January 14, 2021
ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ ▬ 7404

This episode was first published ten years after Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu first aired. This is my tribute to the show.

Because of Ninjago, I met five of my best friends. And even though we live hundreds of thousands of miles away from each other, with an ocean between, they have always been here for me. 

This is for Ninjago, for the Chaos Causers, and for ten years of a show that is so, so much more than what meets the eye.
~ Skylar

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"AAARGH NO!"

"Wait, who was it?-"

"Haha, I win!"

"ZAP??"

Several shouts and swears followed that.

"I trusted you, Zap! You tricked us into thinking that it was Morro- sorry... "

From the opposite side of the monastery, someone yelled, "Yeah, you better be sorry! You voted me out and you're wrong. Red sus!"

"Red sus!"

"I-"

"RED SUS!"

"Red is mad sus, bro."

"RED IS NOT SUS! AND WHY DO I GET KILLED EVERY FUCKING TIME-"

"Harper, language!"

Sensei Wu's meditation was interrupted by the shouting of his students, their excited voices passing through several thick training walls. Annoyed, he followed their ruckus to find them. The training compound turned out to be empty, as were the bunkrooms and the kitchen, which left the lounge.

"It's alright, new round, new round."

"Wait, lemme change my hat-"

"We probably shouldn't play the game in the same room, isn't that against the rules?"

"Screw the rules."

Video games. Of course. It was just about the only thing they had been doing for the past few weeks.

"I mean, we don't really talk that much anyway."

"Yeah, but if you gasp loudly or say oh shit! aloud, we can guess you just got killed and-"

"Skylar!"

"Sorry, Mom..."

Wu looked in a different room and saw four of his students intensely staring at their mobile devices, playing some sort of video game. None noticed his arrival-- so much for being Ninja always on alert.

Closest to him was a blonde girl leaning up against the couch, sitting on the floor as per usual. Across from her, resting against the wall, was a red-haired Ninja in an ice blue gi, and on the couch to their right sat the rest of the team. The one in deep blue was slung over the couch's armrest, while the girl in black sat criss-cross with her back to them. All four Ninja suddenly fell silent as they focused on their screens.

Wu watched as they played, letting out occasional gasps and hisses as the game progressed. After a considerable time passed, out of nowhere all four jumped up and started yelling at each other, startling him. He caught the words "sus", "electrical" and "killed" as they accused the rest of... murdering each other?

Teenagers these days.

He picked up his phone, struggling to turn it on. Once he got it working, he opened the Zfinity app and disabled the wifi.

On all four devices, the map disappeared and sent them back to the home screen with an error message reading, Disconnected due to internet loss.

A collective groan came from the Ninja team, followed by a couple of them yelling profanities in frustration. Harper restrained herself from throwing the phone across the room. She turned around and spotted their sensei standing in the doorway. In a split second, they realized what he had done.

"Why would you do that?" she cried. "We finally found a good lobby!"

Frustrated, Wu snapped, "Just because Lord Garmadon escaped through a vortex doesn't mean he won't return one day for the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu!"

"But Sensei, ever since he's been gone, Zenjago has had nothing but peace." As she said so, a cat with a square of bread round its face pranced up to Harp, nudging his head under their hand.

Zap agreed, leaving their phone on the couch and joining Harper in petting Bread Cat. "Yeah. Peace is boring. There's no one to save. There's nothing to do... so I mean, video games are a good alternative."

In a last-ditch attempt to save the team's chances at getting to continue their game, Realm put in, "We can train tomorrow."

Wu was stony-faced. "Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today."

Skylar reached over to the box of pizza sitting on the table. "Well, I was gonna eat this pizza tomorrow. So if that's the case, then I'll just-"

He kicked the pizza slice off their hand, sending it skidding out the door. "-Ow!" she yelled, rubbing her sore wrist.

"No pizza for you!" Eliza, another one of their kittens, picked up the pizza slice and trotted away with her prize, her tail flicking as she passed the annoyed sensei. "In order to reach your full potential, you must train!" 

At this, the four teenagers looked at each other, then Harper said, "Um... remember when we did a little thing called the Tornado of Creation? That was pretty dope."

"You four have merely scratched the surface of your full potential. There are still so many secrets you have yet to unlock. You haven't even begun to tap into what powers your Golden Weapons hold," he added pointedly.

The Ninja avoided looking at the Sword of Fire, which was presently burning a pizza slice with a mound of diced pineapples on it.

Realm grabbed the Scythe of Realms, which was leaning against the couch. "You want to talk about secret powers? Check this out." Extending the weapon, she used its blade to snatch up a hotspot router and in a flash, they had logged back in and were proceeding with the game.

Noting their sensei's obvious disapproval, Harper quickly added, "Don't worry, Sensei. We'll be ready when Lord Garmadon returns. A bit of gaming can't hurt."

