased in ice the Vulcaroth burst out of the ice its markings brightly glowing with waves of heat coming off its skin. It turned angrily to the dragon and spat fire at it however the dragon took off before the fire reached it. It circled the town before flying low to breath a spiked wall of ice separating Wu’s group and their enemies. While the necromancers got either frozen in the wall or ran for cover Wu’s group, with the exception of the Pryphon who just rushed back into fighting the enemies, rushed into the tavern to escape the blast.

“I have never seen a dragon like that. Where did it come from?” Wu wondered worried over what the creatures’ intentions were as they held the doors closed to prevent any necromancers from trying to flee into the inn with them and Pixal noted, “it spoke in the Scymer tongue. It spoke of slaying the monsters they brought here.”

“You don’t think it could have come through one of those portals?” Seliel inquired and Skylor added, “it could have. As long as those things are open anything could come through and who knows where those portals lead.”

“I do not believe that thing is really a dragon. I can sense it is using some form of illusion on our minds to make it think it’s a dragon,” Nero explained and Ray wondered not liking the sounds of this, “then what is it?” They braved a look outside. Most of the fires had been put out by ice and many of the necromancers had fled not wanting to take on what they saw as a large powerful dragon. The two Ashers had been frozen in ice and lay as piles of ash with chunks of ice in them. The monsters and a few necromancers willing to brave it were the only ones still fighting the dragon as it flew around spitting ice at them. Interestingly the Pryphon was fighting on the dragons side and seemed unbothered by whatever was displaying itself as the reptilian creature. The two were besting the enemies and steadily pushing them back. The Noctern Crow threw its scythe at the dragons chest to try and knock it from the sky. When the weapon hit its chest they were all surprised to see the dragon dissipate and something smaller fall from the area to land on its back on the ground, the Pryphon coming to protect it.

“This is no dragon!” the Dreadconda hissed. It was Pelagius who took a second to settle from the impact before getting back onto his feet. They had left Pelagius at the monastery not fully telling him what they were doing. They told him they were just going to do some scouting but Pelagius had a feeling it was more. He had noted all the newcomers and heard some of them talking of the dark beings that had taken over their town. Though he was not privy to the knowledge the others had from talking with some of the people he had scouted the area earlier and noted suspicious activity. When the others had left he had a feeling he knew what they were up to. They had ordered him to stay guard at the monastery leaving him torn for a while. He wanted to obey however he knew they would be in trouble without his help. He became aware of the monsters having been let into the realms from a flock of sparrows that had been fleeing the area for a safer place to sleep. While they weren’t closely related species they were related enough that Pelagius could understand their chirps. With this knowledge he had made up his mind and come to their aid. He had been right their group had not done so well. Using skills in illusion Pelagius had disguised himself as a dragon to scare the enemy and distract the monsters.

“Why isn’t it Sheoths little pet, what is it you do for him. Fetch the mail, sleep on a sunspot, beg for dead rats like a parrot? Squawk Pelagius wants a dead rat squawk,” the Dreadconda teased Pelagius who growled back, “I am his companion not his pet and you monsters should know my purpose.”

“One of the guardians to the mad princes lands and the Lost Realm,” the Noctern Crow explained its monster pals looking at it un-amused, “what? We of feathers enjoy trips to his land. Lots of colors and tasties and the crazies like to give us tasties and shinies. Apparently though eating the crazies is somehow too far in Sheoths books; so is apparently relieving one’s self on them or his lordships palace grounds especially his lordship himself. Of course when birds do it he has no problems with it but when it comes to us no…” Pelagius didn’t wait for the monsters to prepare themselves and took to the air to start fighting them being joined by the Pryphon. He would swoop down at them with his metal talons, use the elements against them, whip his tail blade at them and bite them with his serrated metal beak.

“It is Pelagius,” Pixal noted as Wu’s group came out of the inn to see what was going on having seen the dragon disappear and something small fall from it.

“Looks like he’s trying to drive them back,” Skylor noted and Seliel added, “we should help him; looks like he did a pretty good job at thinning out the herd pretty well.” They rushed out to join in the fighting and managed to drive off the remaining necromancers. It took some effort but they also helped push the monsters back. The monsters were clever however and didn’t wish to go back to where they came from. When they saw they were being pushed back towards the portals they started fighting harder to push themselves away from the portals. The monsters were too powerful for them to take on all three at once even with Pelagius’s help so they needed to find a way to push them one by one back into the portal. They had some idea of what to do. The Noctern Crow and Vulcaroth both had ways they could be tricked into the portals they just had to find something amongst the supplies left by the necromancers they could use to trick them. While combating the creatures they would look for things to use. They managed to find a polished shield amongst the necromancers supplies and used it to catch the Noctern Crows attention. It didn’t take long for the crow to catch eye of the item calling out that the shiny was its. Using a tag team method they lead the crow back to the portal swapping the item between each other till they got close to the portal where Pixal tossed it through the gates. The crow totally ignored the fact it was rushing back through the portal as it followed the shiny through it. Once it had passed through the gates Pelagius attacked the gem powering the portal prying it out of its holder with his beak and talons before smashing it on the ground. Once the gem was removed the portal closed. For the Vulcaroth they found some meat and made a trail with it leading into the portal. The creature was quick to pick up the smell of the meat and followed the trail they had made snapping up the pieces of the trail. When it came to the gate however it paused looking around and smelling for more. It began to head away from the portal so Seliel took some meat and caught its attention before throwing the meat through the portal. The Vulcaroth followed the meat through and Pelagius wasted no time in destroying the portal. As each portal was destroyed the effects it was emitting died leaving barren dark grounds behind and causing parts of the portals to break off and crumbled onto the ground. With two of them gone that left only the Dreadconda remaining. They had managed to get the creature pinned in the area around the portal for it. The creature seemed to realise it was on its own and was outnumbered. It looked at the portal then at those around it before willingly slinking back through the portal. Once it was gone Pelagius destroyed the portal. With the portals gone the Pryphon returned to its normal size before taking off from the area while Pelagius came to perch on a damaged vehicle by them quietly watching as their group came together.

“We may have stopped them for now but they will be back,” Wu noted and Seliel opted, “yha but they left quite a bit behind. I’m betting we might find something’s about what they have planned around here.”

“True plus they have left quite a bit of things we could take back to the monastery for everyone,” Ray noted and Pixal agreed, “we most likely will need it. Given it is highly likely they will be back it is best the villagers do not return here for some time. The monastery grounds will be the safest place for them at this time.”

“Indeed, we will get them to help us bring these supplies up to the monastery and they can recover what they can of their belongings. We will send someone to get the villagers while those we rescued help collect supplies and take it to the monastery. We will make sure at least two remain here to keep an eye out for danger,” Wu explained as those they had rescued who came out of the tavern wondering what they were going to do. Many of them were lost with around half of them having come from other realms. None of them wished to brave trying to find a way home not too sure what was going on and not knowing what dangers awaited them out there.

“I think it best if you all come with us. We can offer you shelter till things get better and when they do we can help you find a way back to where you came from. We just ask that you help out with things that need to be done,” Wu proposed and the people were in agreement.

