Aaron on Draco flew over the forest to which the foot trail of trolls who had kidnapped their children led. Draco sniffed the air, searching for the scent of the mysterious attackers, and growled.

- What is it, buddy? Did you find something? - Aaron asked, patting the dragon lightly on the neck. The dragon threw its head to the side and dived towards the ground. Ringo followed, also trying to track Eshter's scent.

Draco landed on the bushy ground, overgrown with wild berries, and looked around alertly, sniffing the air. He looked at the trees and growled, baring his teeth.

Aaron looked at the trees and gasped. All the trees around them were cut, most likely by sharp claws, branches where bent. Even some of the weaker trees were toppled over, paving the path.

- Okay. So that's some clue, just where did they go? - The green knight questioned and scratched his head.

Ringo walked around and sniffed the ground. After a moment, Ikran let out a screech and looked at Draco, flapping his wings and took to the air. Draco squawked in confirmation and began to run after it through the dense thickets of the forest.

- Hey, where're you guys going!? - cried Aaron surprised by the sudden departure of the flying creatures. Aaron took his hover-shield off his back, stepped on it and flew after them.

Ringo landed in a fern meadow in the forest and looked around. He tilted his head to one side and let out a hiss of rage. The whole meadow was trampled by large footprints that oddly gathered around a medium sized earthy hill that was overgrown with yellowed tall grass, some ivy and even had a tiny birch tree growing on it.

After a moment, Draco also ran into the meadow, and started to jump up to Ringo. However, one of his paws snagged on some hard object, causing him to lose his balance. Night Fury lost his balance and fell, rolling on the ground.

He rolled past Ringo, who snorted and shook his head at his antics. Aaron reached them two minutes later.

- Next time you come across a clue, please wait for us. - Aaron said to Ringo.

The bird only hissed at him, showing an array of sharp fangs. The Prince squirmed at him and rolled his eyes.

- We've got a clue. Lots of foots marks... - Aaron said, crouching beside one of the footprints in the muddy ground. - Too big for humans... Almost like giants. All the footprints gathered here. - the man shifted his gaze to an earthy hill with a birch tree growing on it. - Around this hill, then the footprints disappeared into thin air.

Draco approached the hill, smelling the footprints left by the trolls, and began to walk around the hill.

 "What do you think that means''? - Draco asked Ringo, who only snorted.

 ''Some bastards kidnapped kids and disappeared underground.'' - replied Ringo annoyed and snapped his jaw.

Draco sent him an annoyed look and snorted, returning to trailing. Aaron also approached the hill and ran his hand over the yellow grass in thought. Then his helmet communicator beeped.

- Aaron, do you have any lead? - asked Saber through his collar communicator.

The knight sighed and pressed a button on his helmet. - Not much, but I might have something. What's going on?

- Back to the academy. Zane and PIXAL checked the CCTV that's in the academy and someone deleted the data from yesterday when the attack happened. Maybe someone  knows what happened.

Aaron nodded. - Okay, I'll be there in five.

- Hurry up.

- Draco, Ringo, let's get going. - He said to the beastes. Draco quickly ran over to his friend, who mounted him and took off. Ringo followed them.

----

- Are you sure no one touched the monitoring? - Zane asked, as he questioned Principal Finch.

The older man shrugged his shoulders. - This attack happened so suddenly, so no one should have touched the cameras. Our students who were the last students in the school were in the classroom helping with decorations, and your children were taking detention in Mr. Strickler's class. That's as much as I can say about that.

- And you? - PIXAL asked.

- What? Ma'am, I barely know how to operate my laptop in my office, not to mention the projectors! Only our Academy janitor and other teachers have promission for monitoring. And sometimes the IT specialist who comes in for an inspection.

- So it must have been done by one of the teachers or the janitor. - Kai said.

- And how do we know it's not simply a fault in the system? - Finch asked sceptically.

- No. I checked the equipment thoroughly, and that rules out a systems fault. Moreover, someone must have known how to bypass the security code. Someone was really clever. - Zane said.

- So it must have been someone from the Academy. - Jay said.

- Just who? - Saber asked.

- Someone who knew this attack was going to happen. Someone who was in collusion with these monsters. - Clay said.

- A spy? - Pythor wheezed.

- A sneaky deceiver. History likes to repeat itself. - Aspheera hissed and rattled her tail in anger.