Skylar opened her mouth to call out to Morro just as the boy in question ran through the door. The Ninja expected him to start talking about their game, but instead he said, "The bitch is back. Garmadon has made his return."

Zap sat bolt upright and nearly dropped her phone. "Wait, what?"

"He's back, apparently." Morro shrugged. "There was a report that he was spotted near Jamanakai Village. So that's your cue to go do your Ninja stuff and kick his ass."

Realm threw him a look for the language, which he chose to ignore. The team quickly got up to prepare for the mission, gathering their weapons. Morro tossed Zap her Nunchucks but the blue Ninja fumbled the Golden Weapon. "Aah! I- sorry-!" she apologized, running after the others.

The team ran down the stone steps wrapping around the mountain, opened the massive wood doors to the dragon cabinets, and mounted their dragons- more like tried to- for the journey. Skylar got in the way of her dragon's door, as it crashed onto their head and nearly knocked her out. Zap only managed to mount her dragon on her third try, and while it took less effort for Realm to reach the saddle, she dropped the Scythe after getting in.

From afar, they heard Sensei Wu shake his head in disapproval. That was totally motivational. Mhm.

Harper pulled herself onto Flame, the Sword of Fire sheathed on her back. Morro crossed her arms, looking up at his sister. "Do I get to come this time?" he pouted.

"Not this time, sorry." Harper quirked a smile at him. "We can't let you get hurt."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm more than capable of handling myself. Do I need to-"

"Yeah, I know, but this is a job for..." She struggled to find the right word. "A Ninja...?"

Morro helped his sister reach the reins to her dragon and watched with a mixture of disappointment and annoyance as she joined her team in the sky. Turning to Wu, he grumbled, "Do you think they'll ever reach their full potential? I'm doubting it."

"In time," he sighed. "Maybe a long time, but in time."

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"Just like old times, huh?" Realm commented as they flew away from the monastery.

"Yeah," Skylar laughed. "Nearly getting killed by undead skeletons-- man, that feels like ages ago." They continued for a moment before she spoke again, addressing the team. "Hey- do you believe what Sensei said, about unlocking our full potential?"

"He might be... onto something. I mean, since we got the Golden Weapons, it's not like we ever had to use them." Zap glanced at the Nunchucks in her hand, which pulsed with a glowing light at its mention. "I wonder what they do. Maybe they're a part of our True Potentials?"

Harper didn't unsheathe her sword, but she felt the metal's warmth through the scabbard on her back. "Agreed. They are rather mysterious, and it seems that Sensei knows just as little as we do about them. Which works against us, but I suppose not everything can be perfect, can it?"

They flew in comfortable silence for a while before Realm said, "I don't know about you, but is anyone else a little excited about battling Lord Garmadon? I've been looking forward to trying out some new Spinjitzu moves. It could be the perfect opportunity."

Even under their mask, Zap's smirk was clear. "Ha-ha, yeah! Race you there?"

She pulled their dragon into a dive with a whoop, as did the other Ninja. Realm drew her dragon into several barrel rolls, forcing the others to steer clear of her as they spun through the air. Skylar performed several flips and caught up to Realm gleefully, shouting teasing insults as they tried to get ahead. Just as it looked like one was about to pass the other, Harper zoomed between them and took the lead.

As they cleared a thick layer of clouds, she spotted the speck of dust that was their destination. "Look-- Jamanakai Village. First Ninja there wins!" Harper called, turning into a blur of red and orange as she sped ahead. The others spurred their dragons and within no time at all, the team crashed down on the mountainside.

"I think that was a tie."

"Actually... it might have been-"

Harper was interrupted by the screaming of Jamanakai's villagers and they drew their weapons on instinct. They pulled on their hoods, glancing at each other, then headed towards the center of the chaos. Citizens shoved past the Ninja, running to their homes and boarding the doors. A dark shadow loomed on the path ahead of them and the team tensed at the sight.

"Stay sharp, guys," Realm reminded them softly. "Whatever happens, never let your guard down."

The team turned the corner as the laughter grew more maniacal, the shadow elongating and becoming darker as it drew nearer-

A young child, likely ten years old, let out a cackle as she dramatically turned the corner. She wore a black hoodie with a cape and a green 5 on it, white ribs sloppily painted over it. "It is I, Ally Garmadon!" she hollered. "I demand all the candy in town, or else!"

Zap blinked. "Uh, Ally Garmadon? I thought we were going to face Lord Garmadon."

The team's leader put two and two together. "It's got to be his daughter. Looks like she escaped her boarding school for bad children again," she sighed. "And to think we could've been doing Spinjitzu already-"

Ally gave them a deadly glare, surprising the black Ninja and silencing her. "Give me your candy or I'll release the Serpentine on you!" She uncapped a can she was holding, shooting rubber snakes out at the crowd.

