"Way to be a team player," Seliel said dryly when they finally caught up with Skylor in the cave. Seliel was trying to keep calm, but she was quickly losing her patience with Skylor's lack of cooperation.

Skylor was squinting through her mask at a round stone that the cavern had led them to. "Sure, no problem," she said distractedly. "Come here and help me move this."

Seliel exchanged a look with Pixal and Nya. She sighed and went to help Skylor. They would need to have a serious talk about Skylor's teamworking skills later. Together, the four girls were able to push the large rock aside and revealed a new opening into a second, smaller cavern.

"Wow," Seliel breathed when she stepped inside.

A large dragon head, broad and colored like earth, erupted from the middle of the cave, and a shining golden scythe was lodged in its snarling jaws. All around, huge, crumbling stone busts sat against the walls like a shrine.

Instead of going straight for the scythe, Skylor walked over to one of the wrecked heads that lay tilted against the wall. "This looks like a good place." She squeezed in behind it. Again, Seliel couldn't help but throw a look at Nya and Pixal, wondering if they had any idea what was going on. A moment later, Skylor peeked back out. "Hurry up! Do you want them to see us?"

"I think we would all appreciate an explanation first," Pixal said gently.

"We're not mind readers, you know," Nya added, a little less gently.

"Just, come on!" Skylor said, waving desperately for them to join her. "I'll explain everything, just hurry!"

Reluctantly, Seliel, Nya, and Pixal squeezed in behind Skylor. The orange ninja remained in a position where she could see the entrance, and didn't look away from it as she spoke.

"I spotted Wu's students as soon as we arrived, all four of them." Seliel saw Nya shift uncomfortably beside her as Skylor continued. "I knew we would need them here because only the Master of Earth can pull the scythe from its resting place."

"What makes you think that?" Seliel interrupted.

"Well it makes sense, after Wu went through all the trouble of finding these guys and training them up. Sure, there's that bit about how he can't use all four weapons at once, so he probably wants to use the ninja to control the weapons for him. But the thing is, he couldn't even get his hands on the weapons without them in the first place. Think about it: if Wu hadn't gotten to the ninja first, Garmadon would have been able to recruit them instead, and it would have been them here instead of us."

"Wu wouldn't have stood a chance," Seliel concluded, admittedly impressed by Skylor's deductive skills.

"Exactly. Wu must have known that he couldn't win without them on his side."

"It seems your experience outmatches us in knowledge as well as skill," Pixal observed.

"I think Garmadon said something about it," Skylor said, hurriedly brushing off the compliment. "Anyway, I made a few 'mistakes' on my way here, and I'm sure one of them must have seen me." She frowned. "But I thought they should be here by now."

Seliel, trying to remain patient with her new teammate, laid a hand on Skylor's shoulder and said gently, "Next time, could you let us in on your plan before jumping into action?"

"I guess . . . I assumed you all had figured it out, too."

Seliel wanted to say more, but decided it was best to leave it at that for now, unless she wanted to spoil their ambush.

More time passed, minutes probably, though it felt longer than that. Seliel rested her hand on the hilt of her katana. She was itching to draw it out so she was ready, but there wasn't a whole lot of room. Still, there was no sign of the enemy.

"Do you think it's real?" Nya whispered, her eyes fixed on the dragon head. "Imagine chopping off the head of a real dragon!"

"It does not appear to be made of any regular sculpting materials," Pixal answered. "If it is not authentic, then the artist would possess a most remarkable skill."

Seliel was wondering, if it was real, how one would go about killing a dragon when, suddenly she had a thought. Or rather, she remembered, something Garmadon had said. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to confide in the others just as a loud cry cut her off.

. . .

"One . . . two . . . three!" Cole and his brothers leapt into the cavern with their weapons drawn, uttering a war cry. But to his awe and disappointment, they found the room was empty, save for the golden scythe.

And the giant, snarling, head of a dragon.

"Whoah!" Jay exclaimed, his blue eyes wide at the statue that was practically eating the scythe. "That is so –"

Cole put a hand over Jay's mouth. At least they had their masks on, so he wouldn't be able to lick Cole's hand like last time.

"Shh!" The black ninja hissed. He didn't want his team looking like a bunch of goofs in front of Garmadon's students. "They're here," he said quietly. He didn't need Zane's sixth sense to know that. Kai had seen them come in through the tunnel. And the tunnel only led to this one place, and the door had been wide open.

He signaled for the group to spread out. Slowly, Kai, Jay, and Zane crept around the stone dragon, while Cole covered the entrance.

"Not over here," Kai reported from the other side of the statue. Cole would never admit it, but his heart had skipped a beat when they first entered, thinking that there was an actual dragon in the room. Thank goodness he knew how to keep his cool. Cole glanced about the room and decided that the intruders must be hiding somewhere.

"Alright. If they don't want to show themselves, I guess we're free to take the scythe and go. Cover me." His brothers turned away from the scythe, eyeing the walls with suspicion as Cole steeled himself and climbed up the dragon's muzzle. He stood, balancing on the statue's upper fangs and its chin. It was slightly unnerving to be standing over its gaping jaws, but he knew he was just being ridiculous. Master MWu would be disappointed if he showed any cowardice towards something so harmless. He carefully gripped the weapon's curved blade and tugged. It slowly inched upwards until he finally yanked it free. He looked around, waiting for their enemies to jump out.