“Ray, Maya why do you not take…” Wu began trying to remember what the knight had called himself to which Sir Brickland regaled him allowing Wu to continue, “Sir Brickland and get these people to the safety of the monastery and tell the villagers they can come retrieve some of their things. The rest of us will start collecting the supplies and searching for information.” They began heading off on their tasks. Wu remained still for a moment to look over all these necromancers had brought and noted Pelagius who was just perched on a damaged vehicle like a vulture. Pixal was giving him some pets.

“As for you Pelagius; I will admit I was wrong not to trust you. I have been hesitant to trust you because of who you are aligned with, a being of dark origins. I will admit I am still unsure of your masters part in all this but just because you align with him does not mean you are like him. You are your own self not your master. If you had not shown up when you did we likely might not have made it out of this. Given what we saw here we are defiantly going to need help to get through this even if that help comes from sources we might not expect or like,” Wu told the fabricant as he approached it. The creature tilted its head looking at him before crawling off the vehicle to approach Wu and press his forehead against Wu’s his eyes closed and giving off a noise that sounded a bit like a purr.

“What is he doing?” Wu inquired and Pixal explained, “he is showing that he forgives you.” Pelagius then moved back and sat calmly next to Wu Pixal giving him some pets.

“What we saw here does not bode well. Not for us and defiantly not for the ninja,” Wu expressed looking at the damaged ruminants of the portals and the dark dead grounds around them and Pixal noted and Wu was in agreement with her, “we can only hope things are going well and they can make it back soon or we are going to be in for some rough times ahead.”

To find previous and later chapters look here: https://robobirdie.tumblr.com/archive

You can also find a copy of the story written here https://archiveofourown.org/works/34894561/chapters/86888878 and here https://www.wattpad.com/1087355671-ninjago-the-oni-scrolls-foreword-important-info You can also find images pertaining to the story here: https://www.deviantart.com/nerdy-hyena/gallery/72478681/story-project

[aweebwrites]

Allies Ch7

No gore and nothing horrible here. Proceed.

“Back up! Back up!” Kai yelled as he ran out of the ice fortress carrying his frozen partner holding the shurikens of ice as he did, the angry roar of the ice dragon following them.

Nya, Cole and Jay quickly darted away from the entrance as the ice dragon’s head ended up lodged there, roaring angrily and spitting ice.

“Zane! Is he ok?!” Jay yelled as they regrouped.

“How the heck are you even carrying him?” Cole asked Kai who held Zane stuck in a block of ice over his head.

“Well-” Kai was cut off by the weight of Zane catching up to him, making him collapse into the snow and his frozen partner falling on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

“Kai!” Nya yelled as Kai wheezed under Zane, Cole lifting him off with ease.

“Could someone get me out of this ice please.” Zane says from inside the ice, his voice muffled but audible.

“Right away.” Cole says, setting him down as Nya helped Kai up.

Cole breathed out before he moved, striking the weak points of the ice with the sides of his hands, leaving the ice to fracture then break around Zane who still held the Shurikens of Ice.

“Thank you.” Zane says then looked down at the Golden Shurikens, sensing their power.

All at once all four Knights looked around, wary.

“Did you see anything?” Nya asked, on alert with their sudden tension.

“No. It’s just this is around the time they’d make a move…” Kai says with a frown, seeing no-one.

“I’m not picking anything up.” Jay says, using his electroreception.

“Me either.” Zane says, his glowing blue eyes brighter now as he scanned the area.

“We shouldn’t let our guard down though.” Cole says with a frown. “Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.” He told them with eyes narrowed at the horizon.

“We shouldn’t dally either. That dragon won’t be caged there for long.” Kai says, gesturing to the structure where the dragon was clearly clawing its way out.

“Let’s go.” Zane says, releasing the Shurikens and they vanished, awing the group.

“They’re about to move. Go get the others.” Kozu told Cryptor who nods before shifting back down the hill.

Inside the hollow of the cave Lloyd had somehow managed to fall asleep sitting up still, his dream but a memory.

“I’m a General for the Devourer’s sake. Not a babysitter.” Pythor huffed as he slithered out of Lloyd’s room, the 9 year old watching him go with wide red eyes before he grinned widely.

This was his chance! He jumped up on his feet then climbed up to the high windows, his claws a big help for that. He then unlatched it and stared out at the horizon. In that direction, was Fulgor. A place with green plains and hills, with shimmering lakes, with blue skies and amazing animals. Far better than Penumbra. There were only dark, jagged rocks, bleak red skies and pools of Dark Matter. He wanted to go there… And this was his chance! He’d be quick! He’ll be back before anyone knows it! With that, he jumped out, shifting into the emerald scaled fledgling he was, flapping his wings as fast as they could go. He had to be quick. Kozu and Cryptor will come to check up on him soon. Flying as quickly as he did for as long as he had was exhausting but he made it, to Fulgor. He shifted on the border, back to his human state so he would blend in more. Dragons weren’t common on both sides of the border after all. He walked further into Fulgor, red eyes wide as he took in the amazingly blue skies, the vivid green grass that reminded him of his scales, the birds, flowers, everything! It was all so amazing! But then the scent of something really good had led him to a small village. Jamanaki village. What he had smelled that was so amazing was something he never had before: sweets. Cotton candy to be specific. He hadn’t thought about currency then. It was something he hadn’t needed to concern himself with as a Prince. So when he had walked up to the candy stall and had taken up one of the cotton candy without paying for it, trouble was sure to follow.

He had just taken a bite out of the light, fluffy sweet tasting treat that had blown his mind- when the stall owner had noticed him.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing kid?!” He had yelled at Lloyd, startling the young boy.

He hadn’t thought, he just ran- which caused the man to chase him- which caused him to gain a whole lot of attention. Someone had grabbed him by the arm tightly and another had done the same to his other arm, hurting him and everyone was yelling and- and he just… He lashed out, digging his claws into one of the large hand gripping him and his fangs into the other. Both had let go with a yell of pain but he was surrounded, he was blocked off and prevented from leaving.

“What the hell?” The man who received the full force of his small but sharp claws said, holding out his bleeding hand, showing the slashed flesh there- and the people started really paying attention to him then.

“Why are his eyes red?”

“He has claws…”

“Are those fangs?”

“He isn’t human!”

“He must be Umberian!”

“But he doesn’t have gray skin…”

“We should take him to Emperor Wu…” That scared him.

Emperor Wu would no doubt kill him. He had to get out of here!

“L-Let me go or else my dad will come beat you all up!” He yelled out, trying to pry himself away from their hold.

“You stole my cotton candy you brat! I’ll give you a beating!” The vender yelled at him angrily, walking towards him with intent and Lloyd was terrified.

He didn’t want to get hurt! He can’t transform or else they’ll hurt him more! He’s sure!

“Y- you can’t do this to me! I’m a Prince! You better let me go before Kozu and Cryptor find me or else-”

“Two of the Penumbrian Generals!” Someone gasped and it hit the village people then.