"Boo!" a villager shouted, chucking a frozen lemon at Ally. A tomato splattered on the girl's black cape, and with that more villagers began tossing vegetables at her. She hesitated for a moment, her face conflicted with regret, but it vanished as quickly as it came. She shielded her face with an arm in a flash, just in time to stop a melon from beaning her in the head. "No, stop! I asked for candy- damn you assholes! Take that!" She shot rubber snakes out at the crowd from a can, only succeeding in irritating the citizens more.

"Did... did she just swear?" Zap asked.

Realm blinked. "I hope not, she's got to be, like, ten years old-"

"YOU WILL FUCKING REGRET THIS!"

Skylar stifled a laugh. "Okay. She swears."

Harper grinned, crossing her arms. "I like this kid already."

"Harper! Stop encouraging her!"

"Jeez, okay, sorry Mom." The red Ninja suddenly turned back to the spectacle, cupped her hands around her mouth, and called, "You're doing great, sweetie!"

Ally looked over and again and she gave them another death glare, her red eyes slightly glowing. "You mock me! You will pay," she threatened, drawing a knife out of nowhere.

The black, blue, and light blue Ninja stepped back, knowing fully well that an angry little girl with a knife was not very safe. Harper, on the other hand, gasped and turned to her friends, beaming and giving her teammates puppy eyes. "Aww, how sweet! Can we adopt her already? Please please please-"

"No!" the others yelled.

Harper's adoration to the little girl did not amuse her. Raising her knife in the air, Ally charged forward into the crowd, shouting, "You will soon suffer the wrath of the Serpentine!"

Jamanakai's citizens laughed at her harmless threats. Someone disarmed her and the barrage of produce continued. "She's gonna have to do a lot better than use an old bedtime story to scare people," Skylar remarked. "I feel a bit bad for her. She's just a kid."

Harper glanced at her friend as a loaf of stale bread soared overhead. "The Serpentine are real, Sky. They aren't something to joke about."

"Serpentine, real? I love fantasy, but this isn't real, right? We're talking about the ancient race of snake people who once ruled Zenjago and were locked underground-"

Zap hummed nervously. "Sealed in five different tombs to separate the warring tribes and ensure they don't unify to exact their revenge upon those who put them there."

"Yes, exactly. It was an old fairytale to teach kids not to poke their noses where they don't belong," the white Ninja faltered, picking up a red snake toy from the ground and squeaking it. "Don't you think it's- it's a little suspicious that no one's ever found one of their tombs?"

Realm laughed. "Well, that's because nobody would be dumb enough to look for one. You'd have a death wish, just about."

Ally swore something about the Serpentine again, inspiring the villagers to toss a new wave of vegetables at her. She dodged most of them, her stare piercing the Ninja as she focused back on them.

The team leader nodded to the others and they stepped forward, hauling Ally onto their shoulders. "Don't worry, folks, we'll take care of this. Nothing to see here."

Ally kicked and screamed, hitting Zap in the eye with the can of rubber snakes. "Ow," Zap muttered, but was muffled by Ally's growls.

"HEY! Watch the cape! Bow down to me or suffer my wrath- I'll give you to the count of three!" Ally struggled in their grip, hissing and trying to bite the Ninja holding her. "One!"

Skylar looked at Realm, who shrugged.

"Two!"

"What are we supposed to do?" Harper asked, gripping Ally's ankle to avoid getting kicked in the head. "Put her in time-out and wash out her mouth?"

"Two and a half-"

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"You just made me your nemesis! You'll pay for this!"

The citizens merely laughed at her threats. Ally had been placed on top of the candy store's roof, which was steep and curved at the ends so she wouldn't be able to climb down. One of the shop vendors gave candy for the team to 'support the village', or so she called it-- it was more to tease the little Garmadon raging at the edge of the roof. "Next time, try buying your candy," the blue Ninja suggested.

"Crime doesn't pay, mate," Harper said, taking a bite into a Tim Tam chocolate bar. "You can take that to the bank."

Ally spat a dictionary of curses in rage as they walked off, leaving her at the mercy of Jamanakai's villagers.

"That wasn't mean, was it?" Realm asked in concern as they reached the dragons.

Skylar looked back at the town through the reflective buckles on Shard's saddle. Ally was scrambling to the top of the steep roof, struggling to get away from the villagers. "It was a bit mean. But she threatened everyone with a knife, so it's fair... I think?"

As they mounted their dragons, Harp's knee bumped the bag on her saddle and knocked a scroll out of it. She got off and picked it up, frowning. "I don't recall putting this here. Whose is this?"

Skylar hopped off of her dragon and joined the red Ninja. "That Sensei's bag. You must've accidentally taken it in the rush."

"What is it?" Zap wondered.

"It's a scroll."

"Wow, I couldn't tell."

"Absolutely not."

"No way. Harper, what does it say? It's written in chicken scratch."

"Not chicken scratch. The ancient language of our ancestors," Harper muttered, her eyes flitting over the parchment as she absorbed the information.