- Calm down. We need to question everyone, who was present at the time of the attack. - said (Y/N). - Including the students, maybe they could know something.

- Right. Can you call the parents of the students, who were present at the time of the attack?- Macy asked.

- Of course. I'll go to my office and call the students' parents. - Finch said and left the surveillance room. The League of Heroes looked at each other sceptically.

- I would use witchcraft to look into this man's head. - Aspheera said.

- Hey, you promised that you only use spelss for good deeds. - said Cole. Aspheera looked furiously at him until he flinched.

- This will be noble. Saving my children's lives!!! - she roared at him.

- Take it easy, darling. - Pythor said and put his hand on her shoulder. Aspheera looked at him with furrowed brows and nodded.

- I'll follow that, guy. Who knows, maybe he is hiding something. - Lloyd said and followed the principal.

- By the way... You'd better not tell Vania about what happened to the kids for now. - (Y/N) said, turning to Cole.

- Why not? She's my wife and Eshter is... - Cole furrowed his brow.

- Yes, I know. But you know, how Vania can be when something happens to Eshter. You tell her someone kidnapped our kids and what do you think she'll do?

- She'll summon the entire Shintaro army with her. It will be a hassle when the city is left unattended. - Saber agreed.

A realisation dawned on Cole's face. - You guys are right. I won't tell her anything for now, but I can't keep this from her for too long. She'll realise something's happened.

- We know. We're going to find out who deleted the CCTV and get the truth out of him. - Jay said.

- By force if necessary. - added Aspheera. They all looked at her with serious glances.

- You're not going to use on him, no Unforgivable Curses. - stated (Y/N) with seriousness.

Aspheera snorted through her nose, letting out a puff of smoke.

----

Mr. Strickler was walking through Ninjago City, bustling with a bag of shopping in his arms. Outside, it was a beautiful, sunny day. Mr Strickler hummed to himself under his breath and relaxed as he entered his residential suite.

He turned the key in the lock and opened the door to the house. He stepped inside and kicked the door with his foot, closing it with a slight bang.

- I'm back! - He announced loudly to the whole house and headed to the kitchen to bring back the groceries. - Is anyone home? - he joked when silence answered him.

He heard muffled laughter in the dining room and Strickler raised an eyebrow, walking towards the room.

- Seriously!? - a female voice asked with an amused giggle.

- Yes! Then he started squealing like a little girl, saying that a jellyfish had bitten him! - a male voice laughed softly. Strickler appeared at the threshold of the room and his heart clenched and a chill went through him.

Sitting at a large wooden table was a woman with orange-brown hair fastened in a loose bun and blue eyes and a man with blood-red eyes, pale skin and dressed in a white suit. 

The man smiled charmingly at the woman and told them various adventures from his life. The woman looked at Strickler standing in the doorway and smiled in surprise.

- Oh, dear! You're back already, what's so early? - she asked.

Strickler shifted his gaze to the woman and stammered, seeing the stranger's icy stare directed at him.

- I finished my business with the city earlier.... erm... I also did my shopping for tonight's dinner. - He swallowed hard.

The woman furrowed her brow slightly, but nodded. - Great, then... I'll take care of the dinner preparation! Jim will be back from college soon. - She looked with apologies at the man in the white suit. - I'm sorry, Proud, but I have to...

- It's no problem, jewel. I'll have a word with your fiancé, he seems like a decent man. - Proud said, smiling falsely at Strickler.

- He is. - The woman giggled and kissed Strickler on the cheek. - Sit down and have a chat.

Strickler escorted her away with a glance, before turning to Proud sitting at the table, already with a deadly expression on his face. Strickler closed the sliding dining room door and slowly sat down at the table.

- That fiancée of yours is pretty nice, you know Strickler? - Peter said.

- Why did you come here? - asked Strickler coldly, joining his hands on the table. ,, Proud'' furrowed his eyebrows in disapproval.

- So I can't visit my partner in crime anymore? - Proud asked and corrected himself in his chair.

- No. You promised not to go near Barbara and Jim. - Strickler growled.

Proud groaned and rolled up the sleeve of his suit, showing the black medallion on his wrist. The man pressed the jewel and it began to glow red. The red light engulfed the man and as it disappeared, the familiar white snake appeared. Polaris.

- You don't know how to play, Walter. - said Polaris and straightened his neck.

