Kai ran down towards the battlefield, the rain pounded against the ground causing a thick watery fog to cover it. The weather caused the land to begin to flood. Muddy water splashed up on him as Kai charged ahead. Finally, through the downpour, his fiery orange eyes locked onto Lloyd, who was desperately trying to hold his own against two Anacondrai warriors. He began to run towards his target, when suddenly, a gust of wind caused him to go flying several feet back. He landed in the mud, dazed and confused. When he looked up, Brad, Morro, and Jay were standing in front of him like they were blocking him off.
"What the hell was that!? I command you to let me pass! I have something very important to take care of." He growled. Kai lunged forward to get passed them, but was sent flying back via electric shock; landing him back in the growing mud puddle. Jay glared at him as he got back to his feet.
"Oh, we know all about your little plan... We're not letting you hurt Lloyd!"

Morro blasted him further away on Brad's command. The fire leader shook off the impact, but grimaced in pain as the chill of the re-growing hex began to travel up his neck. "You maggots don't understand! I need to get to that brat!"
Kai drew his sword and attacked the three boys. They dodged each attempted hit with ease. That fact caused Kai major frustration, but he understood it was because the hex was taking its toll on him physically. The 4 continued to fight until they were far from the village. Brad kicked him in the gut and aimed his sword at Kai, walking forward; causing him to stumble backwards as the tip got ever closer. Finally couldn't back up further. He was now backed against a cliff that dropped directly into a ravine. And thanks to the storm, raging water flooded through at high speeds. The young leaders eyes grew wide at the sight; something Brad immediately took notice of.

The soldier cracked a smile. "What's the matter? Can't swim? Then you'll love it down there..." Kai fell to his knees and clenched his increasingly more frozen heart while Brad raised his sword, ready to strike. Jay quickly intervened. "Woah, woah, hey! This isn't the plan! You told me the plan was to trap him in the north cave until this blows over! You didn't say we were going to kill him!?"

Morro looked at the boy with a confused expression. He too was told the plan was to trap him. Brad turned to them with an angered glare. "Of course we're going to kill him! You've seen what was in his heart! You've seen how easily he was willing to turn on us! He's Fire Tribe! Murder is the only thing he's capable of. His only purpose in life is to hurt people. And my purpose is to make sure he doesn't do that!"

While still on his knees, Kai was frozen with pain and emotion. Was that REALLY true? The only reason he exists is to kill?

"We don't know that." Countered Jay. "What if we were wrong? What if we misjudged the situation?"

"Oh, don't tell me you're falling for his game!" Brad snarled. "You can't let his act fool you! He's never been one of us! He never will be... All he is- he's a monster."

Morro let those words smack him in the face. He took a deep breath and tried to reason with Brad. "I understand your exact situation, but someone once told me that if you kill a person like him, you'll be no better than the one you call the monster. You'll be a murderer."

Brad turned to look Kai in the eyes, vision foggy from the downpour's haze. "It’s called a necessary evil." With that, he kicked Kai in the chest, causing him to fall and crash into the raging water below. Morro and Jay both watched in horror as they called out for him. For a moment Kai broke through the surface, and Morro used his powers to start lifting him out. Brad turned to them angerly and slashed at Morro to break his concentration, but Jay jumped in front of the blow. The millisecond between the moment the blade falling and hitting him seemed to pass in slow motion. The soldier retracted his hit as fast as he could, but some damage had already been done. Jay fell to his knees holding his newly lacerated arm. Morro saw the moment from the corner of his eye and unwillingly dropped Kai when he broke concentration. The young leader struggled to hold his breath while being violently tossed around under water. Several pieces of debris rocketed into him as the water rushed, causing more pain than he was already in. Suddenly a branch slammed into his stomach. He lost his grip on the air he was holding in, and he became dizzy. Within a moment, his body was violently thrown against a large rock, and everything went black.

Zane and Cole stood side by side as they stood their ground against the Anacondrai. More and more people from every tribe began to fall, making the battlefield hard to look at. Blood mixed in with the muddy ground as the rain continued to smash into the people below. An Anacondrai lunged at Benthomaar, who thrust his spear at it's chest, with a snap, the weapons point was broken on impact of the snakes impenetrable scales. Benthomaar froze as it lunged at him again. But without warning, it was sent flying back by a bear headbutt. The creature let out a massive roar, which caught Zane's attention. Compared to the other formling bears, this one was noticeably more thin, and it's fur was patchy, like it was shedding. Zane immediately recognized who it was, but his heart dropped when he saw a figure riding it. The small boy smiled up at Zane.
"Don't worry brother! This time I swear I can help. I've got Kataru with me!"

Before the Ice Emperor could scold his little brother, a snake attacked Echo. It pinned him down and hissed in his face. But the boy's eyes shimmered up at it. The warrior looked into the beautiful little eyes and froze. "Zane?..." It whispered in a feminine voice. Then, Kataru slashed it off of him and nosed Echo back onto his back. The Anacondrai shook off the impact and looked back up at the child who was bravely riding a bear out of all things into battle. She gave a light smile, but shook it off and slithered over to attack someone else.

