Garmadon had made it to the throne room in the heart of the Skulkin's base. It was as dark and dank as every other part of the Underworld. He crossed a bridge made of bone as he approached the elevated seat that was centered on the other side of the room. Two torches of purple flame rested on the throne, providing the only light.

"Brother . . ."

Garmadon whirled around to see Wu standing in one corner of the room. "Brother." He looked different than when they had last seen each other, and though the sight of his blackened form falling into the Underworld had haunted Garmadon since that day, it was still jarring to see him like this. A long dark beard revealed that he had grown older as well. It pained Garmadon to think of how long his brother had been trapped down here, stewing in his hatred and malice.

But there was no use wishing things were different. He couldn't change the past, but now was the time to protect the future. Garmadon brandished the Shuriken of Ice and approached his brother.

However, it seemed that Wu wasn't willing to fight. "Seize the shuriken!" he ordered, and Skulkin dropped from above, surrounding Garmadon.

"Ninja-GO!" Garmadon shouted as he spun into a purple tornado, sucking up all the skeletons one by one and spitting them back out. And just like that, they were finished. Garmadon slowed back down to face his brother again. "You'll have to do better than that!"

"My pleasure." Samukai crept up from behind, armed with the other three Weapons of Spinjitzu. As they squared off, Garmadon backed up only to find himself right on the edge of the floating spot of land where they stood. He glanced backward as a chunk of rock crumbled under foot and took note of the dangerously far distance below.

While his attention was diverted, Samukai leapt at him to strike. But Garmadon was faster, and the skeleton general missed. He swung again and again, Garmadon easily dodging his attacks. Then, as Samukai swung the Sword of Fire down, Garmadon blocked it with the Shuriken of Ice. They found themselves locked in a struggle to overpower one another as the two weapons pushed against each other.

Meanwhile, Wu went back to his throne and took a seat to watch the fight. "Teach him a lesson," he ordered with a sneer.

. . . 

Nya, Skylor, Pixal, and Seliel grouped together and stood back-to-back as the Skulkin crowded around them.

"Okay, I'll admit it," said Seliel. "These are steep odds. But maybe . . . ten to one? I think we can manage."

As she said this, the Spykor lowered themselves down from the ceiling, and their odds suddenly dropped.

Pixal's eyes were scanning the gathering crowd intently. "Probability of survival: too low to quantify –"

"Forget it. Who cares about odds?" Seliel said. "There's a battle to be fought!"

"Hold on!"Nya said, warning her friend away from rushing ahead. "Skylor? Any bright ideas?" she asked hopefully.

Skylor looked all around, assessing their options. They weren't too far from the bridge, so maybe they could make a break for it . . . but could they outrun the Skulkin? Maybe if they hopped on one of the vehicles nearby, they could use its weapons against the skeletons. Then again, the vehicles appeared to be more heavily guarded than the bridge. They wouldn't be able to get out of this with anything more than fists.

"I've got something," Skylor announced. "But it's going to depend on you three. We're going to spin our way out of here."

"Spinjitzu?" Nya said in disbelief.

Seliel didn't take her eyes off the enemy as she said, "In case you've forgotten, the rest of us haven't figured that out yet."

"Sensei Garmadon did say that it was already inside of us," Pixal reminded her.

"Exactly! Now watch closely and maybe you'll learn a thing or two." Following the moves that she'd learned from her father, Skylor spun herself into an amber cyclone of power. The Skulkin  weren't expecting it, and were helpless against her. For Skylor, everything moved in slow motion – Skulkin came at her from all sides, but she could easily fight them off, and they were soon thrown back out of her tornado, subdued.

She slowed to a stop and called to her teammates, "Come on, you can do it!"

"But we don't know how!" Nya protested in frustration.

Pixal's gaze was focused on Skylor as she spun into another tornado. "Analyzing pattern . . ." She gasped. "Her movements – they're identical to the ones we learned on the training course at the monastery!"

"What? How?"

Pixal focused on the Skulkin horde. One charged toward her. She leaped over its head before it could strike, just like she would at the monastery. She ducked immediately when she landed while another skeleton swiped at her head with its blade, then whacked it in the rib cage as a third came running toward her. Finally, she spun into a kick, when all of a sudden, a whirlwind of bright color erupted around her.

Skylor stopped and grinned as skeletons were sucked into her friend's swirling, lavender tornado and then spat back out. She turned back to Seliel and Nya, who were still staring dumbfounded. "It's like she said," she called over the sea of skeletal warriors. "You already know it!"

Spinning again, Skylor went around and picked off more skeletons, one after another. She glanced over as Seliel and finally Nya were both engulfed in their own Spinjiztu tornadoes. When Skylor slowed down again, she found that together the four of them had managed to take out nearly every one of their enemies. "Come on!" Skylor called, waving the others toward the bridge.

They had bought themselves enough time to run across to the fortress and rush down a hole with a spiraling staircase. They had a bit of a head start, but it wouldn't be long before the skeletons managed to get back up again.

Skylor led them down the flight of steps, spiraling deeper into the fortress. It was eerily quiet. The only sounds came from their hurried footsteps and labored breathing as they sped down the stairs. Skylor only hoped they were headed in the right direction.

This was soon confirmed as they came to a stop at the foot of the last few steps.

All four of the boys blocked their path, guarding the door that must lead to Wu and the golden weapons. Their own  weapons were drawn, daring the girls to a challenge, and the black ninja stepped forward.

"Where do you think you're going?"