#wait hold on. that means that each time coloUrs and mayhem appears its a SINGLE track. i just KNOW one of them's iron infidel.

[dreamlit-wanderer]

you could for sure guess most of these but theres the occasional wildcard. classics i see you & love you

[aweebwrites]

Celestial Influence 7 pt2

Zane debated if he should bring Echo along with him to meet up with the ninja. He's been doing well these past two days. He had nightmares of loneliness Zane's been soothing with a cold kiss before they could get worse though. The first day, he would get anxious if he wasn't always in his line of sight. It took Zane leaving an ever present aura of cold for Echo to feel at ease while he was busy. He's adjusting well to his upgraded body at least. Zane had kept some of their father's handiwork but altered most of it. It also helped him realise the powers they held surpassed simple elemental and creative properties. They had the power to partially or completely alter living and non-living things. That should have been apparent with his alteration of the Falcon but it's so much more apparent with Echo.

He had wanted to keep his appearance relatively the same but make him stronger, resilient to damage and independent of upgrades. He succeeded. The material he replaced Echo's bronze exoskeleton with was far superior while remaining close in colour. His face lacked the obvious seams he had previously, making Echo resemble him more than ever. His eyes were brighter and golden in colour, to match his heart metaphorically. He was a sponge for information and curious, always willing to help.

'I am built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.' He had once said.

The words struck Zane deep. It was noble of their father, noble of him. He couldn't dally for longer. He had to meet the others. He decided then.

"Echo." Zane says as he stood, watching as he looked up at him from his place on the couch, watching Tai-D bustle around with cleaning. "Get ready. We'll be leaving shortly. I'd like for you to meet my friends." He says and that caught Echo's interest.

"Are they powerful like you, brother?" Echo asked as he looked up at him.

"Yes. But I've known them long before these powers. Now go on." Zane urged and he nods, taking off to his room to change.

_____

Unsurprisingly, they all arrived at the same time, with Lloyd, Garmadon and Wu sitting on the steps in front of the door to the inside.

"Who's that?" Jay was the first to ask, noticing that Zane wasn't alone.

"He looks a lot like you…" Lloyd pointed out and the others nodded their agreement.

"That's because he's my brother." Zane says lightly and Echo shifts with unease, not sure how to respond and react to so many new faces. "His name is Echo Zane. Our father left him behind in the tower." He explained.

"N-nice to meet you…" He says quietly, holding onto Zane's hand tightly.

"Nice to meet you too." Nya says with a smile.

"Any brother of Zane's is a brother of ours." Kai grinned.

"Well said Kai." Wu says with a nod of approval.

"We can't wait to properly meet you Echo." Lloyd says as he got up and walked over to the team, his gi appearing in his person as he did. "But right now, we have to go. There's trouble in Ninjago." He told them and they grew serious.

"Echo." Zane spoke as he looked towards his brother who looked up at him with large golden eyes. "I will be leaving for a bit. Please stay here with Sensei Wu and Garmadon. They will look after you until I get back." He says and Echo nodded, understanding without actually knowing what his brother needed to do.

He just knew it was important he let him do so without hindrance. 

"Alright. I'll be here when you get back!" Echo says with a wide smile and Zane returned it with a fond one.

He then turned to his friends. 

"Let's go." He told them and they nodded, taking Jay's hands then each other's. 

They then vanished in a flash. Echo turned to the two he was left in the care of, not sure how to proceed. 

"I hope you like Mahjong." Wu says lightly as Garmadon helped him up and Echo ran a search for the term, smiling once results showed that it was a game.

"I've never played but I would like to try." He days, walking towards the two elders. 

____

"Next to New Ninjago City, Jamanakai village is always under some duress." Nya says as they watched from the cover of cloud as people panicked and ran, the bandits invading the village creating mayhem and fires that Bolobo could hardly fight against.

"Very true. Nya, some rain if you would?" Zane prompted and she grinned.

"I've got you." She says, summoning her trident.

She then gave it a whirl then struck the cloud they stood on. Immediately, the clouds began thickening and darkening, gathering together with her steady supply of moisture to prepare for heavy rainfall.

"Bolobo uses nature so I'll deal with this one." Lloyd says as he stood up.

They nodded, watching as he vanished, the rain starting up then.

"The air charge is just perfect for a bit of reaping…" Jay grinned then stood up.

