Chapter Text
The monastery was under attack.
Not that that wasn’t a surprise to Kai, oh no. He was honestly surprised this hadn’t happened sooner. It had only been what, five months or so since the Oni assaulted them? The place was due for another battle anyway. But this wasn’t what bothered him.
It was the fact that it was his powers the enemy was fighting them with.
Everyone yelped as something collided against the doors, shaking the base. The metal glowed an angry orange before fading to a burnt black.
“What do we do?!” Jay wailed, shaking Kai’s arm.
“In there!” Cole said, pointing to a circular vent in the floor. “Come on!”
He lifted the cover and ushered the ninja forward. Wu dropped in first, then Jay as he called out a warning for Pixal to “hurry up!”
“I just need a few more seconds,” she insisted as she quickly typed away on a monitor.
There was another smash! which caused the doors to warp forward. The metal creaked and groaned. It wouldn’t be able to take another hit.
“We’re out of time!” Kai yelled to her. But she didn’t answer him; she was so absorbed in her work. He grabbed her wrist, panic thudding in his chest. He was not going to lose her to his fire. “Pixal!”
She looked back at him, and he was shocked to see the calmness in her neon green eyes. “Don’t worry, Kai. I will be fine. Now hide!”
She pushed him back and sprinted off. He hesitated before diving into the vent. Cole slid the cover back on just as a massive explosion boomed from the far end of the room. The sound of cracking metal filled the air as pieces of the destroyed doors crashed across the base. Kai winced. First Spinjitzu Master, they were going to have a lot to clean up after this.
The brushing of scales against metal snaked through the air, and he froze. “Show yourself Wu!” Aspheera demanded. “Face me, if you have the courage.”
Kai clenched his fist. That snake was responsible for all this. Responsible for stealing his power and using it to attack Ninjago City, and now their home. He was sick of hiding from her. More than anything, he wanted to fight.
A hand fell on his shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. Wu shook his head, his message clear: Don’t let your anger get the better of you. Kai forced himself to relax with a sigh. As usual, his sensei was right. He shouldn’t fight unless there was no other choice—
“AHH-BLOOEY!”
—or if Jay decided to sneeze his guts out.
The lid of the vent was thrown off, revealing the golden serpent herself. “At last,” she hissed, “I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long, Wu. I dreamed—”
“Keep dreaming!” Pixal shouted. Aspheera only had a second to look startled before a giant green and white mech kicked her away. The snake sorceress landed rather undignified on her flaming tail, before she looked up at the mech with a scowl.
“Who are you?!” she snarled.
“Pixal. And you should step away from my friends.”
The mech jumped down to where the rest of the army of snakes were waiting. Aspheera sent a blast of fire at her, but Pixal blocked it with ease, reflecting it back at the enemy. The snakes shrieked as they crashed into each other like bowling pins.
Kai grinned and climbed out of the vent. “This is our chance, guys! Let’s go out there and help!”
The ninja flipped on their hoods and leaped into battle. Cole smashed his scythe into the ground, knocking the soldiers back. Jay spun his nunchucks around in a deadly whirlwind. Kai himself brought his sword down on a snake as he landed, and the reptile dissolved into ash with a wail. That’s right, he thought as he stared at the pile of ash. They’re just constructs from the staff. They’re not real snakes.
He grinned darkly. Which means I don’t have to go easy on them.
With a cry, he cut into a charging snake at a forty-five degree angle, cleaving him in two. He dodged the swipe of another and kicked it back into one of its comrades. The whoosh of something flying through the air caught his attention, and he turned just in time to see a sword whizzing towards his face. In one fluid motion, he caught it by the handle and hurled it back at its sender. It impaled one, two, three fiery snakes before it stuck itself in the far wall.
Kai couldn’t stop the sense of pride that arose in him. He may not have his powers, but he was still holding his own well enough.
He gasped as the floor of the base shook so hard he nearly lost his balance. He whipped around and paled at the sight before him.
The mech had been struck down, smoke belching from its chest. Somehow, its arm was missing too. Pixal stumbled out of the machine shakily, Wu gently helping her down. Jay and Cole were destroying snakes like there was no tomorrow, but Aspheera kept creating more just as fast. Kai swallowed as he punched a Serpentine back. It was only a matter of time before they were overrun.
And he was helpless to do anything about it.
Suddenly a helicopter zoomed into the base, blasting shots of ice down upon the snakes. The sun glinted off of Zane’s metal arm as he waved at them in greeting. Kai grinned as the Destiny’s Bounty flew in behind the helicopter. Lloyd and Nya stood on the bow of the ship, ready for battle.
“Aspheera!” Lloyd shouted, brandishing the second scroll of forbidden Spinjitzu. His glowing green eyes bored into the snake’s golden ones. “Ready to surrender?”