"Can you read it?" the blue Ninja asked, failing to understand the 'chicken scratch' on the paper.

"Well, I can try," she said, deep in thought. "This symbol means 'prophecy'."

"Prophecy?" Zap echoed.

"It means it tells the future," Skylar explained.

"Obviously!"

Harper cleared her throat, dramatically reading aloud and interrupting their banter. "'One ninja will rise above the others and becomes the Green Ninja, the ninja destined to destroy the Dark Lord.'"

"Ooh, look, a picture!" Zap pointed. In the center was a ninja dressed in a light green, surrounded by four others in pale gis: red, white, blue, and black.

"'Dark Lord'?" she wondered. "D'you think they mean Lord Garmadon?"

Skylar gasped. "Wait a minute! In the picture- is that us? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?"

The blue Ninja glanced at their friends. "That we'll meet a new person that will apparently be our new leader or something?"

She shook her head. "Yes- wait, no. I hope not. I was mainly thinking... what if the Green Ninja is Wu? He might be a few thousand years old or something, but he easily threw each of us across the training arena at some time or another. It could be him."

Harper ran the translation through their head again. "I doubt it. This Green Ninja seems to be someone who is unfamiliar with the arts of Spinjitzu, as 'rise above' is written in a tone that indicates this person is new. Plus, Wu began as a Ninja-like apprentice to his father then became a sensei later on, I believe."

"Hang on, Moreo wears green." Zap tapped the scroll. "Is she going to be the Green Ninja?"

"She's not a Ninja though... yet," the red Ninja considered. "At this point, I don't even know."

Realm had been listening to the conversation quietly and finally spoke up. "Guys... whoever the Green Ninja is, it doesn't matter- Wu would tell us if it's important to us, right? But he didn't, and it's clear that we're not supposed to have seen this scroll. Maybe it doesn't mean anything anymore? What if it already came true?"

She hesitated, then added, "I just don't want us to get in trouble. Come on, let's head back home. We have training to do. Just, try to forget we ever saw this, okay?"

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Ally stuck her tongue out and something cold fell onto it. With a squeak of surprise, she batted at her tongue, startled by the chill. It took her a second to realize it was flakes of ice falling from the sky-- snow. It was only then that she realized that it was cold out. The Glacier Barrens hadn't felt cold to her at all, but given the howling wind and whipping snow, she figured that it probably was in subzero temperatures.

The girl kept walking, searching without any specific direction for one of the Serpentine tombs. She kicked clumps of ice and rocks littered in the snow, taking her anger out on the world around her. "Fucking Ninja," she muttered. "Stranding me on a roof and didn't even bother to come back for me."

She wasn't entirely sure what she expected. Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Children had taught her to not trust anyone and to rely only on herself. Did she really think the Ninja, her father's archenemies, would come back for her?

Yes. And she was frustrated with herself for being naive enough to believe it.

She kicked another stone, sending it soaring off into the whiteness. To her surprise, it landed somewhere with a loud clang that echoed. Curious, she scrambled up the snowbank and spotted the stone several meters in front of her. She rubbed the snow, wondering what kind of metal could be found in the middle of the Glacier Barrens, boasting a population of 0.

Her hand brushed over a symbol on a metal plate. "Woah," she whispered, looking around her. Ally noticed a shiny snake statue nearby and saw that it was a lever of sorts. She pulled on it and with a thundering rumble, the ground shook and split open beneath her, stone jaws widening and dropping her inside.

She screamed as she fell, landing hard inside an icy tomb-like place. At the loud noise, a blue snake slithered out from behind a spike of ice. Ally gasped and tried to get away from the snake-human, but only succeeded in cornering herself against a pillar of ice. Gasping, her breath puffed out in white clouds that hung in front of her eyes and obstructed her view of the creature.

"You are out of your mind to venture ssso far away from home, little one."

A whimper slipped as she frantically felt around for an escape. Whatever was in front of her didn't have good intentions, she could feel it, and she resisted looking at the creature.

"Look into my eyesss."

Ally continued to back up, unintentionally getting a better view. Her first impression was that she was looking at a six-foot-tall snake, but she quickly noticed that it had a masculine human torso on top of a snake's trunk. The creature had blue and yellow scales all over, a distinct swirling pattern along his stomach, back, and onto his cobra-like hood. His face was most definitely serpentlike, but at the same time he had several human features-- his red slit-pupil eyes glittered with intelligence, and his mouth curled into a sneering smile.

"Give up your mind," he hissed. "I will control you."

The most unnerving thing about his eyes was that they were... swirling, almost? Rings of pulsing red light spun out from the snake's eyes and made her dizzy and light-headed, the world around her whirling and starting to turn dark as her brain struggled to keep up with the mesmeric gaze.