They watched as he reached a hand out, lightning immediately rushing up from the ground into his palm, his body absorbing it all with ease. He did that with intent, the force of the sudden upthrust of energy as well as the deafening thunder that followed startled a bandit long enough to allow a small family to escape their clutches.

"Looks like Lloyd found the ring leader." Cole says as they like down at the village from the eye of the storm, not seeing him but sensing where he was.

"He's waiting for Bolobo to use his powers again before she makes his move." Nya commented, leaning against the hilt of her trident as she watched as well. "But his hands are a little full at the moment." She pointed out and they dashed their eyes to where Bolobo was being held down by several bandits, his staff knocked from his hand.

"I'll take care of it." Zane says, summoning his bow.

He pulled back on the string as he aimed, the ivory arrow appearing as he did. He released then with a breath out and they watched as the arrow whistled through the air, down to where Bolobo was being beat down. It struck the ground then, confusing the bandits as it vanished but then ice grew from the spot outwards, encasing all but Bolobo in its freezing grip. The elemental stood there, completely shocked as his arms were still being held by the frozen solid bandits. A scream echoed and he snapped out of it, pulling away then grabbing his staff. The moment he got used his powers was the moment nature unleashed, strange plants sprouting tron the ground, not his staff to capture every single bandit in the village, even the iced over ones. The plants coiled around them to their necks and Bolobo stares, the small plant from his staff falling off. He couldn't have done that. He can't do all this. He knew it and yet… He recalled the ice and looked back to the slowly melting bandits.

How… What happened here?

He looked up once the rain stopped then blinked at the closing hole in the clouds.

What was that? Was it divine intervention? Or… 

He recalls the freeze that had happened a few months back and frowned.

The ninja? 

He didn't have time to ponder further. The villagers were rushing towards him with thanks on their tongues. It made him uncomfortable. He knew he didn't do all this and he didn't want to accept thanks for what he hadn't done. Yet still… He didn't think they'd believe him otherwise…  He offered the villagers tight smiles and nods. He had to report this to the others… 

_____

"Work's not done yet. We have multiple breakouts across Ninjago. Can you sense them?" Lloyd asked as they continued to leave Jamanakai village behind, soaring through the clouds.

"Yes. Recognisable though negative and malicious energies. There are smaller occurrences the other elemental masters or the settlement leaders can handle but as of now, there are four major uprisings we need to attend to, one not yet in motion." Zane spoke and they nodded. "To the south has a higher negative output than the other two. Lloyd, Nya. You head there. Jay, Cole, you two head north west. Kai and I will head further north. We will all regroup at New Ninjago City." He instructed and they nodded, not quite looking forward to the city but not allowing their discomfort to stop them from giving a helping hand.

"Afterwards, we need to work on a faster means of travel. Teleporting even." Kai says, crossing his arms.

"Yeah. I mean, sure my lightning allows me to travel at the same speed of light but it's not quite the same as instantly being at the place I want to be." Jay says with a shrug and Lloyd nods.

"Fair enough. For now, let's move out." He instructed and they nodded, breaking off.

"Do you really think we can pull of something as complex as teleportation? Bending the very fabric of time and space?" Nya asked Lloyd as they headed to their location.

"We live in an age of endless evolution. The only thing that isn't possible is what we haven't thought of yet." Lloyd says quietly, having something specific in mind as he said the words.

If the words he spoke are true then… There's something he'd like to try… And he had a feeling it would require all of them.

______

"Of course it's Kryptarium Prison. When isn't it?" Jay says dryly as they approached.

"There's always some flaws to these things. It's just that whoever designed it was an architectural genius but was also clearly not sober." Cole commented as they swooped in,  landing on the roof of the prison soundlessly. "They need to be given a raise. Then fired." He continues, as they walked along to find a way in without damaging the building. 

"Out of a volcano." Jay agrees and Cole paused, looking back at Jay.

"Really? Volcano's the best you could come up with?" Cole asked dryly. 

"Saying cannon is too lame, too common. Besides, how cool would it be to actually launch something out of a volcano?!" Jay grinned and Cole narrowed his eyes. 

"Don't think about it. We aren't launching anything from a volcano. We need to be responsible now more than ever." Cole lectured as he kept a keen ear put, kneeling once he was sure he was over the area of disturbance. "The riot's just below. They've almost broken through." He told Jay who nods, summoning his nunchucks.

