Clouse smirked suddenly, stopping what he was doing. Chen stopped moping at the same time, sensing something change in the room. "Clousey... your fire."

The sorcerer chuckled as he ignited his hand. "I felt that too. Considering that power influx, and the fact that there's no more resistance coming from the other end, I'd say the plan worked. It's rather a shame that Kai had to die in such a way, but at least now the next phase of the plan can be more compelling."

The Anacondrai smiled and he slithered around Clouse in excitement; saying that he couldn't wait for the next phase of the plan. It was going to be 'fun.'

Clouse stepped out the front doors of the temple and stood before the whole tribe. He had called an urgent meeting, so everyone was there. The man played pitiful and pretend to be grief stricken as he began his speech. "People of the Fire Tribe! I bring you some rather... devastating news. Kai, master of fire, is no longer with us."

The crowd erupted in disbelief and anger, asking several questions. Clouse raised his hand to get them all to be silent. "It’s true-" He continued to lie. "For I am the proof." He ignited his fists and held them up for all to see. "As you can all tell, the fire element has chosen a new host. Which means the original has passed on. So before any of you ask, I'll tell you what you want to know......

He was killed by Lloyd and the other tribe leaders."

_______________________________________

"You did what?" Jay scolded.

Lloyd looked away from the other elemental masters almost ashamed. "I wasn't going to, but when I checked on him, his breathing was stopping and he was ice cold. I had to save Kai. It felt wrong to watch him die."

Jay was about to go off on Lloyd again, but restrained himself. He glanced over the balcony at Ronin, who sat by a still unconscious Kai. He still didn't like the idea of that villain being there. Nya agreed that it was probably the right thing to do, not to mention the most moral. After all, if someone's dying and you can help, but you choose not to, it's no better than murdering them. Leaving someone to die is wrong- regardless of who it is. Zane peered down at the fire leader. "Your little spirit friend taught you to do that?"

The green ninja shrugged. "Not exactly. He told me I could do it, but never the exact instructions. I'm not even sure if I did it right. I mean, he still hasn't woken up."

Zane smiled. "He does like to stay vague huh?"

Jay shook his head and walked away with an eye roll. Cole followed after him and so did Nya. With that, Zane mentioned about checking in on Kataru, and Lloyd gladly joined. The two of them walked into the hut to see him still sitting up on his bed; sister by his side. He finished downing a cup of water and greeted them. The bags udder his eyes were completely gone now, and they themselves were a lot more vibrant. Akita sat in her wolf form, cuddling against him. He pet her as Lloyd and Zane asked how he was doing.

"I'm doing a lot better, thank you. I apologize for all the trouble of having to help me, but I really am beyond grateful."

Zane assured him it was no problem, and the formling smiled warmly. Akita shifted back into her human form and asked him if he wanted to show them the thing he did last night. Lloyd questioned what she meant, but the question was soon answered by the sister helping him to his feet. Akita slowly let go, and Kataru stabilized himself to stand on his own. Lloyd’s eyes lit up with pride. "You can stand up again!"

"That's not all I can do-" He closed his eyes and focused, slowly shifting into a bear. When the transformation was complete, he plopped down panting. Akita told him to take it easy as both Lloyd and Zane looked on in awe.

"So that's what you can turn into!?" Exclaimed Lloyd. "You can finally transform again! That's awesome for you!"

The formling morphed into a boy and went back to sitting on the bed.
"Yes, it feels good to be able to for the first time in years, but I'm still a long way from full recovery. What happened to me is unfortunately going to take a long time to heal."

The leaders nodded, both fully understanding what he meant.

Elsewhere, Jay was sitting by the waterfall, watching his reflection. He looked rather annoyed, and mumbled things under his breath. While he moped, two figures appeared standing behind him in the water's reflection. The blue ninja turned to see Morro and Brad; both with arms folded and looking slightly irritated. Jay questioned what was going on, and stood up.

"You know what's wrong. It's the same reason why you're out here moping." Brad spoke up. "As much as I hated the idea of you being anywhere near here, I gotta say, I hate the Fire Tribe being here a lot more."

"You aren't the only one annoyed that Lloyd saved you know who last night." Morro joined in. "You're smart enough to know that he's just playing nice, right? You know the Fire Tribe can't be trusted. They're just using us to get rid of the enemy; then they're going to turn around and destroy us."