Kai blinked. Was…was Lloyd aware his head was on fire? And an ethereal, emerald one at that? It must be a side effect from holding the scroll.
Lloyd, Zane, and Nya jumped down from their vehicles and landed in front of Aspheera. Lloyd twirled the staff before launching into his Spinjitzu tornado. The Serpentine sorceress did the same, her form lost in a whirl of crackling orange energy. The tornadoes spun towards each other and clashed with a magnificent BOOM. Kai and the others watched in awe from the sidelines, the two moving too fast to do anything else.
The tornadoes broke apart. Lloyd and Aspheera glared at each other before the snake shot forward. She brought her staff down on his head but Lloyd pushed her off. The clanging of metal filled the air as the two swung and jabbed at one another. Lloyd jumped over her head to try to get from behind, but she was too quick and knocked him from the air. He crashed into the floor with a groan, the staff rolling away from his hands. Jay snatched the weapon up and continued where Lloyd left off, the atmosphere buzzing with electricity as he spun into his own bright blue tornado.
“Wow…” Kai whispered as he watched Jay slap Aspheera aside as if it were nothing. Wu wasn’t kidding; that scroll was really powerful. No wonder he said it was too dangerous to use. Because if it amplified their powers this much when they hadn’t been training for several months…
He could only imagine how much more powerful they would be if they were in peak condition.
“WAAAAAGH!” Jay screamed as he was thrown from his Spinjitzu tornado. He fell flat on his face, while the staff spun madly in the air.
“I got it!” Cole yelled as he jumped to retrieve it. As soon as his fingers closed around the staff, an aura of orange energy crackled to life around him. He pounded towards Aspheera, each step shaking the base in a miniature earthquake. He swung the staff with a shout. A row of jagged rocks burst from the ground and into Aspheera. They knocked her back but she quickly recovered, sending a purple beam of magic at Cole. He dodged it with ease, but the fallen mech behind him wasn’t so lucky.
Pixal gasped as the glowing magic consumed the machine before it warped out of existence entirely. “What is she doing to my mech?!” she demanded.
“I think we’ve got bigger things to worry about, Pix,” Nya said, gaze trained on the dueling warriors.
Cole was faring better than Lloyd and Jay—having superstrength no doubt helped—but Kai could see he was starting to struggle. He and Aspheera were locked in a stalemate, both trying to push the other back. The sorceress sneered as she used her tail to whip Cole’s legs out from under him. As he fell, she grabbed his ankle and flung him aside. He landed with a grunt, the staff knocked loose from his grip and rolling towards…
Kai.
He stared down at the scroll in disbelief. Should he—should he even pick it up? Without his powers, could he still unlock the forbidden Spinjitzu?
Aspheera turned towards him, her forked tongue flickering between her fangs. She smirked. “Go on, Master of Fire,” she rasped. “Why do you hesitate? Pick it up.”
Kai grit his teeth. “Fine! But you’re going to regret asking me to do that.” He scooped up the staff and braced himself for—
Nothing. No sudden burst of power, no mysterious glowing eyes or flames, just that same, empty feeling he had been burdened with ever since his powers were stolen. He looked up at the others helplessly. They stared back in disappointment and pity.
Aspheera threw her head back and unleashed a vicious cackle. “Ha! You really thought that was going to work for a moment there, didn’t you? Pathetic.” A wicked smile slithered its way onto her face. “But now that the only thing that can stop me is in the hands of someone useless, I can finally get my revenge!”
She pointed her staff at Wu and the others, and something in Kai snapped. No, that wasn’t the right word…something in him sparked. In that second, he understood. Aspheera hadn’t stolen his powers because they could never really be stolen. She had only taken his fire, not the embers that fueled it. All it needed was the right spark for it to be reignited once again. And seeing his family in danger?
That was more than enough to spark that emptiness into an inferno.
He gasped as a warm sensation bloomed in his chest and rushed throughout his body. Unable to internally handle any more power, his body unleashed it in the form of a crackling red and orange aura. An angry flickering flame burst to life over his head, but it didn’t hurt at all. Fire never did, and First Master, was it good to have his back.
He focused on the heat coursing through his veins and channeled it into the staff. The weapon grew hotter and hotter until it finally released a fireball from the tip with a roar. It exploded into Aspheera, causing her to shriek in alarm and pain.
“Who dares—!” She stopped short as her gaze fell on Kai, golden eyes widening in shock. “But—but how?! I took your power!”
“You can never truly steal an Elemental Master’s power, Aspheera,” he said evenly. “It just took me a while to figure that out.”
He twirled the staff, smoldering red eyes shining in eagerness. “And I told you that you would regret asking me to pick up this staff.”