"And I wouldn't launch anything out of a volcano." Jay huffed, striking a signal pole with the lightning from his nunchucks, sending it down to the main cells where the riot was to render all the villains unconscious. "Nothing big anyway." He says to himself very quietly.

"I heard that." Cole says, throwing him an unimpressed look.

"Ok, ok! Jeez." Jay huffed.

They both blinked, hearing a familiar growl.

"Of course lightning doesn't work on the big guy." Jay sighed to himself. "What do we do?" He asked, looking to Cole as he frowned.

The larger male only sighed, placing his hands on his hips. 

"Nothing to do but fight him head on." Cole says and Jay groaned then paused.

"Now that it crossed my mind, this is a great way to check just how much stronger you've gotten." He pointed out, walking towards the edge of the large roof, Cole following behind him.

"Huh. You're right." Cole says after a moment of consideration. "Can you run interference while I take him on?" He asked Jay who grinned.

"Leave it to me."

________

"These clowns are still around?" Kai huffed, spotting the SOGs from a distance where they were attempting to take over a small city.

"It appears so. They're damaging property at a rapid rate. The sooner we take them down, the better." Zane says, analysing the situation for the best means of how to do so.

"Here come the other elementals." Kai says, spotting them riding in, the vehicles they were driving in on looking a lot like Pixal's handy work. "Tox, Neuro, Gravis and Chamille. Do you think they can handle this?" He asked Zane as they watched from the top of a nearby skyscraper, feet hanging off the edge.

"We'll see. This is supposed to be us helping after all, not saving everyone for them." Zane reminded and Kai nodded, watching them jump right into it.

"Rookie mistake leaving your back wide open like that." Kai commented after watching Tox getting struck from behind. 

"I'm sure she'll learn eventually." Zane says lightly, observing Gravis using his gravitational powers to throw the SOGs off.

"Yeah, I can see that." Kai agreed, watching her cover her back with her poison.

In fact, she was spreading it out, using just enough to weaken them instead of seriously hurting them with it. Neuro was struggling to focus long enough to be of use. It was hard to when they knew to keep him distracted. They had him cornered, weapons ready to hurt. Kai looked over to Zane.

"Hey Zane. Show me how to aim your bow." Kai says and Zane summoned his bow without question.

"Hold the riser right here. Make sure not to block the slight window. You should look there while aiming." Zane instructed, adjusting Kai's posture and hold. "Pull back the sting like so." He says, pulling back the string with him, his hand over Kai's on the raiser.

The arrow that appeared was swirled with red and white, a combination of both of their powers. They both released with Zane's order, the arrow shooting towards the group seconds away from pouncing on Neuro. It struck the ground between the two and exploded in a burst of steam, shards of ice taking down the group before melting from the lingering heat from the steam. By the time it cleared, Neuro alone was left standing, wholly confused. What was that? He looked up towards the arrows trajectory but saw no-one. He frowned deeply. He was grateful for the help but he had a feeling… He shook his head then focused on the group of SOGs swarming his friends despite their sluggish movements.

________

"This one is right up our alley." Nya says with a smirk, looking down at the ghostly infestation of a mountain village.

"Yeah. But we have to be careful. Griffin, Shade and Ash are here." Lloyd says, spotting them.

"Griffin's having a little too much fun." Nya says dryly from their place standing on a higher point on the mountain.

Said elemental was darting around and laughing up a storm as he sprayed water from his water gun, hitting only a small number of them.

"For now, we observe and let him find out on his own that there's a time and place for everything." Lloyd says, taking a seat and Nya sat with him, a hand on her cheek.

"At least their numbers are few. They must be left overs from the Cursed Realm." Nya commented, watching them attempt to corner the ghosts but they lacked deepstone and the ghosts could always dodge their water.

They're only good due to how difficult it would be to possess them. Ash just turns to smoke, Shade morphs into shadow and they can't catch Griffin.

"Some of them possessed a few villagers. They won't win this one without help." Lloyd says to himself then straightened his back. "Some Deepstone weapons should give them the upper hand." He says as green light traveled up his arms, up his neck and on his face.