Suddenly, she slipped on the icy floor, breaking her connection with the snake and returning her vision to normal. He ended up staring at the spot where Ally formerly was, now showing his reflection. For a moment he looked at the ice distantly, then turned to Ally with a blank expression. His eyes were no longer pulsing with red light but were almost glowing as he watched her for instruction.

"You know what?" Ally started to realize what had just happened. "I think I will control you from now on."

The snake bowed to her, his blueish iridescent scales rippling in the cool light. "I am Ssslithraa, General of the Hypnobrai tribe and at your ssserviccce. What shall you have usss do, Massster?"

Hypnobrai tribe.

She had done it.

She had found a Serpentine tomb.

Evil just like Dad, Ally thought to herself with a grin. It faltered, however, when she caught the last part of his sentence. "Wait, w-what do you mean by 'us'?"

To both her horror and satisfaction, several dozen more of the blue Hypnobrai approached her, walking on human legs and each patterned with yellow and grey markings. Seeing their general bowing to her, they reluctantly did the same.

Perhaps this would be enough for her father to notice her.

Her own army of snakes.

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"So then we all agree. A battle to see what the heck these weapons do, to get back in shape... and see who's the best Ninja."

Zap looked from each of their friends' faces and nodded her agreement as they climbed up the steps from the dragon cabinets. Hercules greeted the Ninja as they entered the monastery, the cat weaving through Harper's ankles and almost tripping her as she walked. She reached down and petted the cat, receiving a few meows, "May I suggest a tournament? Last ninja standing wins."

"Yes! It's perfect, I love it," Skylar said eagerly. Realm flashed a thumbs-up. The red Ninja led the team to the training compound, which was running at top speed. A boy in a dark blue and green hakama was sprinting between pillars and underneath weapons, dodging and parrying the blows. Just as the Ninja arrived, Morro finished the course, grabbing a stopwatch and grumbling at the time it read.

"Any closer to beating your sister's speed record?" Zap asked him, peering over his shoulder to look at the stopwatch.

Morro nodded, wiping sweat from his brow with the bandana tied around his wrist. "Bet I'll beat it within twelve hours. Also, I heard was it just a false alarm, the mission?"

"Yeah." Harper glanced around the training compound. "We're going to need this space. There should be pizza and soda in the refrigerator if you want a snack."

"If the pizza has pineapple-"

"It's pineapple."

"I don't want it."

"Your loss," Harper hummed. "And also, the last time we made a bet, I believe I won."

"People change, like the tides of the ocean." The younger helped take out the kendo sets, distributing them to their respective Ninja. Once they had strapped on the armor, Realm reiterated the rules they had agreed on. 

"Two matches. Then the winners of each duel face off. The armor is for our own protection, and now it's time to see what these weapons can do." She tossed the Scythe of Realms in the air, flipping it and catching it steadily in both hands.

"I'm going to head out... to check on Jamanakai Village," Morro said. "Knock yourselves out, literally is fine with me."

"Do we need to deactivate the course?" Zap asked, glancing at the wooden training equipment still above the arena.

Skylar shrugged and finished strapping on her armor. "Nah, let's leave it. We have enough space anyway, what harm can it do?"

"Okay then, we should start now. First up-- Harp versus Zap! Ninja-go!" Realm shouted.

Zap whirled the Nunchucks in the air, but they weren't used to using the Golden Weapon as it was heavier than the other ones she had used before. As a result, they hit themself in the head with it, shocking themself in the process. Harper was struggling to balance her sword as it kept swinging too far to one side, nearly toppling her. Despite their inability to fully utilize their Weapons, it was an even match.

In a spurt of power, Harper managed to activate her Weapon and shot a fireball at Zap, knocking them to the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked, helping the blue Ninja up.

"You're lucky this is fireproof, otherwise I'd have gone up in flames," Zap teased, brushing off their armor.

"That would have been bad, to say the least," Harper confirmed. "Okay... Next up, Realm versus Skylar. Ninja-go!"

Skylar hurled one of the Shurikens at the ground, freezing Realm's legs before she could swing the Scythe. When they went in with the other Shuriken, however, the black Ninja easily deflected the attack. In a brief moment of hesitation, Realm managed to knock Skylar down with the flat of her Scythe. Even though she was frozen to the ground, the team's leader won the battle.

Once the others yanked Realm out of the block of ice, Skylar apologizing profusely, Zap announced, "For the prize and the title of best ninja... Ninja-go!"

Even after using their weapons in a duel previously, Harper and Realm couldn't unlock their power. Finally getting a good grip on her Scythe, Realm slammed the blade into the floor, shaking the entire mountain. Harper stumbled and was thrown back from the impact, Sword still in hand, and Realm grinned. "Yes!" she shouted, high-fiving Zap and Sky. "You okay, Harp?"

"Yeah," Harper said flatly. She promptly got up and swung her sword in different ways, trying to reactivate it. "Dammit, you stupid sword," she muttered in irritation. "It worked earlier! What did I do wrong?"