Kai whirled into his Spinjitzu tornado and spun towards Aspheera. She summoned her own golden-orange tornado and rammed it against his. They swung and kicked at each other, while the energy of their Spinjitzu swirled around them. Kai scooped some of the fire from his tornado into his palm and lobbed it into Aspheera’s face. She fell back with a yell, her Spinjitzu splintering apart. As she lay on the ground defenseless, he dashed towards her, ready to finish the job—
Until the end of a shield rammed into his gut and knocked the breath from his lungs. Kai collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. Angry hissing met his ears and he looked up with a growl. The mummied snake soldiers glared at him before stabbing downward with their khopesh.
“Kai!” Nya cried.
But he had already flipped out of harm’s way. He tightened his grip on the staff, the flames above his head flaring higher to match his growing temper.
“STAY OUT OF MY WAY!” he roared, and sliced the staff through the air. A massive wave of fire bellowed from the staff’s arc and towards the snakes. They were no match for the intensity of the heat and vaporized instantly. Plumes of smoke spiraled upwards from their ashes, and the sprinkler system went off with a wail. Kai paid it no mind as the water fizzed into steam long before the droplets could even touch his skin. He only had one target in sight now, and she was trying to get up again to fight.
The grin he wore as he stalked forward was perhaps a little too wide, a little too sinister, but he didn’t care. After all, he was more than ready to go for another round.
Lloyd didn’t like the look of this. Specifically, Kai’s look as he approached Aspheera. It was much too familiar to that time on Chen’s island, when the Staff of Elements had started corrupting Kai. He had hardly recognized his brother then; his face had been so twisted with rage and hate. If Cole and the others hadn’t shown up when they had…
He shuddered. He didn’t want to think about that.
Lloyd ran up to Wu and gripped his uncle’s arm. “Sensei, what do we do?” he asked frantically. “Kai’s handling Aspheera, but…”
“But at a heavy cost,” Wu sighed. His gaze lingered on Kai, who wore a maniacal smile as fire fwooshed around him. “This is what I meant when I said the scroll was dangerous. Its power is too much for anyone, let alone someone who’s had their power taken away.”
Jay turned to them and snarked, “Gee, you think? I would’ve never figured that out—oh wait, I already did BECAUSE THE BASE IS ON FIRE!”
Lloyd gasped. He had been so focused on the fight between Kai and Aspheera that he hadn’t paid attention to his surroundings. (Yet another sign he needed to start training.) Fires ranging in different sizes burned all across the base. Even the smallest blaze was too strong for the sprinkler system. It was then that Lloyd realized just how hot he was. Sweat poured from his pores, making his gi stick to his skin.
“Nya!” he shouted, “can’t you put out these fires?!”
“I’m trying!” she yelled. Her face screwed in concentration as water swirled around her fists. They leaped from her hands and splashed over the nearest fire, only to puff into steam. She looked at Lloyd helplessly. “But the fires are too strong, and there’s not enough water in the atmosphere for me to pull from, even with the sprinklers!”
This is fine, this is fine, everything’s fine, he thought, gripping his hair. “What about you, Zane?!”
The nindroid raised his hands, frost sparkling around his fingertips. He unleashed beams of ice at the flames, causing crystalline hunks of ice to form. They swallowed the fires in their coldness and smothered them completely.
Lloyd sagged in relief. At least one thing was going right—
A ball of fire exploded into the miniature glaciers. Pieces of ice went flying, and Lloyd yelped as one careened towards him. He quickly summoned an energy shield, where the chunk shattered against it harmlessly.
Zane pursed his lips and stated, “Well, I was going to say my methods were working, but that is obviously not the case. Kai’s erratic fireballs will just destroy my ice as soon as I make it. That in turn is dangerous, as you were nearly impaled.”
Lloyd swallowed. “Y-yeah, no more ice, got it.”
“Then what do we do?” Cole asked, looking back at the fight.
“I think there’s only one thing left we can do,” Lloyd said, flipping back his hood. “I need to talk some sense into my brother.”
Kai was having fun.
At this point, his fight with Aspheera had turned into a dance. Fire trailed around him like ribbons, and he used the staff to whip them at the sorceress. She hastily blocked them with her own staff with a desperate hiss. Kai simply dropped to his knees and knocked her tail out from under her. She fell with a yell, but before he could make another move, she started blindly blasting away in a frantic attempt to keep him away.
Well, it worked. He frowned in irritation as he twirled into his Spinjitzu tornado, her fire bouncing off his own flames. He could hear things exploding in the distance, but the damage of the base was a small price to pay for his enemy’s defeat. When the barrage of fire stopped, Kai dropped out of his tornado and grinned, ready to get back into the fight—
Only to scream in pain when something sharp slashed across his cheek. He staggered back and groaned, clutching his face in his hand. His cheek pulsed nauseatingly as warm blood flowed between his fingertips. The cries of the others and Aspheera’s cackling faded into the distance as something ugly and primal roared to life within him.