Horns protruded from his forehead as Nya watched him gather his energy, felt the power radiating from him. He them thrusted his green energy downwards, the glow splitting off into three then fading to reveal shurikens very similar to what they used while defending Ninjago from the Preeminent. Each took out at least one of the green ghostly figures before lodging themselves in the hands of each elemental.

"Woah!" Griffin says,  coming to a stop next to the others, following their lead to look over the weapon they now held.

"Where did they come from?" Ash asked, turning it over, a small frown on his face.

Shade was suspicious. He looked around then up the mountain but saw no-one. It must be one of them. Where did they even get the deepstone needed to make these? Did they steal it? Shade wouldn't put anything past them. Not after all they've done. A growl caught their attention and they spun around, eyes widening once they came face to face with a ghost. Or launched itself at them but instead of possessing one of them, it was harshly reflected.

"It reflects too? Now I know something's up." Shade says with a frown. 

"Well figure that out after we get rid of these guys." Ash says then tossed his shuriken at a ghost, marvel once it followed after it, even after it turned a corner, only getting faster and faster.

Shade narrowed his eyes but complied. If those bastards think that he can be easily moved by something as superficial as new weapons, they best think again.

________

The giant Stone Warrior roared as it swung a punch at Cole who took it head on, not even budging from his spot standing before him, the impact ricocheting through the soldier's arm and he growled as he stepped back.

"Well. Looks like I really am stronger than I was." Cole grinned as the giant seethed.

"You better hurry. The other ems should be here any moment now." Jay says, watching from above, cross-legged mid air.

"Right." Cole nodded then summoned his scythe.

He then leapt at the giant warrior,  dodging his swords then swung with a grunt. Everything stood still as Cole floated back but then there was a loud thud as one of the Stone Warrior's hands holding his sword fell from his body, leaving the warrior to bring as he held onto the stub of what was left of his arm.

"Either you stay in your cell from now on or I'll finish what the Overlord started. For good." Cole warned and the Warrior growled then retreated into his cell slowly, green eyes malicious but too fearful to attack again.

Cole nodded then lands on his feet. A tap of the base of his scythe to the ground had metallic bars shooting up, locking the giant in.

"That's that. Let's get outta here Jay." Cole's says, looking up at him and Jay nodded, floating down to hold his shoulder before they disappeared.

Just then, Karloff rushed in- only to blink at all the prisoners inside their cells unconscious, a large stone hand still clutching an even larger stone laying on the quadrangle. What happened here?...

______

The group met up on the outskirts of the vast New Ninjago City, tense and uncertain. Their last encounter with them wasn't very good after all. But there were unnatural forces stirring up havoc in the city. They had to help.

"We gather them all in one place, then take them down in a clean swoop." Kai instructed and they all nodded, taking off to different corners of the city.

Jay was the first to spot them. They looked like average Ninjagans but he could sense the change in their biology clearly. They were enhanced beings, mutated to mimic perfection he can guess. Little did whoever's behind this know that there's no such thing. They were supposed to keep out of sight but considering that he could sense over 20 in this area alone, that was out of the question.

'Where do we lead these guys?' Jay asked through thought, knowing already that Lloyd connected them all.

'To the park. It should be able to hold them all and it's away from the population.' Was Zane's response and Jay nodded, using his lightning to block them from attacking any more civilians.

"Time to see what these powers can really do." Jay says with a grin, eyes starting to glow as blue light crept up his arms, all the way to his face.

He then rocketed down to the ground, creating a large energy outburst once he touched down, careful not to damage any infrastructure or bystanders.

Kai on the other hand held both swords in hand, a slash of them creating a wall of fire to prevent them from moving any further into the city.

"Haven't you noticed by now? No-one who tries to take over the city ever succeed. At least not for long. You all think that a little experimentation that gave you all a small boost in strength and resistance makes you invincible." Kai says as the very much conscious and willing participants of the experiments glared up at him, throwing whatever they could but they never make contact with Kai's person.

He chuckled, holding his swords defensively as she hovered just above them.

"You think you all have true power? Laughable. I'll show you true power." Kai says as his skin and eyes started to glow. "Ninja go!" He yelled, starting up his Spinjitzu but it was noticeably different.