“He’s the son of Garmadon!” Someone yelled and the people looked fearful and horrified then.

Lloyd’s mistake was that he thought he could use that to make them let him go.

“That’s right! My dad’s Emperor Garmadon so you better let me go before he gets really mad!” He yelled at them, a grin on his face.

That grin quickly fell as their expressions grew dark.

“Demon spawn!”

“His father killed my family!”

“He’ll grow up to be just like him!”

Lloyd cried out once their hold on his arms got tighter before he was lifted off his feet, the crowd yelling angrily as he was carried away.

“Let me go! Help! Help!” He yelled, trying to squirm free from their hold.

Going to that place… Was his biggest mistake yet…

“Prince Lloyd.” Lloyd blinked his eyes open before glancing over at Cryptor, pushing down the residual fear he felt from the dream, from the memory down.

“They’re moving?” He asked him and Cryptor nodded.

Lloyd stood.

“Good. Let’s go.”

________

“Jay-”

“Eeep!” Jay squeaked once Cole’s hand touched his shoulder, lightning charged in his hand and he barely dodged the bright bolt of electricity.

“Oh, Cole. You scared the heck out of me.” Jay sighed, slumping on the back of his horse.

“Clearly.” Cole says, looking back at the scorched rock nearby. “What has you on edge Bluebird?” He asked and Jay gave him a dry look.

“Oh jee. I don’t know. It couldn’t be the fact that we're on a mission to find literal god tier weapons that will either save us from this never ending war or destroy us while being chased by a four armed indestructible golem, a Nindroid with magic, an invisible snake and some kind of Umbrian on steroids or anything. Nope. Definitely not any of that.” Jay says sarcastically and Cole looked at him flatly.

“You know what I meant spark plug. Leave sarcasm to me.” The Earth Knight says as they continued towards the storm on the horizon and Jay sighed.

“Sorry but it just bothers me that they didn't show up back then. Makes me think they’ll jump out any second now.” Jay says warily, eyes darting around.

“Jay has a point for once.” Kai says, ignoring Jay’s ‘hey!’. “What’s their plan? Why only steal one weapon and not the other? Are they waiting until we gather the rest? And if so, what would be the sense in that? Surely they would know that we’ll be stronger with three of the weapons on our side. They won’t even be able to use the Scythe of Quakes.” He says, glancing across at Zane for his opinion.

“I am not sure myself.” Zane says as he looked down in thought. “The arctic region isn’t the easiest terrain to travel. Perhaps Pythor is the reason why they hadn’t attacked. He is serpentine after all and they are cold blooded.” He suggested.

“Yeah but what are the chances of them stopping for another teammate? Every soul from Penumbra only cares for themself and Garmadon’s word, and if Garmdon’s word is to bring the golden weapons, I think they’d get it done, even if it means leaving someone behind.” Nya says from her place behind Kai.

“True but perhaps they’ve noticed that you joined our numbers, putting them at a disadvantage. It would go against their aim to leave someone behind then.” Zane pointed out.

“Yeah and lets not forget Stone Soldiers and the Nindroids from Penumbra are generally heavier than the average person. They’d get slowed down by the height of the snow.” Cole added.

“What I want to know is if we have to worry about them jumping out any second now or what.” Jay spoke up, no less jittery than before.

“I think it’s safe to say that they’ve been delayed by the icy terrain.” Zane says after a moment and the freckled brunette sighed, relaxing. “But. We shouldn’t let our guards down. Those Generals have always been crafty, on and off the battlefield.” He added and Jay tensed up all over again.

“At least we don’t have to worry about Ultra Violet.” Nya added as a consolation.

“Oh definitely.”

“That would be most troubling.”

“She’s freaking crazy!”

“That General is definitely a basket case.” The Knights agreed, the idea of her being apart of the team hunting them down terrifying.

They’ve all faced her at least once on the battlefield before and knew she had crazy stamina. Injuries don't even slow her down! They just hope the poor dragon that most likely ate her didn’t get some kind of disease…

Yards back, the team of Generals and their Prince followed the Knight’s path, Lloyd’s eye focused ahead as the other throbbed with pain he ignored. It always hurt once those memories get stirred up and worse still in the cold. That day opened his eyes to the ugly truth behind the beautiful land of Fulgor. Back then, he used to reason that a place like that couldn’t be all that bad… And he was right. Fulgor was never as bad as they say. He tightened his grip on the reigns of his cougar, his eye glowing brighter with his bitterness. It was much worse. He blinked then, pulling his Cougar to a stop.

“What is it my Prince?” Cryptor asked, all three Generals on the alert.

Lloyd looked around, sensing something. Something familiar. He then snapped his head upwards to the sky, eyes narrowed there. Kozu could pick up the deep, rhythmic whooshing sound moments later and narrowed his eyes, knowing that sound well.

“That sounds like a dragon.” He says, reaching for his katana, holding onto it as the sound grew louder.

“It can’t be the Knights. They’re scouting ahead.” Pythor says with a frown, staff gripped tightly.

“Dragons are Emperor Wu’s thing. He must-”

“No.” Lloyd says as it came into view. “It’s not Wu. That dragon is corrupted by Dark Matter.” He says then narrowed his eyes further then relaxed.

“It’s Ultra Violet.” The fifth General laughed as she brought the dragon in for a landing, her Cougar trailing behind her as she gave a trilling war cry.

“Ultra Violet is back!”

________________

(Ok so we've gotten to the first piece of what happened back then and more will begin to uncover itself. I think you get the gist of what happened then... Thanks for reading!)

________________ Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6

[themadauthorshatter]

I've been planning on doing these, but never got around to it because of the 'how' aspect.

Now I got it

This will be more fanfic-y than the other rewrites, too, so bear with me

PG-13 NINJAGO PILOT: EPISODE 1!!!

Like before we start with a shot of Four Weapons and hear metal on metal as Kai works at a sword, which we cut to and zoom in on.

Every now and again, though, Kai looks at the entrance with a worried look before returning to the forge, continuing to work on the sword.

We get him looking back and forth between the shop entrance and sword before he quickly finishes up and just sits, staring at the shop entrance, which gives us a good hint towards his separation anxiety.

Nya walks into frame and tries to stifle a sympathetic smile as she practically lets herself in, groceries in hand.

She asks how long she was gone and Kai, trying to joke away his nerves, says she's been gone for an hour and a half, rather than the whole hour, like she said. Nya counters that she WAS gone for the hour, and not a minute longer. Kai disagrees, because he counted on the exact minute, and asks what took her.

Nya offers an apologetic smile and shows Kai a surprise she got for him while running her errands: a couple steamed buns with red bean paste inside, just the way Kai likes.

Kai's quick to accept the apology, but also asks where and how she got the pastries, because they're expensive for the two of them, and Nya simply shrugs and says it was on the house because a customer cancelled an order, though a montage shows us the audience that Nya actually got them via a favor for the owner, i.e. fixing a few broken lights and the ovens.

Kai takes the offer, though he's still a little suspicious, and Nya goes to put the groceries away, though she does compliment Kai on his work with the sword, saying he did well on getting a good bwvel on it and keeping it straight. Kai thanks her and admits it's not bad for a 25 minute sword.