Jay agreed. Finally, someone that was starting to make sense... He might have started off playing along with the act, but the monster's true intentions were clear from the beginning. Kai and Ronin we're just going to use them to get rid of Clouse, then betray them and the others. You don't think you would have to be, but apparently, you have to be a genius to figure that out. Either that or average intelligence, and everyone else was just dumb. Either way, he wasn't gonna sit around and wait for everyone to be murdered.
"So, what's the plan?"

Brad looked around to make sure nobody was around to hear. "We wait for the perfect time to get rid of him before he can get rid of us." The soldier sighed. "You do this- and I promise, I'll never give you or your tribe grief again."

Jay nodded. "Alright. We play this game of theirs until the time is right."
Then he, Morro and Brad shook on it; sealing the deal.

As Kai stirred, he could feel the cool grass and dirt under him. He opened his eyes, bright light flooding in as they adjusted to the unfamiliar surroundings. Confused and disoriented, he propped himself up with both of his arms and looked around. He felt a slight dizziness and had the sensation he was in a strange dream.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice: "You're awake." it said. Kai half expected to see Ronin, but instead he saw Lloyd standing over him with arms crossed. The concern on his face was unmistakable, yet tempered with a hint of resentment. The fire leader's head began to throb as he tried to recall what had happened. He dimly remembered feeling sharp pain shoot through him, and seeing a dark aura cloud his vision, but that was it. After that, everything seemed to have went black.

"What's going on?" Kai asked weakly.

Lloyd's face softened slightly as he spoke. "You almost died," he replied sternly, turning away. "I don't necessarily know how, but I managed to undo most of the hex Clouse cast on you."

Kai was shocked by what he just heard- he couldn't believe that he had been close to death. The felt a surge of anger and embarrassment that he had needed help to survive. "I DIDN'T need saving!" Kai exploded, his voice rising. "I am the elemental master of fire! I am a KING! I would've been fine by myself. I'm sure your little spell merely gave a boost to my already healing system."

Lloyd's face tensed again but he kept his composure. "Ya know, you don't have to be ashamed of needing help. Everyone needs it at some point. Besides, now that you don't have your fire-"

The master of fire's eyes widened. "MY WHAT!?" He struggled for a moment; trying desperately to ignite his hands, but nothing happened. His face turned to a mixture of terror and depression. The boy's heart shattered as he realized the reality of the situation. Clouse took away his powers. He couldn't feel the fire burning in his core anymore, he felt cold and empty. Kai could physically feel his body throb in desperation for its element. Overall, he FELT WEAKER.

Weakness.......

"You should have let me die." He snapped. "Without my powers, I'm utterly useless!... I'm weak.... I'm nothing... useless nothing....."

Lloyd felt bad. This idea of him might as well being dead and forgotten as long as he didn't have his powers no doubt came from Clouse. The green ninja couldn't imagine any sane person looking an innocent child in the eye and telling them that kind of thing. Then again, the sorcerer was far from the sane. Yet, that had truly been Kai’s reality. That vile monster raised him to believe that he was alive only to fight and destroy. That if he ever chose not to, or was unable to, he was useless and would be better off dead. It was sickening.

"Now then, that's no way to talk when all of Ninjago is at stake." Garmadon walked towards them looking concerned. Lloyd questioned what he meant.
"Clouse." The master continued. "He's planning on attacking the day after next. He's bringing the whole Fire Tribe- and I sense there's something else at play. Something is wrong."

Kai sat with his arms folded, staring down, looking uninterested and depressed. Garmadon let out a sigh as he dropped Kai’s sword in front of him. "Powers or not, you will learn to fight. I do not care what Clouse has taught you... I do not care what of that heathen's lies you still believe... You are strong. And you have the potential to be something even greater than you ever imagined! If you wish to take that chance, grab the sword and meet me by the waterfall. There is training to be done."
With that, he disappeared into the distance. Lloyd looked down at Kai curiously. Suddenly the master of fire grabbed his sword and ran off the opposite direction as Garmadon had gone. Where does he think he's going? Meanwhile, Morro, Jay, and Brad watched from a rope bridge The three of them looking at him run with suspicion. He didn't take Garmadon's offer- so where was he going with that sword?