For one, it was massive, the size of a full tornado, his fire roaring and raging as the enhanced stepped back, eyes wide. A daring few tried to still charge- only to end up burned and thrown back. He began to move towards them, forcing them back into the city, flames appearing at other road routes and alleys to prevent them from breaking up. The non-enhanced civilians of Ninjago watched the spectacle with wide eyes. None of them had ever seen such a spectacle before, such raw power. The fire from his Spinjitzu looked like it could burn the sky if they wished. Such an inferno that is Kai's Spinjitzu should have burned them all up already, should have them feeling its intense heat. A few of them even ended up in its path, engulfed in flames. But they were unharmed. The flames acting as if they weren't there. There was no heat. The power and control just this former ninja had was incredible.

Soon enough, more elemental tornadoes popped up around the city, water from the waterspout lashing the enhanced, pushing them toward the park they were all converging on, the lightning vortex zapping those it chased to keep them on route. The dust devil stung its victim with sand and small rocks that struck pain into their toughened skins, keeping them on their right path as well. The largest green vortex simply pushed them along as it closed in, its path clear and uninterrupted to the park. Zane watched them all for a moment while stood against a large group of them. He nodded, taking position to also use his Spinjitzu when suddenly, he sensed something fast approaching from behind. He glanced over his shoulder then frowned, seeing the Samurai X VXL. This encounter will be interesting to say the least. He watched unphased as her vehicle vaulted over his head via the ice that appeared to protect him on its own, skidding to a stop just between him and the enhanced. He watched still as she turned the VXL towards him, no doubt glaring behind her mask. 

"What are you all doing here?! We don't need you or your help! All you're doing right now is causing mass hysteria! Leave the city at once or I'll be forced to defend it!" Pixal yelled at him, gripping the steering wheel of her VXL tightly.

"There was hysteria before we arrived. We can't counteract it right now. We need to focus our energies on getting rid of the superhuman first." Zane says calmly, keeping his eyes on her while simultaneously keeping an eye on the enhanced behind her.

"The other elemental masters and I can take care of it!-"

"It doesn't seem that way." Zane says, extending his sight to Skylor, Dareth and Ronin who were being pummeled, no matter what they did by the few enhanced already in the park. "I'm sorry. I won't allow you to delay me any longer. The others have been doing their part and I must do mine." He says quietly, eyes glowing with his power.

Pixal gritted her teeth then slammed her hand down on the launch button on the control panel. Her eyes widened once the missiles aimed for thin air, detonating against the ice wall before her. She grunts as the force of the explosion shoved her Samurai VXL back but left the wall of ice untouched. She opened the hatch then looked around in alarm at the whistling sound, seeing the large vortex of frosty air and ice herding the enhanced towards New Ninjago City's park. She clenched her fist. They were for strong. She couldn't hope to stop them. She hopped back into her Samurai VXL then turned around, racing towards their converging point.

She could try though.

__________

Echo looked over the board with extreme focus. The Mahjong Mr Wu had suggested had tiles that were almost exact. Even he, a Nindroid had to look closely. His ears picked up low talking however and he looked behind him, at the TV that was on but turned down low.

"What are those?" Echo asked, looking at the swirling pillars in different colours.

"The Ninja." Garmadon says, grabbing the remote with his tail then taking it in hand to turn it up. 

"-ports say that the former ninja are the ones inside those vortexes. You heard that right! The very same former heroes who brought Ninjago itself to its knees then disappeared." Gale reported from what looks like Borg Tower.

Not even she was brave enough to get in the middle of the ninja for a scoop. 

"They speak as if they weren't the ones who demanded they disappear." Garmadon spoke with a growl of irritation, his tail thumping against the ground in irritation. "And former? They have never stopped being Ninja." He adds with a sneer, revealing thick fangs. 

"Be calm brother." Wu says, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Anger will neither change not help the ninja's situation." He soothed. 

Garmadon only growled, not happy about this in the slightest.

"I don't understand." Echo spoke up, looking to the elders. "They're helping them, aren't they? Zane did tell me of how their powers were the cause of the strange things I saw at the tower but they fixed it all and they're helping. Why do they hate them still?" He asked them and both elders shared a look.

"A life is a precious thing Echo. It's irreplaceable." Wu says tentatively. "... On the days the ninja took to unlock these powers deep inside them, several lives were forever lost." He told him and Echo frowned.

Zane had also told him that. But… He looked down at Tai-D that was snoozing next to him to recover energy. It never really dawned on him what that really meant until just now. He lost Tai-D once… He didn't want to lose him again. He did look back up at Mr Wu however.