Nya, from her place in their makeshift house connected to the shop, yells to Kai to be more patient and take his time, so he can produce a better blade, almost as good as their father.

Kai yells back that he doesn't want to be better than their father, he's going to be better.

Nya walks back out and takes Kai's free hand, saying he is better because of all that he does, and their father would be proud of him for it.

That's when someone walks in, an old man in a robe, straw hat and with a long white beard, and says he should be proud, because the craftsmanship on the helmets, armor, and swords is incredible for someone so young; Kai is 16 and Nya is 14.

The two freeze and watch as the man continues to look around, Kai asking Nya who this geezer is. Nya shrugs and says she caught a glimpse of him before he asked her about the shops, namely shops selling weapons.

Kai, not really sure of this, offers to sell a few things to the man, seeing as he's interested. The man only examines some helmets and clucks his tongue, because the heavy, clunky armor in the shop is better for samurai, and there's nothing here for a ninja.

Kai chuckles and apologizes because there aren't really any ninja in Four Weapons, at least not in a long time.

The man turns his attention to Kai and sort of studies him, noting the light smoke that's on his face, the callouses on his hands, and a few scars(less than Lloyd, just saying that now), and then some red bean paste on his mouth.

Uncomfortable, Kai backs up and explains as politely as he can that he and his sister run a shop, not a museum, so he should either buy something or go somewhere else, please and thank you.

The man nods and both apologizes and thanks the siblings for their time, even if it had been possibly wasted.

The two watch him go and, once he's out of ear shot, Kai wonders what that was all about. Nya is equally confused, but doesn't elaborate on it, because they've got a shop to run. Kai agrees and hands Nya a bit of the bread from the bun she got him; she's not a fan of the paste.

In the distance, on top pf a building a figure in black watches the siblings work, Kai making another sword as Nya deals with a difficult customer. We get Kai seeing this figure, what looks like a thin male in black, and stares back at him

Guess he can't say he's never seen a ninja anymore.

Kai looks over at Nya, making sure she's okay, before looking back to find the ninja has vanished

Cut to the old man from before as he walks over to and takes a seat by a large rock, asking if there's any trouble coming their way, seeing as dawn's approaching.

TV perspective, the camera would pan up to reveal the ninja crouched on the rock as he watcges the horizon. At the sight of clouds and the rumbling in the ground, he nods.

The man sighs and wonders if the saying is true, if there really is no rest for the wicked? The ninja's shoulders drop, but he perks back up at the sight of a falcon flying over head.

Just as he goes to follow it, the man says very much like a warning, "Stay."

The ninja returns to his perch on the rock and sulks, because he's dramatic and bored.

Good thing he saw those clouds because they roll in as night falls.

Kai notices and watches carefully, Nya joining his side and asking what's up.

Neither know until skeleton automobiles race over the hill, carrying the skeleton army, and Samukai, who stands on the tallest of the vehicles and commands his army to attack, and tells his two top soldiers, Ktuncha and Nuckal, to head to the blacksmith shop and find the map.

The villagers, who are mostly farmers, flee and take cover and/or shelter. Kai, however, arms himself and yells for Nya to stay in the shop as he races out, seeing a few villagers get jumped by skeletons.

Wu and Zane, I'll just call them by their names now because WE know who they are, also leap into action, though Zane is told to protect the people while Wu goes for the skeletons.

Zane does just that, inadvertently joining Kai in fighting skeletons, though Kai doesn't notice as he fends off a mod of bone heads.

Kai gets swarmed by skeletons, and gets his ass handed to him, but still manages to get a few hits in, thank goodness. He does well enough, but snaps out of his battle rush when he sees Kruncha and Nuckal racing to the shop. ("No. NYA!")

Just as Kai goes to run back to the shop, but is struck by a skeleton and knocked back as Kruncha and Nuckal go inside the shop.

Inside the shop, Nya goes to grab a weapon, but hides when she sees Kruncha and Nuckal walk in and start rummaging for the map.

She does start to go for a staff, but is stopped by Zane, who carefully holds a hand on her mouth. Zane gestures for her to keep quiet and stay as hidden as possible as he sneaks up on the two skeletons.

Like the original, they argue, but this time, Kruncha spots Nya and starts approaching her, because she might know where the map is, only for Zane to hand stand, on hand kip up, jackhammer kick him in the jaw and knock him back and almost out.

Nuckal steps up and the two fight in the cramped shop, Nuckal grabbing random things to attack or throw at Zane and Zane blocking or catching them and them putting them down somewhere so nothing's broken(there's always so much destruction in fights and it really bothers me, tbh, ngl.). Eventually, Nuckal gives up and they go hand to hand.

As they do, Nya shrinks toward a staff as Kruncha comes to and grabs the hammer Kai was using, Nuckal blocking Zane's hits and trying to make room for Kruncha.

Nya stops that with some strikes of her own that save Zane.

As grateful as he is, Zane pushes Nya towards the exit and points outside, where she sees Kai struggling to hold off some bastard skellies.

She nods and we follow her as she sprints outside in time to save Kai and help him fight.

Kai shouts at her to go back inside, but Nya calls him crazy and won't let him steal all the fun.

The two approached by sickle-nunchuck wielding skeletons and they race toward them, which transitions/cuts to Zane as he pulls his signature move, or what will be if this was the first post I made😅, and drop kicks Nuckal before Kruncha grabs the back if his hood and knocks his head against the charcoal forge and punches him in the face and knees him in the stomach.

Nuckal gets back up and notices the forge is still going a little bit, poking at it as Zane and Kruncha keep going.

He stops when he kicks Kruncha back and is grabbed by the wrist by Nuckal, who pulls him down and smashes his arm into the burning charcoals.

He hisses, but seems to otherwise ignore the pain as he tries to kick them away. Kruncha solves that with a hand on Zane's neck.

Both demand to know where the map is hidden, but Zane glares at them, remaining silent even when Nuckal grabs the hammer and brings it down on Zane's upper arm.

It hurts, but Zane was sneaky and grabbed a shuriken from his pocket and jams it into Nuckal's side, making him stumble back as Kruncha smashes him against the forge by his collar, loosening it enough to reveal Zane's chest and a folded piece of paper.

Back with Kai and Nya as they're more successful, but still getting worn down; that's just fine because their nimbers are dwindling as well(hmmmmm?). Nya looks around in the fray of skeletons and wonders where he is. Kai snaps that he's right behind her, because they're back to back, and Nya reiterates that she didn't mean Kai, she meant the other guy, who is quite literally thrown at them as one more skeleton approaches, one with four arms and bored of watching: Samukai.

Kai charges in, shouting at Zane to keep Nya safe, and the two clash, Samukai blocking with two of his four hands as Kai swings his sword and lands a few good kicks on him.

Samukai, glad to know Kai's not holding back, decides to return the sentiment and reaveals all four of his arms.