The wind changed direction ever so slightly, and without thinking, Kai raised his staff. Aspheera’s clanged against it not a second later, the force of her blow shaking the metal. She looked down at Kai, eyes wide in shock. “What—”
He glared at her, and her already-cold blood turned icy at the fury in them. And despite knowing better, for this shouldn’t be possible for humans, she swore she saw the pupils in those piercing red eyes slit.
“No more games,” Kai hissed, his voice distorted. “I’m going to finish this.”
His hand burst into flames. Aspheera watched in horror as not one, but two fiery tornadoes flared into existence beside him. She slithered back, her hands shaking. “Impossible…elemental powers of that caliber are impossible…”
Kai flicked his hand, and the tornadoes spiraled towards the snake. The first one struck her firmly in the chest, knocking the staff out of her hands. Aspheera wailed as her flamed hood sputtered out and her golden scales dimmed back to a dull green. The second tornado picked her up in its fiery grip and spun her across the base. Shrieks of pain filled the air as the flames burned her scales.
Finally, the tornado spit Aspheera out and flickered into nothingness. She smacked into the ground with a groan. Little dots of blood sprouted across her body from the singed off scales. Pathetic, Kai thought. He marched towards her and swung the staff down—
And almost decapitated the green ninja.
“Lloyd!” he yelled, lowering the staff. “What’re you doing?!”
His brother gave him a firm look. “Stopping you from something you’ll later regret.”
Kai scowled. “She’s the enemy, Lloyd. I don’t see the problem here. Now move.”
Nervousness flickered across Lloyd’s face, but he held fast. “N-no. If you do this, you’ll be no better than them.”
“So what, we just take her captive again?” Kai demanded. “Wu did that last time, and as soon as she was free, she took my powers and attacked the city. We take her captive, and the cycle begins all over again. No. I’m going to end this once and for all.”
“Doesn’t that sound like villain talk to you?”
For the first time, his resolve faltered. Was he really the villain here?
Don’t be ridiculous, a voice that wasn’t his instantly shot back. She hurt your family. She deserves to die!
Kai’s gaze narrowed. “I don’t care what it sounds like. Now. Move.”
Lloyd spread his arms wide in a vain attempt to protect Aspheera. “I—I won’t.”
He scoffed, “Fine, then. Have it your way.”
Kai raised the staff and froze. He looked down at Lloyd, whose eyes were squeezed shut in fear. He blinked, and he was back in Chen’s temple, attacking, hurting Lloyd with his own power. What the hell am I doing? he thought in horror. I…I almost—
He couldn’t bear to finish the thought and wrapped his arms around Lloyd in a hug. Lloyd flinched before he relaxed and squeezed his brother back.
“I’m so sorry,” Kai whispered, tears budding in his eyes. “I—I didn’t mean to…”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Lloyd said softly. “I know you didn’t. It’s the scroll.”
“Wu was right. I need to put it down before…” his eyes widened. Aspheera, who had been inching her way to the fallen scroll the whole time, had taken aim at him and Lloyd.
She flashed him a fanged grin and hissed, “Revenge.”
A beam of magic shot from the staff. “NO!” Kai cried, and pushed Lloyd away.
“KAI!” Lloyd screamed as the magic struck his brother in the chest.
Kai gasped as the base disappeared. Then he was floating in a white abyss, the only sensation being that of the tingle of magic flowing through his veins. Just as quickly, the void fell away, and he was surrounded by water.
Wait. Water?!
He screamed, and instantly wished he hadn’t as water filled his lungs. He choked on the salty water as he started desperately swimming up to the weak rays of light above. But it was too far, he could hardly swim as it was, there was no way he was going to make it!
The staff warmed in his hands, and he suddenly found himself rocketing out of the water. His ears popped as he broke the surface, and he yelled as he was launched into the air. He crashed into the shore and groaned. “Ow…”
He was more than glad to be on dry land, but how had he managed to get out of the water? It was then that he noticed a hot sensation in his feet, and he looked down. Small but intense fires flickered around his feet before winking out. Oh. He had forgotten he could do that…
The sounds of a city reached Kai’s ears. Had Aspheera somehow teleported him back to Ninjago City…? He looked up, only to realize that something was very, very wrong.
He was in Ninjago City all right. But it wasn’t his Ninjago City. Oh, the skyscrapers were similar, but they were just different enough that it didn’t feel right. And the most obvious difference? Borg Tower was nowhere in sight.
So where the hell was he?