"That's not true." Echo says, surprising and confusing both elders. "If they wanted to… They could bring anyone back. I'm not sure how I know that but I do." He told them and both elders looked daunted at this information.

"... Echo. You must never let anyone else know this. Keep that secret tighter than you would keep your life." Garmadon told him seriously and Echo nodded, wide eyed.

He understood why he had to however. If anyone else knew that, the ninja would never find peace. They would be constantly bombarded by threats and requests. It's just… Echo looked at the Mahjong tiles before him. Mr Garmadon was really intimidating! 

_______

All six vortexes came to a stop at the outskirts of the park, the enhanced all on the offensive now that they realise that they've been cornered in. One by one, the swirling vortexes disappeared, revealing their corresponding Ninja floating mid air.

'What's next?' Cole asked as he used his scythe to split an entire tree tossed in his direction. 

'Their strength comes from the experimentations they went through. If we remove whatever serum they were given, they would be normal civilians and the Ninjago police force as well as the Samurai can take over.' Zane explained through their mental link.

'How do we do that? The serum is infused with their DNA and had even altered it.' Nya pointed out, looking the enhanced over.

'Simple. We turn back time on them.' Lloyd provided, looking across the large park, his vision closing in on Zane. 'Zane, You focus on turning back time on them and I'll focus on keeping the effects on them alone. The test of you keep out everyone that isn't an enhanced.' He instructed, flying forwards, Zane doing the same.

'Pixal is determined, isn't she?' Jay says, spotting her coming his way without looking behind him.

'I'll take care of her. You guys get a barrier going.' Nya says, heading over to Jay's direction.

'Roger.' Kai nodded then focused his fire, molding and shaping it into a pyramid shaped barrier. "Out you go." He murmured as the barrier enveloped the enhanced but pushed out Ronin, Dareth and Skylor, despite Skylor dragging her feet in the grass. 

Cole and Jay followed suit, their barriers meeting as they expanded, merging and covering the entire park. Nya on the other hand threw out a wall of water to stop Pixal's missiles from touching Jay. Not that they would have reached him anyway.

"Sorry Pix. Can't let you-"

"Don't call me that!" Pixal yelled from her Samurai VXL, a glare on her face beneath her helmet. "None of you have any right to be here! Not after what you've all done! Not after all the pain you've put all of Ninjago through! None of you should have ever came back! We were all fine without the world ending threat you all pose! Go back to wherever the hell you disappeared to!" She yelled angrily, blasting multiple missiles and lasers at Nya who looked sad, watching her.

A wall of water erected her from the blow, the liquid wrapping around the attacks and dissolving the impact completely. Nya sighed softly then reopened her now glowing eyes, before reaching a hand out to Pixal's VXL. Pixal startles as her vehicle groaned before it lifted off the ground completely. She gritted her teeth then reached out to activate the mech update but she found herself unable to do so. The VXL opened suddenly and she found herself floating out, despite how much she tried to fight it.

"We aren't oblivious to the damage we've caused before. In fact, we're more aware of that than ever. We would have never come here or anywhere if we weren't positive we wouldn't cause damage." Nya spoke quietly as the water that protected her orbited her like a ring on a planet, an endless stream of water. "The past May be the past but we use it to influence our future. We can never give back the lives lost but we can preserve the ones still here. You may not trust us, especially after almost losing your father so many times because of us, but we cannot let you stop us from protecting Ninjago. Whether any of you like it or not, Ninjago's our home too. We'll do our best for it." She says quietly as Pixal watched her with narrowed eyes behind her helmet. 

"... Even if it means losing the friends we've come to know." Nya spoke, expression morphing from sad and hurt to cool.

Light from behind her caught Pixal's attention. She watched with wide eyes from the high altitude as Zane stood in the middle of the park, his hands glowing amber as he utilized the power of time reversal. Lloyd closed his eyes from above him then reopened them in gold, the green glow of his skin morphing to gold, the energy traveling up to his horns- then shattering them both. His golden glow was blinding, forcing Pixal to look away, missing as the gold seeped into Nya as well as all of the other ninja, all of them united as one. It was over as soon as it started, the light and the barrier fading as the ninja's original colours bled back into them. Zane held his head, blinking as the golden energy retreated back into Lloyd before looking up at him, ignoring the confused groans of the former enhanced around him.