Zane leads Nya toward the shop, but that flips around when Nya helps him there instead and goes to tend to his wounds. Zane stops her and shakes his head before getting back up and looking for a high up place to look for Kruncha and Nuckal. Nya sees this and asks what's going on and why thise boneheads are looking for a map, and Zane freezes before he shrugs, leading Nya to an empty barrel, helping her inside and putting a makeshift lid on it so she's hidden before he runs out to rejoin the fight.

Good thing because Samukai disarms Kai and holds up by his wrists with two of his four arms, one of his free hands holding a knife, and Kai bloodied and beaten from this whole fight.

"Pesky little brat. You're just like your father."

Before Samukai can carve Kai to ribbons, Zane sweeps his legs as Wu steals Zane's move and performs a dropkick of his own, but adds some spinjitsu for added distance and actually lands it and stands back up rather than just yeeting himself and falling down.

"Sensei Wu. You look a little too rusty to fight

Zane, triggered, goes to fight with Wu, but Wu holds him back; "Some blades need a stone to be sharp. I only need bone."

The two go at it, but Zane rushes in to help, because he's caring like that, and Kai follows suit.

Zane goes for a long distance approach and throws shurikens at Samukai, which slow him down enough for Wu to manage, while Kai goes in with a rock, because he lost his sword.

Samukai, fed up, kicks Wu back, grabs and lifts Kai by the neck, steals his rock, throws it at Zane, and he's hit on the head, and then throws Kai at a water tower, Kai hitting his back and going unconscious.

Zane sees this and races toward him, especially as the tower falls.

Unconscious and in his armor, Kai's heavy as hell and hard to carry, so Zane tries to wake him up as the tower starts falling.

He does, but isn't 'there' enough to register he's about to die, muttering, "Oh, no," as the tower falls.

Thank goodness Wu saves them both.

Samukai returns to the Skeletons as they start to roll out, but stops when he sees Nya race out and toward Kai, screaming his name.

TV perspective, we get slow motion shots of Kai and Nya reaching out for each other as the skeletons fire a claw/hand at Nya. Just as they're about to grab each other's hands, it grabs her and rips her away from Kai, who's relief shatters into pure terror.

The skeletons drive off, Nya screaming and fighting off the Skeletons as they restrain her, and Kai races after her with Zane behind him.

"NYA! LET HER GO! NYAA!"

The skeletons only race ahead and open a portal, leaving through it as Nya reaches and cries out for Kai.

In a flash of light, they're all gone, Zane stopping, but Kai continuing to run and ahout for Nya until he stops at where the tire marks end.

Seeing them, he drops to his knees, guilt, sorrow, and many more feelings washing over him.

Wu and Zane catch up to him, Wu apologizing to Kai for his loss.

Kai only charges at Wu, who simply steps aside as Zane grabs Kai, rolls to his back, and throws Kai to the ground, flat on his back.

Wu barks, "Enough," and tells Zane to check around them, so they're not in dager and so Kai and Wu can talk alone, and without worry of Zane killing Kai.

Kai demands to know what all of that was, why the skeletons attacked, why they took Nya, why they were living skeletons, why they took Nya, what they wanted, why they took Nya, where the hell they went, and WHY THEY TOOK NYA.

Wu tells Kai to calm himself, but Kai snaps that he can't calm down,and he won't until he gets Nya back, so Wu had better start talking or Kai will make him. Wu sends him to the ground for this, taking his wrist and arm and twisting it so Kai rolls back down on his back,it doesn't hurt him as much as the throw Zane did, don't worry.

To keep him down, Wu holds his staff down on Kai's chest and asks if he's ready to listen, because his sister's as good as gone otherwise.

Kai nods, and Wu gets to explaining:

The Skull Boys were Samukai and his undead army, who work for the real Dark Lord in the Underworld, which us where they went with Nya. Kai can try following as much a he wants, but have fun getting there without a 'gatekey;' something that's powerful enough to open the 'door' the Underworld and let you get in undetected. Either that, or die and hope for the best, which is probably the last thing Kai wants.

Kai, calmer, looks over at a bored Zane, who's blowing in some reeds, and turns back to Wu, asking why he and the ninja were there.

Wu removes the staff and holds out his hand. "You."

Kai accepts and asks why, and Wu plays a total dick move and says he'll explain more, if Kai comes with them. If he does, he'll know everything and become strong enough to save his sister and will never have to worry about lising her again. Hell, he can be strong enough to turn Samukai into bone broth, if he wants, but only if he comes with.

Kai's floored by the offer, but asks, "What if Nya come back and I'm not here? What if-"

Wu holds Kai's hands, settling him as much as he can. "They won't be coming back. They already have what they came for. We will get the map back, and your sister."

Kai falls silent and Wu backs off, saying that this is a hard decision, which he understands, so Kai has until sunrise to make up his mind. Wu will be waiting for him at the village entrance.

They part ways and Wu orders Zane to run ahead to the monastery, to make sure the road is easy to trek back.

He hestitately nods and does so, Wu taking a seat by the village entrance and meditating, calm as can be.

Kai, however, is still reeling from Wu's words. Nya's gone, the shop is a disaster, and Kai is alone. He wants to get her back, but that damn separation anxiety kicks in and he starts to panic.

Wu seems to know a lot, so the best bet qould be to leave with him, and possibly miss Nya returnjng to the shop. Kai groans as he sits qith his back against the wall and cries as he rubs his eyes. He should've kept a better eye on Nya so this didn't happen. He sighs and drops his hands, looking around and evaluating his options: stay and possibly never see Nya again or leave and possibly save Nya. Kai fights a sob as he rests his head against his knees.

Cut to sunrise and Wu still meditating. TV perspective, we hear footsteps approach off screen and Wu looks up to see Kai standing before him, eyes red rimmed, armor gone, a katana or other sword on his back, and a bag of clothes, food, and supplies on his back. (Guess he made up his mind.)

Wu half jokes that he won't bs asking if Kai's ready, but Kai has none of it and tells Wu to lead the way.

Wu stands and says they have a long walk a head of them, and that gives Wu enough time to answer all of Kai's questions.

The episode ends with Wu and Kai walking out of Four Weapons, Kai looking back at the only hime he's known before taking a breath and catching up to and following Wu, the camera panning up to the horizon and the path ahead of them.

[stronk-anime-nya]

No One Does It Better

Ao3

Summary:

PIXAL is frustrated. Stuck inside Zane’s mind, she can only help the ninja so much. Luckily for her, having nothing to do but direct your nindroid boyfriend does come with its perks. With the ninja constantly going on missions, PIXAL is ready to assemble a team, and she knows just who to ask. Nya is lost. She had only recently discovered her own water powers, and constantly feels pressure to become a full-fledged ninja. When the guys leave Ninjago City on the hunt for a new bad guy, Nya readies her samurai mech when she receives a mysterious invitation by the online user only known as "ORACLE". Skylor is tired. It's only been a month or so since she lost her powers, yet she feels she's completely useless. Despite wanting to help out the ninja, she has yet to receive an invitation. After being stuck operating in her father's noodle house for so long, Skylor was more than ready to help the unknown person known as "ORACLE" who had promised her the opportunity to help her city.