- Enough of these games, Basilisk. Tell me, why did you come and invade my family? - demanded Strickler.

- Do I always have to want something? - he hissed offended. - I have come to congratulate you, on your successful mission. All the Elemental Heirs are mine, so I can sum up my brilliant plan. - he said proudly.

- Thank you, but you must leave. Now. - said Strickler.

Polaris looked at him impassively and clicked his tongue, a cold deadpan on his face. He reached into the pocket of his white coat and pulled out a packet of thin cigarettes and a gold lighter.

He opened the packet and took out one cigarette, then lit it and threw the items on the table. Strickler looked at the lighter and cigarettes, Polaris waved his hand.

- Help yourself.

Walter slowly reached for the packet and took out one cigarette, grabbed the lighter and lit it. He inhaled lightly.

- What is the specific reason you came? I know you didn't come to congratulate me. - Strickler stated.

Polaris let out a puff of smoke. - You're right. I didn't come here for some ''thank you'' to you, I have another task.

- I'm not doing it anymore. You promised to leave me alone after this mission. - Strickler hissed and his eyes flashed a fiery colour.

- I'm not afraid of your faces, Walter. - said Polaris with a mocking smile. He quickly turned serious. - The deal has changed. I need you to do something else for me.

- What is it?

Polaris put the cigarette in his mouth and reached with his hand for his coat and pulled out a metal box. He placed the package on the table and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth.

Strickler reached for it and opened it. On the black material lay a beautiful black revolver. The man's eyebrows rose high and he looked at Polaris with shock.

- I'm not going to kill. - He denied it at once.

Polaris waved his hand. - Of course you won't. But it's not the killing I'm after, this revolver only handles one type of ammunition. Have you heard of such beasts as Deathgrippers?

- Yes.

- Well, that's right. Skeletons have captured several individuals and taken the venom that can dull them. I want you to catch someone for me. - Polaris said.

- Who?

- By noon tomorrow you are to put my brother to sleep for me.

- Which brother?

- Cyrus. I'll deal with him for now, before I move on to the ultimate revenge on Pythor. That fool has magic, and he cannot enter my plans. Him I will get rid of first.

- Where should I look for him?

- At his home, in the Academy, I don't care. He's been sticking to Pythor like a turnip's tail since they reconciled. It's obvious that at the front he will protect him, which is why I will kill him. I have been planning this revenge for 14 years and have thought it all through.

- And what will you do if I fail?

Polaris laughed sinisterly. - Believe me, you'd better not let me down. Because those who fail the Basilisk end up in the graveyard. If you fail to catch him and waste your ammunition, you can kill yourself if you don't want to die in suffering along with your family.

-  Even if I fail and kill myself.... Don't you dare touch Barbara or her son, do you understand?- he growled at Polaris furiously.

Polaris squinted and thought about it, then nodded after a moment.

- If you kill yourself and this intelligence information reaches me, your family will be safe. But if you talk about my plans to those ninjas.... I will kill you personally, and your woman and her brat, I will inflict such torture that not even ashes will be left of them. I will quarter them and eat them myself as a snack. Do you understand?

Strickler was frightened by Polaris' murderous look and dark tone and nodded.

- I'll give my all to carry out this plan.

- Perfect. Do you see how wonderful it is to work with you? 

----

The next day, the parents of the teenagers involved in the troll attack arrived first thing in the morning at The Moonshine Academy with their children.

Ney'tiri with Neteyam, Lo'ak and Kiri. Ronal with Tsireya and Aonung with Roxto. Pedro with Goldie and Neona as her parents were busy with work and Spider with his mother.

- Did any of you see anything suspicious during this attack on the Academy? Any of the teachers acting strangely? - Zane was questioning all the teenagers in the class.

- Maybe some sign pointing to evil? - Saber added.

The teenagers looked at each other nervously.

- I think not, sir. - Tsireya spoke up. - We ourselves were horrified by the attack.

- Not all of us. - snorted Aonung, crossing his arms. Roxto poked his friend with his elbow.

- You don't have to be nervous. We just want to know if you saw something or know something. - Skylor said.

- I'm sorry, but what specifically happened that you have to question us? - Kiri asked.

The members of the League of Heroes looked at each other uncertainly.

- Well. - Kai grunted. - Someone erased the data from the surveillance cameras at the Academy when this attack happened. We suspect it might be someone who knew it was going to happen.