Reversing their effects wasn't all that they just did. He floated up towards Lloyd as his golden hair paled back to its blonde colour, the others joining him.

"Lloyd…" Kai began and the blonde shook his head.

"We couldn't have done it if any of us disagreed. You all know that." Cole pointed out to them.

"The why and how doesn't concern me at all." Jay says, crossing his arms as he gained a serious look. "Question is… Did it work? Will it work?" He asked and they all looked uncertain.

"... Only time will tell." Zane says solemnly and they all floated there in silence…

Before they all burst out snickering. 

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?" Nya chuckled and Zane shrugged with a small smile.

"I just thought it was time to lighten up the mood." Zane joked and they all began laughing.

"Are we really doing the pun thing again?" Cole says, amused.

"We stopped? Shocker." Jay says with a grin and Kai snorted.

"That sucked Jay. Talk about a total burnout." Kai says, nudging Lloyd. 

"You're all dorks." Lloyd huffed at his friends, despite the smile on his face.

Sirens getting closer to their current location broke their happy spell. 

"Right. We should probably get out of here." Cole pointed out.

"Yeah." Nya agrees.

"Let's hold hands. The power of friendship will bring us home." Jay says with a grin and they all groaned.

"Jay, you watch way too much TV." Kai says as they all held hands.

"Agreed." Zane says dryly and Jay sick a tongue out at them before they all vanished in a large bolt of lightning.

Pixal watched as they did,  saw as they joked and laughed. She didn't know how to take it. On one hand, hope filled her at the chance that maybe things weren't so different, that they were better, that there was a chance they weren't the monsters her dreams made them out to be. But she wasn't foolish enough to put her faith in one measly act of goodwill. If they truly wished to gain Ninjago's forgiveness, they had a lot of work to do. With that, she began rounding up the formerly enhanced, the police soon joining her. 

___________

"Hey Lloyd. Why'd your horns break back there?" Jay asked once they arrived back at the Monastery.

"They were only temporary so they would have broken off eventually." Lloyd says as they walked inside, his fading back to their casual clothes.

"Huh? Really?" Cole asked, intrigued.

"How so?" Zane asked, curious.

"They were conductors. Or better yet, training wheels." Lloyd explained, surprising them further.

"Training wheels?! You mean-"

"That my powers were too intense from the beginning fore to handle right away? Yes." Lloyd finished for Nya as they walked in on an intense game of Mahjong.

"Good work today, ninja." Wu praised as he took up two tiles.

"I'll have their new mechs and vehicles out in a day or two so there's that." Nya says as she also picked up two tiles.

"I could get started on weapons for them too. Traditional of course. Cole can get me some decent ore and I'll set up a smithy at the fire temple." Kai offers, picking up four tiles.

"I haven't checked if I can make ore but it'll be good exercise, power wise." Cole hummed, taking up two tiles.

"I'll help Nya out with equipment." Jay offers, taking up eight tiles.

"I'll help out wherever I can, I guess." Lloyd shrugged, taking up two tiles as well.

"Good. The other elemental masters will eventually grow used to the routine and adapt. With your help, they will be able to do so sooner." Wu says, pecking up six tiles since the original game was thrown out the window.

"I wonder if they've figured out we helped them before…" Jay says thoughtfully, tapping a tile to his chin. 

_______

"I knew it had to be them." Shade says,  crossing his arms as all the other elemental masters met with Pixal who basically led then, giving them assignments and locations. "If they think anyone will forgive, they have another thing coming to them." He growled, hatred filling him from just speaking about them.

Knowing they helped them, knowing that they needed their help made him absolutely bitter. He didn't want anything to do with those monsters.

"I'm not happy about it either but we did need their help. How else would we have taken everyone on? All on the same day? No-one died today because of them." Neuro pointed out.

"You're just saying that because they saved your ass." Ash sneered and they all began to argue across the table, Pixal sitting at the head of it with her hands laced at her mouth.

"Enough!" She finally snapped and they all quieted down immediately. "It doesn't matter if we're happy about it or not. Nothing we do can stop them. They're too powerful. They're…" She frowned deeper

"They're unstoppable…" She whispered and there was silence all around. 

"That can't be true yo!" Griffin spoke up as he stood, hands planted firmly on the table, his posture brimming with defiance. "Nobody is unstoppable! We just gotta think outside of the box!" He proposed. 