(Heavily inspired by the Birds of Prey)

PIXAL sighed as she watched rows of ice fire from Zane’s hands. As him and the other four ninja continued to batter their foes with their elemental powers, PIXAL found herself distracted by the web.

It has been months since she had been dismantled and lost her body, and while she was fine helping the team via Zane’s mind, she missed being able to walk the streets of Ninjago City and to be able to feel for herself.

But there is no point in pitying herself. She was efficient where she was now, and there wasn’t anything she could do anyway, correct?

Still, PIXAL continued to swipe past pages among pages of the internet, searching for an answer or a sign that she secretly expected wouldn’t appear.

“PIXAL!” The sound shook her technological home, snapping PIXAL from her distraction. Focusing herself onto the main screen of Zane’s point of vision, she quickly examined the scene.

“What is going on?” she asked, worried of Zane’s frantic tone.

“They are getting away!” PIXAL gasped as she saw the team’s targets disappear into the night.

PIXAL watched as the ninja jumped through the opening the bad guys left for them. As they continued to hurtle their elemental powers at them, PIXAL quickly said, “Zane, try to block the assassins with a wall of ice!”

Zane obliged, extending his arms as ice spewed from them. As the ice formed a tall wall, PIXAL noticed the assassins held shurikens. Realizing their plan, PIXAL called out to Zane.

“They are going to break the ice!”

Noticing the weapons too, Zane yelled to Kai, “Kai, they are holding shurikens!”

Kai immediately looked down to see, eyes widening. Hands engulfed in flames, he yelled, “Fire!” as the flames were shot towards the assassins.

Before the fire could even sear their black cloaks, they dodged out of the way, providing the fire a clear target for the freshly-made wall of ice.

PIXAL gasped, but before any of them could do anything, the assassins ran through the shattered ice wall before pivoting around and throwing their shurikens at the ninja. As they were forced to dodge, PIXAL frantically tried to find vision from her position, but by the time Zane’s arms unblocked their vision, shards of ice continued to fall onto the shingles of the dark gray rooftop as any sign the assassins were even there were gone.

“Aw man, they got away!” Jay exclaimed. “Those sneaky…”

As the ninja picked up the pieces of their loss, PIXAL could not help but feel… useless.

“What do we do now?” Cole asked.

Lloyd turned to the destroyed wall of ice. “We have to follow them. We can’t let them continue to run around. They’re too dangerous.”

While the rest of the ninja murmured in agreement, PIXAL looked down, not wanting to watch the scene play out any longer.

“I want to do something.” she muttered to herself.

“What was that, PIXAL?” Zane asked as the ninja hopped down the roof and towards their vehicles.

“Nothing.” she quickly replied. “How long do you think we will be gone?”

“I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”

“I do not know.” PIXAL answered, still refusing to look at the screen.

“Don’t worry,” Zane reassured. “We will get them soon.”

The area echoed with the sounds of several engines being turned on.

“But who will protect Ninjago while we are away?”

“Nya can handle it for now.” he said.

PIXAL finally looked at the screen, gears turning. If she is unable to help the ninja in its capacity, then why does she not make her own. A team to protect Ninjago.

And she knew just to ask.

[fanfalc-616]

I got fanart and I loved it and I got motivation (also it was almost done lol), so here’s the next chapter of Ḩ̵͘å̵̢͎̇͜c̴̼̼̣̉͝ķ̴̱͔̓̂e̵̦̒͛d̴͍̼̈̈

(Tw for blood)

{{ 3/? }}

Though Zane has multiple times attempted to learn the real name of the program that has him trapped, Z̸̰̜̦͊̃̚ä̷̯͖͐͝ṅ̸̹̒͠e̴͙̜̮͗ refuses to supply it.

He watches helplessly as the sentient program goes into the Bounty’s interface to learn of its location. 

Zane tries to reason with him. ‘Why are you taking orders from The Mechanic? You have free will, you can make your own decisions!’

“I’m not taking orders. We’re working together.” 

‘Why? Why do you want to hurt us? The Mechanic I can understand, but if you have free will, why use it to harm others?’

Z̴̘͍̬͚̃͂͗a̵̡̳͎͐̑ǹ̴̡̧̯̙̮̃è̵̺͚̯̗̤ pauses a moment, and Zane waits in horror as he realizes that he’s digging through his memory file. 

‘Stop! My personal life has nothing to do with you!’

Much to his relief, Z̶̠̅a̷̡̫̬͂̀͝n̴͈͐͌̾é̷͖͜  does stop, and resumes on his way to the Bounty.

Fear curls in his gut. Zane would rather be disassembled than hurt his friends.

But that’s not up to him.

Nothing is up to him.

{ { { { { { { { { {~} } } } } } } } } }

The others stare at him in shock. “What do you mean ‘Zane’s been hacked’?!” Jay demands. 

“I mean that he’s been hacked! He’s got bright red eyes and he tried to kill me! What’s so hard to understand?!” Kai snaps. 

“He’s Zane, his system is way too complex for that!” Nya argues. 

Kai groans, hand a hand down his face. “Look, I don’t know who did it or how it happened, but he’s been hacked. We need to find a way to fix him!”

Cole opens his mouth to say something, but a new voice speaks up from the entryway to the bridge.

“I don’t need to be fixed.” The hacked version of his boyfriend gives a sharp smile- nothing like the kind of smile the real Zane would give.

Everyone turns to face him, Lloyd and Kai palming their weapons, but it’s too late. 

Ice explodes across the room, turning the whole area into a frosty den, freezing over everything- including the ships controls.

A shuriken is thrown across the room, but due to the sudden frost, there’s too much shock for anyone to react.

Which is why it buries itself deep into Nya’s shoulder.

“NYA!” Kai shouts, running over to his sister. He hears the commotion of the others resisting Zane, but all he can see is the bloody mess in front of him.

She’s struggling back to her feet, and Kai stares in shock and horror at the deep injury. It must be extremely painful. Blood is everywhere, dripping down her and onto the floor, and-

“Stop Zane!” She demands, a hand coming up to clench at the wound. “I’ll be fine!”

Kai shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you!” There’s so much blood, it spills all over her body from the large, gaping wound. 

With a quiet curse, he tries to think of what medical skills he knows. You have to clean the injury, right? So- does he take out the blade?

That… doesn’t sound right, but then again, nothing he’s thinking of does, so he might as well give it a shot.

“Hold on.” He grips the shuriken, and yanks it out of her shoulder. 

Blood goes flying, and starts outright gushing from the wound, splattering all over the icy floor and walls and even Kai.

“Shit, okay, that was a bad move.” He mumbles to himself. 

The crimson liquid paints a deathly picture on the ground, and Kai feels himself begin to shake. Okay, okay, he can fix this, he just needs to remember how-

Nya curses weakly. “Kai…” Her breathing is shallow, and she’s fallen back down to the ground. “Cauterize it.” 

“I- what? Nya, I don’t know what that means!” His own breathing has picked up, and while he’s dimly aware of the fight that’s still going on, its the furthest thing from his mind.

“Burn it.” She explains.