The Sword of Fire suddenly became incredibly hot in her hands. Being the Fire Ninja and a former blacksmith, she could handle the heat, but the temperature continued to rise beyond her tolerance. "It's too hot!" she panicked. Just as they spoke, fire erupted from the tip and started to travel up the weapon's blade and towards her hands.

Skylar yelped, backing up quickly and tripping over their own feet. "It's burning! Burning! Smoke!"

"Fire!" Realm jumped away, staring at the sword. "What did you do? Can you- can you stop it?"

"I- I don't know!" She tried to regain control of the weapon, but it was too late. Harper threw it to the ground, hoping the fire would burn out, but it didn't. A ring of flames flickered around her and spread out in the wind. The wooden training structures that the girls thought to be harmless caught fire, smoking and crackling as it burned, transforming into pillars of flames.

Before they knew it, the Monastery was burning, singeing the girls' exposed faces and burning stray hair. Harper was separated from the other three and she struggled to keep her calm-- the fire was beautiful, but it was too close for her comfort. "Don't panic," she yelled, more to herself than the others. "I-"

Just as quickly as the fire came, it was quenched with ice. A haunting chill settled over the monastery as a snowy flurry absorbed the flames. The girls looked at Sky, but they weren't holding the Shurikens-- Sensei Wu was.

And he was furious.

"What were you thinking?" he snapped.

"We were... just competing. For fun. And experimenting with our weapons' powers," Zap mumbled.

Wu scrutinized his students. "Is that all?"

"Yeah," Skylar tried to cover up. "We were just seeing what our weapons do in case they, like... help us reach our full potentials."

Their mentor held back a response and observed them for a moment longer, not believing their story. Wu turned around without a word and turned to leave but stopped when he noticed something slumped by the doorway. Reaching down, he picked up his satchel that was set among the Ninja's and turned back to them with narrowed eyes. "You were not supposed to see this."

"It was an accident, I grabbed your bag instead of mine," Harper apologized.

"If this attempt to reach your full potentials was influenced by the contents of this bag, I am disappointed. You are only at the beginning, and the road is long and winding. You cannot take shortcuts. Your True Potential will come in its own time. Rushing it only makes it more difficult to achieve." He looked at his students one last time before adding, "And if you are wondering-- none of you are near the level of what it takes to be the Green Ninja."

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Morro found Jamankai Village a lot faster than he expected. He just followed the cacophony coming from the mountain- a tactic usually reserved for finding the Ninja.

The citizens were screaming and running to their homes, the windows already boarded up with splintering wood. Morro winced as an elbow dug into his side while he pushed against the crowd, heading towards the source of the panic. "Why," he complained to himself. "What now?"

A child in a black hoodie exited a store with a wheelbarrow overflowing with candy, cackling to someone behind her. "Take the candy! Take it all!"

Morro climbed up the erratic bricks to a building's roof, watching in surprise and slight respect as an entire army of navy blue snakes walked out from behind the child, glaring at the villagers. With just one glance, the villagers stopped in their tracks, blank stares fixing on their faces as if paralyzed or disassociated.

Hypnotized seemed like a better word.

The story of a particular blue snake tribe with hypnotic powers surfaced to mind-- what was the name, Hypnobrai?

One of the snakes approached the tribe's general who held the golden staff. "This makes no sssenssse, General," he complained in a low blend of a lion's growl, a snake's buzz, and a man's voice. "Raiding an entire town for sssweets?"

The general whipped around, glaring at the warrior. "You will do asss I command becaussse I hold the ssstaff!" he hissed angrily.

"Well, fuck," Morro whispered. "This is not good."

Not good at all. 

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"The Serpentine are back! Everyone in Jamanakai Village is in danger!"

Zap twisted her Nunchucks to the side, disarming Harper's sword and rolling to dodge a blow. "Don't worry, Sensei," she reassured him, continuing her duel with the red Ninja. "We were just there, it was some kid who says she-"

"I am not speaking of my niece. An ancient evil has been released," he said gravely. "Jamanakai Village is their first victim, and more will be targeted if they are not stopped now."

Harper stopped, the village's name clicking in her mind. "Morro is there right now," they realized, and the team ran down to the dragon cabinets immediately. "We need to go now, he will try to take them on his own and we don't know what exactly it is that he's up against."

"Stay close, stay together," Skylar said as they mounted their dragon.

Realm snapped the reins of her dragon and took off, pulling her hood over her face. "Would we do it any other way?"

The village seemed empty by the time the Ninja arrived. The last of Jamanakai's citizens fled as the team set foot into the main square, instantly spotting the girl they were searching for.

Ally had taken off her hood and messily knotted up a ponytail, her hair only slightly darker than the bar of chocolate which she bit a massive hunk from. With her mouth full, she let out a gleeful whoop, dancing in a circle around a wheelbarrow overflowing with candy.