"There's no box to think outside of." Pixal argued back, annoyed now. "They single handedly brought Ninjago to its knees in what totals in 5 minutes. 5 minutes! And they've only gotten stronger for what I've estimated." She says, turning around to bring up analytics and video playback of their stunts in New Ninjago City.

"People are starting to call them gods. Vengeful gods but deities nonetheless." She continued, turning back to them. "It isn't hard to see why. Their powers are like nothing we've ever encountered." 

"So what? You just want us to give up?!" Shade yelled, getting to his feet. "After everything they've done?! After all the lives they've taken?! After they murdered my family?!" He snarled at her and Pixal remained calm in the face of his anger.

"I never said that." Pixal says after s moment. "They're unbeatable but that doesn't mean that we give up or that we stop fighting. The people of Ninjago are depending on us. The best we can do is to get them out of harm's way if it comes to it." She told them and while none of them liked those facts, they nodded, knowing they had to.

They were the new hope of Ninjago. It's up to them to defend it until the end if it comes to it.

_________

"I don't know, this seems more up your alley Zane." Kai says as they all stood in the training yard.

"This isn't a small feat we're about to do Kai. Creating a means of reporting, moving instantly from one place to another is bound to be difficult, despite our power." Zane reminded him, Echo watching them from the steps along with Wu and Garmadon.

"Zane is correct." Wu says, tilting his rice hat back so he could see them properly. "Which is why it is best for you all to take things slowly. Much like Jay has access to Speed thanks to the awakening of your powers, lightning is truly his means of travel. Perhaps it isn't so impossible for you all to utilise your elements as travel." He suggests.

"I like the idea of that." Cole says with a smirk.

"So how do we do it Sensei Jay?" Nya asked and Jay blinked, caught off guard for a moment.

"Oh, uh. I just… Think of where I want to go and the route I'd take and I just… Go." Jay shrugged. 

The others looked at him for a while.

"That's it?" Zane asked, realising Jay wasn't going to say more.

"Well, yeah. That's it." Jay confirmed.

"No way." Kai immediately denied. 

"Yeah I'm with Kai on this one." Cole agrees, crossing his large, muscled arms over his chest. "It can't be that easy." He says, narrowing his eyes at Jay suspiciously.

"I'm serious! That's exactly how I do it!" Jay huffs in his own defense.

"He's right guys." Lloyd spoke up and they all looked to him. "I've traveled like Jay before. That's all it takes. Though, maybe focusing on your element too would help." He suggests.

"... Alright. If Lloyd says that's how then that's how." Nya says, crossing her arms as well. 

"Huh?! How come you guys believe Lloyd and not me?!" Jay whined and Cole snorts.

"The chances of Lloyd telling us a lie like you would to prank us is significantly lower." Zane explained and Jay pouts.

"Who wants to try it first?" Nya says and they all looked at each other.

"Guess I will." Kai says with a smirk then cracked his neck.

He then closed his eyes, breathing through his nose slowly. He pictured the Fire Temple, visualized the path there, thinking of his burning fire. He didn't feel any different. He sighed, opening his eyes in preparation to ask for some other tips- only to realise it had worked and he was at the fire temple.

Flare and Solaris blinked at him from their place playing on the bridge, surprised to see their creator appear in a burst of flames. They rushed over after the initial shock and Kai laughed once they tackled him, looking at his face as Spark bolted over from inside as well. Heath walked out moment after, tail swishing as he walked towards where his siblings were eagerly nuzzling their creator, purring happily.

"Go easy with the clothes yeah?" Kai laughed, pushing their snouts away. "I'm not home just yet. I'm sure I'll be back by tomorrow. I was just testing my powers out." He explained, stroking their snouts as they sat around him.

They gave disappointed whines but they understood that he had responsibilities aside from them.

"Heath, you'll keep taking care of them, right?" Kai asked him as they let him stand.

Heath only nodded once and Kai grinned, reaching out to pet him. Heath only opened his mouth and bit his hand.

"Ow! You jerk!" Kai hissed, rubbing his hand. 

Heath just gave him a cheeky look and gave sounds that equaled to him telling Kai he'll heal. Kai shot him a glare then bid his dragons goodbye before vanishing again, reappearing at the Monastery in a flare of fire.

__________

Part 2 Of This Chapter