“I’m sorry, you want me to light you on fire?! Wha-” 

“Its a medical technique, stop the bleeding.” It’s clear that she’s barely conscious at this point, and despite his shaking, Kai realizes that his best chance is to listen to her.

He swallows, and lights his hand ablaze. He takes a deep breath in, steeling himself for what he’s about to do.

“I’mma scream. Don’t stop.” Nya adds.

“Alright.” Kai nods, doing his best to keep from shaking. 

And then he presses his flaming hand against her shoulder.

{ { { { { { { { { {~} } } } } } } } } }

Zane fights with everything he has, but Ẕ̸͓̣̚ą̸̣͐͑͗ņ̸͚̪͒̂ȩ̶̢̉͆͝ fights just as hard- against both him and the other ninja. It took everything he had to make the throwing star miss Nya’s skull, and he’s exhausted from the effort.

“Zane, buddy, I know you’re in there. Snap out of it!” Cole pleads, using a blast of earth to deflect a thrown icicle. 

“He can hear you. He gets a front row seat to your demise.” Ẑ̸̺̻a̵̢̘̎̃n̶̠̞̊e̵̮͌ replies, sending a solid block of ice at Jay’s face, and the Lightning Master is immediately knocked out from the impact.

Both of them tense and glance backwards as Nya starts screaming, but it only gives Z̸̡̓ȧ̶͚n̶̼͌̎ẹ̵̯͒͒ an opportunity to attack. With spinjitzu, he quickly throws Cole across the room before he has the chance to turn back around.

Which leaves him and Lloyd.

But before the fight can resume, a pop-up appears in his vision. His warning sensors are detecting Samurai X approaching.

Much to Zane’s relief, Z̸̗̓̅a̴͎̙̐n̵̝̪͖̊͝͝ė̷̡̺͋́͜ decides that this is a good enough reason to retreat. “I’ll be taking my leave.” He decides. “But not without a parting gift.”

Lloyd rushes to stop him, but he’s too late. Z̵̦̩̖͛̾̓a̶͔̯͗͂́̾n̴͈͙͇͘͜e̵̡̛͗ throws a set of exploding shurkiens into the control panel before quickly running out.

A loud explosion goes off behind him, and the ship begins listing, tilting to the side, causing everyone on board to stagger- all except for Ź̶͓̖́a̸̼̥͍͂̓n̵͓͇̩͂͝ę̵͈̔͑̂ , who predicts each movement and keeps himself steady.

Zane is exhausted from all of this, and he decides to bide his time. If he attacks every chance he gets, he'll only get worn down. He needs to be strategic about this. 

So he stops resisting, and lets Z̶̻̭̅́a̸̧̢͔͑̎̇̌͜n̸̪̿̎ḙ̷̖͖͌ take over completely. He can use this time to study the code that’s restricting him so that he’ll be able to better resist when he needs it most.

So Zane stays there, a passenger in his own body, as Z̵̧̥̦̦̀͋̄a̶̪̖͖̒͊̈ͅn̵̢͊e̸̠̜͆͛ jumps off the ship, summoning his ice dragon.

He just needs to bide his time. It’ll be okay- his friends will stop him. 

With an internal wince, he recalls what he had done to Nya.

Doubts start to assail him, but he does his best to push them away. He can’t give up hope. 

He just needs to bide his time- he’ll get his chance.

He has to hope that he’ll get that chance before it’s too late.

[purplerose244]

MY THOUGHT ON SEASON 11 EPISODE 2!!!

SPOILERS!!!

Alright, It was mostly a fun episode leading to the pyramid, which is probably really important for the season 🤷‍♀️ And I actually enjoyed a lot, I missed my clumsy sweeties 💜💜💜

Wu your meditation is lacking too, if you break concentration so easily 😂😂

That frown though was majestic

He is definitely in a mood 😂

Having the guys going though their villains is also super cool, like, Pythor is still out there, Killow is in prison, and Garmadon is... well, you know 😅😅 Sorry big shot

I'm really happy to see the police officers so often lately in the seasons! I really liked them back in season 6, and honestly the boat gag is already grewing onto me 😂😂😂 Also Kai pointing out he's never made progress, that was genius

My poor ninja desperately want something to do, that reminds me a lot of season 3 the very first episode 😂 Also Ninjago without crime? WOW! Zane is right, that is freaking remarkable, especially since there used to be not a single day without problems in the past

Jimmy is precious

That doghnut with little shurikens, omg 💚

Okay I'm gonna notice Kai and Lloyd in these episodes every time because their BROTP is my jam, so here we go ❤💚❤💚

And FINALLY, we've got uncle Powers! So he is an archeologist that knows better than get into a freaking booby trapped ancient building. But I'm guessing common sense will soon be forgotten as the ninja arrive 😂

I'm gonna watch the other episodes tomorrow probably, and I'm really hype for it! Finally the actual story! And in the latest episodes there Lil Nelson already? AWESOME!!! 💜💜💜

(Again, tag your posts with ninjago season º spoilers, I really wanna avoid knowing stuff before I watch the actual episode)

Well, see you around guys! Byeee!!!

[ninjago-drabbles]

5 times that the ninja were in awe of Jay Walker ( + 1 time he was in awe of himself)

⚡️⚡️Started with a prompt that has pretty much zero to do with how the fic actually turned out? I found this file from forever ago and thought I’d put it up. Tell me if you like it and if there’s good feedback I’ll continue!⚡️⚡️

PART 1

I might just set this diary journal on fire soon—It'd be a lot more entertaining than anything I'm putting in this lousy thing.

Zane was the one that suggested another day of recon instead of, you know, actually getting out there and completing our mission. And the best part is, our fearless leader, the all-mighty black ninja, holy master of the dirt beneath our boots, agreed with him. The betrayal still hurts.

Luckily, he—

whooosh

Kai jumped in his seat, the pencil he was holding dropping from his hand and making a clatter as it hit the floor. The room went dark, as did the lamp on the street outside of the window he was sitting in front of. Kai sighed. He had really hoped that the power would at least try to stay on for longer than a few hours this evening.

The village they were in, Meiyôu-guang, was a small fishing settlement that had been around for hundreds of years. The four of them had been stationed there for a sort of intelligence gathering, long-con mission (you know, sneaking around in shadows, using stealth and technique as your only weapons, things ninja were meant to do. Not, you know, battling a monster of the week with flashy golden sticks that contained the very powers of nature). Sensei Wu cited an old disturbance, a crime ring of some sort that had been a bane on the town for decades. Abductions, mysterious deaths, the whole grocery list. Their Master had sent them out between potentially world-ending threats to put an end to the mob’s reign, but the society was so deeply ingrained in the town that it required potentially months to tear it all down without drawing country-wide attention.

It could be worse, Kai had reasoned. The village was gorgeous, really, with cherry blossoms lining every street and ancient temples scattered around the green at the bottom of the surrounding mountains. It kind of reminded Kai of one of the villages his parents, Nya, and him would visit on their monthly ventures to the market. Meiyôu-guang’s own shops were eerily similar, and every walk through the town brought back warm memories.