"Maybe we were wrong," Kai suggested.

"Impossible," said Zane. "There's nowhere else they could have gone."

Cole stayed where he was as he carefully albeit awkwardly wrapped the scythe in a cloth. Then there was a sound like the echo of a gunshot and someone pushed him off the statue from behind. With a shout, Cole fell and landed hard on his side. He still clutched the weapon – that was about the only thing he was aware of for a moment.

There was some commotion before someone shouted, "Fall back!" Feet trampled past him as another shot echoed through the caves. He heard one of his brothers shout, "Get them!" as someone – Zane kneeled by his side.

"I'm alright," Cole growled as he heaved himself to his feet, gripping the long handle of the scythe as if his life depended on it. He held out an arm to stop Kai from dashing back into the tunnel. "Don't. It's a trap. They'll ambush us as soon as we go out there." He groaned, rubbing his sore shoulder. "What was that?"

"It appears that one of our foes has the ability of teleportation," Zane informed him.

"Did you get a good look at any of them?"

They all shook their heads. "Colorful," Jay remarked.

Zane nodded. "No doubt all elemental masters as well."

"What kind of ninja wears a gi that bright?" Kai scoffed. "If you want color, go for subtle accents." He gestured to his own dark gi, with its red belt, gold borders, and flame pattern. "Otherwise you stick out like a sore thumb."

"Lookout, here comes the fashion police," Jay chuckled.

Cole ignored their banter, trying to think of a plan as he took his regular, less-than-magical scythe from off his back and put the Scythe of Quakes in its place. While this would be the perfect opportunity to test it out, Master Wu had forbidden them from using any of the Golden Weapons just yet.

"What's the plan?" Kai asked, clearly keen to go out there.

But before Cole could answer, one of their enemies stepped into view. He wore a pale blue gi and light armor, his face obscured by a metal mask. "Are you going to come out and fight, or will you surrender and hand over the scythe?" he taunted. The mask distorted his voice, an amateur intimidation tactic that didn't scare any ninja with half a brain. Jay, however, couldn't help but remark that it was cool, a little more quietly this time.

Cole considered their options and decided to change tactics. He removed the glowing scythe from his back and held it out to Zane. "Make sure this makes it out. We'll cover you. But leave that one to me."

Kai rolled his eyes. "And you say I have anger issues."

"Come on, boys, let's make our master proud. Ninja-go!" 

The four ninja spun out into the large cavern. The blue-gray ninja stumbled back in surprise, then took up a fighting stance.

Cole slowed to a stop in front of the teleporter, while the rest of their teams erupted into fighting around them. "Don't tell me you don't know Spinjitzu," Cole said, baffled. What kind of ninja didn't know Spinjitzu? This may be easier than he thought.

"Shut up and fight!" The teleporter swung at him, but Cole caught his fist.

"Well if that's what you want." Cole punched the teleporter in the stomach before shoving him back.

"Charge!" 

Cole was briefly distracted when Samukai came through the cave entrance at the head of the Skulkin army. There was no way that these four amateurs were going to escape now, let alone with the scythe.

Cole turned back to the blue-gray ninja who had regained his balance and attempting to strike again.

"Back for more, I see." Cole ducked. "I was really expecting more of a fight today. But I guess I should thank you, you're making my job a lot easier." 

Honestly, who trained these guys? He hopped away from another blow as he said, "From everything I've heard, I expected Garmadon to be a better teacher." The more Cole talked, the angrier the teleporter became, the more recklessly he swung and kicked. It seemed too easy, almost cruel, to carry on like this.

A few of the Skulkin had surrounded them now, ready to detain the teleporter when Cole was done, but mostly just watching the show. Cole decided to demonstrate for this guy what a real ninja could do. At the next opportunity, he took over offense and began battering the teleporter with blows. The other ninja could barely keep up half the time, and while he kept trying to retaliate, his punches were sloppy and only left him more exposed. Finally, Cole spun and kicked him across his armored face. The teleporter stumbled back.

"Not too bad for your first fight," Cole said. "Maybe if you stick around, Master Wu could teach you a few things." Time to end it. He signaled for a couple of Skulkin to restrain the ninja. Cole then placed his hands on either side of the helmet and lifted it off.

His blood went cold. Fuchsia locks spilled down over slim shoulders, blue eyes filled with hatred glaring at him from under thick lashes. "You – you're a girl!"

Her lower lip was bleeding, and she spit blood onto the ground as she growled, "And you're a boy! So what?"

Cole was speechless.

She took the opportunity to headbutt him in the face. Cole landed on his back with an oomf, the helmet clattering out of his hands. Cringing as pain exploded through his face, he found himself bewildered once again. His eyes were watering from the stinging pain and he realized that blood was running from his nose, but the sights and sounds from the fight still raging around him made it difficult to focus.

Then the ground trembled and an earsplitting roar shook the cave.