"I'm never coming down from this sugar high, bitch!" she cackled. A voice came from right behind her, prompting her to turn around.

Realm crossed her arms, observing the girl through her hood. "Sorry to bust your buzz, young Garmadon-"

"-but it's already past your bedtime," Zap finished.

Ally bared her teeth and hissed like a feral cat. "Bold of you to assume I'm under ten years old and even have a bedtime. Get them!" she shouted to no one in particular.

For a split second, the Ninja thought she was calling upon her imaginary friends. But a humanoid snake slithered out from behind a building, pointed at the four with his golden staff, and ordered, "Ssseize them!"

"The Serpentine? Oh shit. They're real, they are real, aren't they," Skylar stuttered, backing against her team into a circle as more Serpentine stepped into the light.

"It's not just them we have to worry about," Realm added. "The whole village has been hypnotized."

Following the last of the Hypnobrai were the rest of Jamanakai's villagers, their unblinking eyes swirling red in time with the Hypnobrai. Skylar lifted their Shurikens to freeze the advancing teams in their tracks, but Harper grabbed her arm. "No- our weapons are too unstable. We can do more harm than good. And the villagers are still villagers. We don't want to harm innocents, even if they are under malicious influence."

Zap's eyes anxiously took in the chaos before them. "So if we can't fight, that leaves us with-"

The snake leader turned his head towards her, raised his staff, and suddenly all the Serpentine and villagers charged at the Ninja.

"-run!"

The four Ninja turned tail and sprinted away, ducking into alleys and scaling buildings in search of a better hiding spot. "Over there!" Realm said, pointing at a familiar green figure hiding in a huge wheelbarrow full of hay behind a building. Keeping low, the team crawled over to Morro and dropped down into the hay he was scoping from. The boy barely flinched, acknowledging their presence with a half wave as he continued surveying the scene.

Harper greeted, "Salutations, Morro. You're completely unscathed, congratulations."

"Thanks a lot," Morro answered dryly. To the others, he said, "They've hypnotized everyone in town. I looked around, everyone's controlled by the blue bitches."

Skylar hummed anxiously. "Mind control. How's that scientifically possible?"

"I did some research earlier. These are the Hypnobrai. When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look them in the eyes-- that's how they get you," Realm explained. "And the ones that don't have a tail or hood, they'll tap the ground with their foot. It means they're about to hypnotize someone- hide!"

The five suddenly buried themselves in hay as a group of hypnotized villagers walked past in a daze. Once they were out of earshot Zap whispered, "So... what are we supposed to do? We can't use our weapons, and now we have to fight with our eyes closed?"

Harper straightened up and scanned the snakes in the distance. "The snake with the staff is the General, he's in charge. If we can get the staff from him- it holds the anti-venom- if we get that, we can save everyone."

"How do we give antivenom to an entire village?" Morro asked.

"The fountain in the middle of the square. We can turn it into a diffuser-- like the fancy ones that are in spas," Skylar explained, trying to get a good look at the misting fountain. "It'll evenly distribute the antivenom in a mist over Jamanakai and everyone'll breathe it in."

Realm nodded, "Sounds like a plan. Beat out the Serpentine, take the staff, put it in the fountain."

"And Moreo, since you're here... you want to help kick some snake ass?" Harper asked. Realm shot her a glare for the use of language, but Harper pretended not to see it.

Morro grinned. "You bet."

The five split up, hiding in buildings and lashing out to take down Serpentine warriors. By the time the general figured out what was going on, a third of their troops had been knocked out. The hypnotized villagers didn't attack, for they didn't know how to fight-- if any came forward, the Ninja pushed them out of the way or carefully knocked them unconscious so they wouldn't get hurt.

Four Serpentine approached the red Ninja, backing her into a wall. Before they could land a blow she shouted, "Ninja-go!" and summoned a fiery tornado. Struggling to keep control, Harper's Spinjitzu wobbled unpredictably and burned her attackers, warding off any others who came her way. She then crashed into the wall which promptly cut out her spin.

Zap disarmed a warrior, grabbing his spear and thrusting it back at him. Slightly out of breath, they muttered, "Okay, we're really out of shape." With the Nunchucks she electrified six advancing Hypnobrai then moved on to defend Harper as she recollected herself, still discombobulated from ramming into the wall.

"Ha!" a young voice came, fading away. Skylar looked up from the group of snakes they had just knocked out. Ally was running off with her wheelbarrow of sweets, flanked by a couple of Hypnobrai. "Consider this a warning, Ninja!"

Skylar suddenly threw both Shurikens, taking down the two guards.. Like a boomerang, the Golden Weapons returned to Skylar, who then hurled them at the ground ahead of the young Garmadon to freeze the wheelbarrow in place. The wheels stopped moving, but the rest of it tipped over, spilling the candy all over the floor.

"Hey, that's my candy!" she cried.

"Sensei was right. 'Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today.' We should've dealt with you the first time around," Skylar said, reaching for the loops of rope hanging from their belt.