Kai rubbed his eyes and stood up, blindly attempting to find the light above his head. He grasped around for a while before his fingers ran over something smooth and warm, though quickly succumbing to the chill of the room. He gave the light a little tap, but nothing happened. He hit it harder, praying he wouldn't break it.

"This worked last time..." he grumbled, and eventually gave up after another couple of hits to the now dangerously swaying fixture. Kai ran his hands through his hair, perturbed, ruffling it up a little more. Guess I’m done writing for the night.

He didn't even realize how tired he actually was until his mouth let loose a gigantic yawn.

Kai was about to start changing for bed (granted he could find his way to the door to his room without tripping over something), when he heard the sound of a key turning in a lock.

He heard rather than saw the harsh grating of the door swinging open across the wooden floor. A figure stepped through, a distinct golden glow coming from the nunchucks on his back.

"Woah, the power's out here too?" Jay asked, shuffling further into the room and shutting the door behind him with a painful creak.

Kai sighed again, this time in annoyance, carefully feeling his way to the nearest wall and leaning against it. "Been going on and off all evening." Honestly, how could Jay still be oblivious to the ever-constant electricity problem in this town?

"I guess this entire street’s down," Jay mused, "I saw the street light go off on my way back, but I just assumed the bulb burned out." He made a little humming noise in the back of his throat, as if the sudden and greatly problematic loss of power was merely something of vague interest and barely worth concern.

Kai sighed for the third time in the span of a few minutes (seriously, he was going to break some sort of record here) and answered, "Try the whole town- this place's as old as Sensei Wu claims to be. And I'm guessing the power generator is too.” He valiantly fought the urge to sign again, and lost. “Did you bring the thing?"

Kai could practically see the eye roll that Jay was no doubt giving him.

"Yes hot-head, I got your gross salt and vinegar chips. You're lucky this place at least has an up-to-date grocery store."

There was a loud rustling for a few seconds, and then Kai felt what he could safely assume was a bag of his favorite brand of chips hit him square in the chest with a crunch.

He quickly brought his hands up to catch the crumpled aluminum and gave a disapproving glance to the general direction from which the bag came.

"You better hope you didn't crush any of these, Walker." He opened the bag with a tug and pulled out one of the extremely over-salted chips. Delicious, as always. At least some things never let him down.

The room was filled for a moment with the crunch of the snack in his mouth. Then:

"Nice throw, by the way. How'd you know where I was?"

"Used to the dark, you know, back at home," Jay answered nonchalanty. He heard the blue ninja shuffling around the room, unbuttoning his overcoat with jarring pops from the metal clasps. "Ma and Pa never really invested in a good generator."

Kai smiled a little, thinking of a younger Jay running around in the dark dump he called a home with only the eccentric Ed and Edna around to play with. Sometimes, he found himself jealous of his friend's childhood.

"Well I, for one, am not used to it," Kai complained instead. "And I'm way too lazy to keep a fire going throughout the night," he stated with a sour look in what he assumed was the direction of their sad, empty-of-any-sort-of-burning-material fireplace.

Jay sighed (seriously, what was with all the sighing?) and no doubt rolled his eyes again.

"Well, if you're going to be such a baby about it."

Before Kai could retort and argue that he was not, in fact, a baby—quite the opposite, really—he heard Jay snap his fingers. Then saw a blue light appear across the room in where he could now see was the palm of Jay's hand.

His friend's face lit up, the blue light from what he realized was a small ball of lightning reflecting against his even bluer eyes and auburn hair.

A grin tugged on Jay's lips, one that Kai knew either meant he was about to murder Jay for whatever he was about to do or was very close to being killed himself.

"Watch this."

There was another snap of his fingers, and then the ball went out. Kai looked around, unimpressed, and was about to say as much, when a huge wave of energy shot out from around the lightning ninja. Kai stumbled as it washed over him, almost falling to the floor. He didn't really see it, the energy, but he could feel it, pulsing through his body and out the walls of the room and into the streets outside. Suddenly the light flickered back on above him, drowning the room in a soft, yellow-orange glow. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the street lamps do the same. The fire ninja’s gaze flickered back to the source of the energy, his amber eyes wide and mouth agape. Jay was still standing by the door, looking around the room proudly. There was still small bolts of lightning running between his fingertips. Kai didn't even think Jay noticed.

The master of lightning smirked, "Whole town. Should last them at least a year. Still feeling too lazy for a fire, Kai?" And with that, he turned and walked through the door to his shared bedroom.

Kai stood there in the middle of the room for a while, staring at the door that Jay had just closed behind him. Biting his lip, he eventually collapsed down into the chair he had been writing in earlier that night.

He looked out onto the street, now alight with the calming glows from behind shop windows and bedroom curtains. He imagined what the rest of the city must look like. Of course, he knew that it most likely looked the exact same the night before, but something about the fact that it was Jay who lit it all up, and made it alive again, made it different. Made it... special.

And then something his friend had said finally registered with him.

An entire year.

Was the lightning ninja joking? Could he really power the lives of hundreds of people for twelve months? Kai laughed to himself, unsettled.

Nah, of course Jay was joking, he thought. No ninja could be that powerful. None of the others are, he was sure. And I'm definitely not. Right?

Convinced, Kai shook his head and headed toward the door next to the one Jay went through that led to the other shared bedroom. He sat down on his bed and started taking off his clothes for the night.

Kai's eyes wandered to the golden sword and similarly shining pair of shurikens on the dresser. He didn't even use his elemental weapon.

Kai was once again taken aback.

And for the first in a long many of times, Kai was afraid of the enigma that was Jay Walker.

[localguy2]

Here's my own personal take on it:

Okay we all know how Zane gave his heart or power source or whatever to save PIXAL, twas great and all (or bad for Zane's ability to fight

And as we know, the golden weapons of creation are just that, they're meant to create

So the way I see it is, when Zane held onto the armor of the golden master, it might have actually somewhat helped him by perhaps recreating the other half of his power source, and we've seen already how powerful half of Zane's power source is, so imagine how powerful a full power source would be, which I think would've given him a better chance against the overlord

Yknow this whole thing actually got me curious as to how strong Zane's power source actually is

Because Zane was able to withstand what would be 2 SETS of golden weapons for that long, yeah it sure did fuckin kill him but it's still wack to think about

The armor of the golden master was made using the:

Shurikens of Ice

Nunchucks of Lightning

Scythe of Quakes

Sword of Fire

Aaaaaand The Mega Weapon

If my headcanon wasn't the case (which it most likely wasn't let's be real)

Than does that mean that the power in half of Zane's power source is almost on par with the power of 2 sets of golden weapons?

listen not 2 defend bullshit Ninjago logic but if I see anyone else say "it makes noo sense Zane survived that long in the s3 finale" I might go a little bonkers insane tbh.

Like he was wearing the indestructible stone armor, armor IMMUNE to elemental powers, and his core thingy was so powerful it was combatting the Golden Power I guess? Or something?

It's bullshit Ninjago logic but at least it makes a lick of sense if you don't think too hard about how blue energy beats god power.