-.. Is there a spy at the Academy? - Spider asked.

- We don't know that, but we would like to talk to the culprit about it. - Zane said.

- 'You were one of the witnesses to the incident, we've had time to question your teachers and they don't know anything. We want to know something from you. - Saber said.

- I don't know anything. - Roxto immediately put his hands up.

- I don't either. - Tsireya spoke up.

Lo'ak shook his head. - None of us know anything because we, we were in class the whole time and none of us went out. Roxto and Pedro only went to the toilet, but when the attack started,  they quickly came back to us with squealing.

- I wasn't squealing at all! - Pedro was outraged.

Lo'ak waved his hand at him and rolled his eyes. - Don't argue.

- Although... I think there was one moment. - Neteyam spoke up. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

- Yes? Tell us what it was. - Zane said.

- Well, I don't want to make accusations, but.... I think it was one of our teachers.

- Which one? - Saber asked.

- It was Mr. Strickler.

All the students in the room gasped in shock. Neona laughed.

- It makes no sense! Strickler? A Spy? After all, he is the living embodiment of order and perfection! Why would he do that?

- I don't know, but I remember him telling Principal Finch himself, that he would go and bring Rose and the others to us.... But he didn't make it, don't you remember? - Neteyam pointed at them.

Pedro nodded his head. - It honestly makes sense! He could have lied to us and maybe he is the spy?

Aonung snorted. - How? He showed those monsters the emergency exit from behind?

- Hey... I think Neteyam might be right. - Lo'ak pondered. - Who knows, maybe he just went to turn off the CCTV to... talk to those monsters and tell them where our friends are?

- Why do you say that, Lo'ak? - Tsireya asked.

- Well, because do you really think Lily and the others were sitting in one place during all this? I, if I were them, would have run away to a safe place and hid.

- And since both Mr. Strickler's classroom and the auditorium are destroyed.... - Roxto began and realisation began to appear on his face. - This means that Strickler...

- He must have told the monsters about it and, in the process, turned off the surveillance. - Spider said.

- Guys, I think this is evidence that...- started Aonung.

- STRICKLER IS A SPY!!? - all the teenagers cried out in shock.

The ninjas raised their eyebrows and looked at each other in surprise, a quick solution to the problem.

- This is totally sick! - Pedro exclaimed in shock, grabbing his head.

- Why would he cooperate with these beasts! - Neona growled in rage.

Zane clapped his hands loudly to silence the frantic din of the teenagers. - Thank you for pointing us to a potential culprit for all this.

- Do you know who this ... Stickler? - Saber asked.

- Yes. The picture at the end of the year is in the corridor. - Tsireya said.

- Good. Thank you for all the information. - Skylor said.

- And what about our friends? - Roxto asked.

- We are looking for them. Don't worry, they'll be fine. - said Kai and walked out of the classroom with the others.

----

 Cyrus was currently in his villa and sitting in his room playing his guitar to clear the negative thoughts from his mind. He was upset about the kidnapping of his brother's and sister-in-law's children and as soon as the ninjas called him, he would set off with them to find them.

The white Anacondrai sighed and stopped playing. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was an hour before midnight. The ninjas still hadn't called, the kids had been missing for two days now, could it get any worse?

Cyrus went to the music room in the villa and put the instrument in its case away and locked it. After finishing his evening routine, he decided to relax with a bottle of white wine and reading a book.

Outside the building behind the fence. A shadowy figure stood, dressed in a black outfit and mask with a hood pulled over his head. The figure was leaning sideways against the building opposite the villa and was smoking a cigarette, looking intently at the building.

The figure let out a puff of smoke. - You can do it, Walter. You can't let the Basilisk down, or you'll die of his wrath. - He spoke to himself and extinguished the cigarette with his shoe.

He looked closely at the building and took a deep breath, clenching his hands into fists. - You will make it. For Barbara.

Thick, dark clouds covered the glowing moon and after a while it began to rain. Strickler moved across the street and wrapped an arm around his chest. In the inside pocket of his jacket was a revolver containing a deadly bullet.

Strickler jumped over the gate and headed for the villa to carry out the task assigned by Basilisk....

Kill Cyrus....

= END OF THE CHAPTER NINE = 

A/N: Now we get into the darker part of the story! How do you think Strickler will succeed in carrying out Polaris's command or will he pay for it with his life?