Meanwhile, Clouse angerly tried to hold Garmadon down with his magic. "Where is that useless puppet?!" He growled. "Chen! Since Kai has obviously failed me, I suppose you'll have to go retrieve the boy."

The snake eagerly nodded and rushed off.

Lloyd slid through the mud, his sword in front of him. He was soaked from the rain, his body and clothes drenched. Despite the cold, he felt the heat of battle, adrenaline running through his veins. The green ninja was exhausted from fighting off wave after wave of Anacondrai warriors. The thunder cracked overhead, leaving a distinct chill in the air. His clothes stuck to him like a second skin, dripping with the torrents of rain that fell around him. He dodged and spun, swinging and jabbing at his enemies with cunning precision. Dodging a spear thrown at his chest, he lashed out with his sword, merely scratching the scales. Suddenly, he felt a powerful force yank him away from the fight. Before he could react, he was slammed into the ground, pressed hard onto the mud, a machete hovering over his neck. He looked up to see Chen, the first mater of fire, standing over him, unscathed and unshaken. Lloyd struggled against his captor, trying desperately to break free. All the while, he was aware of the Anacondrai warriors advancing around him. The young master thrashed against Chen and shouted threats, but the man held him with steel-like strength. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain course through his body. His vision blurred and his muscles slackened. Everything around him faded to black as he passed out.

Lloyd opened his eyes to a muffled roar surrounding him. It was still pouring - the ferocious rain threatened to drown him. He couldn't feel his limbs. He lay on his stomach, arms and legs too numb to move, as if he was paralyzed. Fear swept over him as his breathing became heavier. Through the rain, he could make out two figures standing ominously near him. Clouse and Chen. Then he heard a voice he recognized- his father Garmadon's.

"Lloyd, stay calm," Garmadon said. "Chen bit you. The Anacondrai venom completely relaxes and numbs the part of your body it's injected into. Just try not to move too much. You don't want the venom to start circulating through you."

"Father..." Despite his fear, Lloyd knew his father was trying to help him. So he tried desperately not to panic.

Clouse smirked as he slithered over to Lloyd and grabbed him by the hair, forcing eye contact. "Oh, but that IS what I want, Garmadon... Nice to see you again menace."

The boy snarled at him like an angry baby dragon. "Let me go."

The sorcerer chuckled as he lifted the paralyzed boy into the air. "No, I don't think I will. Poor little Lloyd Garmadon... I know your little secret. I know what powers you have. And I'm not entirely thrilled about what you're planning on doing with them."
The evil man shot Garmadon a glare. "And your father wouldn't be either if you told him."

The Jade Tribe leader looked at his son in longing confusion.

Lloyd looked away as if the truth would hurt. "My powers... Are Uncle Wu's. They just took on a slightly different form. And all this time, I've been having visions of what happened last time the Fire Tribe tried to take over. The only thing I ever saw from the last time the Anacondrai attacked was a flash of what Wu did in the end- and now I know why. It's my turn."

Garmadon's eyes filled with tears of horror. There was no way he'd let his son do that! He already lost his brother that way, he wasn't about to let it happen again.
Clouse used his magic to hurl Lloyd through the air, sending him crashing to the ground in the rocky mud. Lloyd lay there like a discarded doll, unable to move or even feel much of the pain from the blows Clouse was raining down on him. His father's tears were all the warning Lloyd had before the next strike, as Garmadon shouted in vain for his boy to do something- ANYTHING. The evil man grabbed the boy by the throat with a shadowy tendrill and forced him in front of his father. The pleading look he gave his father shattered his heart. Suddenly, he was thrown back down and a fireball collided with him. It was followed by several more burning attacks; which Lloyd used all the energy he had to block with his force-field. Clouse raised the poor ninja into the air and looked Garmadon in the eyes while he shook him around like a rag doll. "It would be a really shame if all this movement is allowing the venom to start circulating in his bloodstream."

Garmadon let out a massive shriek of rage as he thrashed around to break free of the magical bonds that locked him to the ground; his eyes now glowing and bright purple-red light. Despite the left one obviously being broken, his leathery black wings violently threshing as hard as they could desperately trying to escape. Of course, Clouse found it amusing.
He zapped Lloyd with a powerful purple electrical spell, causing him to scream out in pain.

"Stop this madness!" Garmadon roared.

"Not until you've sat through watching someone you love die! Just like you did to me!"

"That was your doing and you know that! I told you to put that spell tablet back where you found it! I told you it was too dark and too dangerous, but you didn't listen! One would think you'd snap out of it and listen to reason when you heard your parents' tell you the same thing, but NO. You had to go and 'prove them wrong.' You had to go blow them up!"

Clouse's eyes erupted with evil energy and his hand that suspended Lloyd clenched into a tight fist. A second tendrill shot from the ground and wrapped around Lloyd's torso, the one around his neck strangling ever tighter. The green ninja fought for a single gasp, but he couldn't even accomplish that.

Garmadon growled and erupted in pure desperation and rage. Again, he thrashed around on the ground, but this time, the bonds broke and he came crashing out and lunged at Clouse. But before he could do anything more, his eyes landed on his son. He no longer struggled. His eyes stared blankly down; glassy and dull.

"My son..."