Ally saw what they were going to do and backed up in panic. "Retreat, Slithraa!"

Slithraa, the general, turned to his remaining troops. "Retreat!" he shrieked.

The Hypnobrai didn't need to be told twice. Without hesitating, the army ran off, abandoning the villagers. The general lagged behind slightly and Realm took her shot. Aiming a kick at his head, she slammed the staff out of his hands as he hissed in pain, hands flying to his eye where she had kicked him.

Realm snatched the staff from the ground but when she turned around, a snake warrior stood directly behind her. Slithraa escaped with the rest of the fleeing Serpentine, causing a ruckus that made it difficult to hear the soft tapping of the warrior's foot on cobblestone.

"Look into my eyesss."

The black Ninja tried to tear her gaze away from him, but she physically couldn't. He had locked her in his stare, forcing her to look into his glowing red eyes.

"I control you."

She felt her consciousness fading into a warm dreaminess. It would be so much easier to go along with what he was saying than to fight against it... She was really tired. If she listened to him, she might be able to get some rest. "You control..." she murmured slowly.

"REALM!"

Morro's shout pierced her mind and the warrior in front of her suddenly was thrown to the ground as the boy attacked him, kneeing him in the crotch and sweeping his legs out from beneath him. "Realm! You have the antivenom! The fountain!" he shouted, bashing the warrior in the head one more time before taking down a stray serpent that was creeping up on Zap.

Some of the hypnotic fog still clouded her mind, but Realm was able to push past it for the most part. As she ran to the town center, she twisted the gem in the carved snake's mouth and opened a small locket filled with the antivenom. She climbed into the fountain and stood in the center and tilted the staff so a couple drops of antivenom fell into the water. It quickly mixed in and finally, the wind carried the mist throughout Jamanakai village. As villagers breathed it in, the red in their eyes faded away and returned to normal. Soon enough the villagers were the same as they were before-- just with a bit of amnesia from the hypnosis.

Once the mist had blown out all of the antivenom and all of Jamanakai's citizens were normal, Realm hopped down from her spot and joined the rest of her team. Sensei Wu had somehow made his way over, and his face was unreadable.

Realm took her hood off, as did the others. "We're sorry, Sensei. If we dealt with Ally before she... did this, none of this would've been necessary. We should have taken her seriously."

"Even lessons learned the hard way are lessons learned," Wu said. "However, a great evil has been released. I fear troubling times will come. This is only the beginning."

Skylar put away their Shurikens. "Then we'll train and be ready for them. It might not be Lord Garmadon, but that doesn't mean we won't give our all, you know?"

"I know we've asked to lessen our load of training, but I revoke that statement," Harper said. "Today has proven that we need to train more, as draining as it feels."

Zap nodded. "Yeah. Can you teach us the secrets behind the weapons of Spinjitzu? We tried to do it alone, but you saw how that worked out. We really, really don't know what we're doing."

Wu turned around, walking away. "Very well. There is much to teach. We must return to the Monastery."

Morro ran up to the old man. "Sensei, when am I going to get powers? Or a dragon? It's not fair that they get dragons and I don't. I can fight just like them."

He gave him an unreadable look. "Patience, Morro. Wait for your time to come."

"The Serpentine aren't going to wait. Why should I?" he argued.

There was no response.

"That's just bullshit," he grumbled.

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In the Hypnobrai Tomb, Ally came down from her sugar high and crashed. Sound asleep and not ordering the snakes around constantly, the Serpentine were able to complete their daily tasks and heal from the day's battle.

"The girl ssset usss free."

"She isss a child," Skales advised. "She isss not one of usss. We should-"

Angrily, Slithraa whipped around. "I may not have the ssstaff, but I'm ssstill your General! Ssstand down!" he snarled.

The warrior pushed it no further and walked away, heading to the health wing of the tomb when another soldier stopped him. Mezmo shoved Skales' shoulder in frustration. "You coward!" he accused. "We all know he'sss under Ally'sss ssspell. You're sssecond in command and ssstill, you do nothing?"

Skales shook his head. "Now was not the time. He ssstill holdsss too much power. But now, I hold the key to dessstroy the Ninja."

"I sssaw. But they usssed the antivenom," Mezmo said in dismay.

"She did not breathe it in, for she wasss the one who dissstributed it," Skales reminded, then let out a sharp laugh. "When I finally ussse our key, Ssslithraa'sss downfall isss inevitable."

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Realm was feeding her dragon in the cabinets when her head suddenly spun, a pounding migraine drilling itself through her head. For a second, she felt like someone else was there with her, but the feeling was drowned out by her headache. She patted her dragon one last time before cranking the massive door shut, heading up the stone steps leading to the training arena.

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The monastery faded from Skales' view, and his surroundings returned to the icy tomb. "Yesss," he hissed with delight. "Thisss will be fun."