"We're almost to the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master." Zane pointed toward the map on the screen, and I grinned. I glanced out the window, a couple of sea creatures bubbling in my direction. Cole smiled,
"Yeah. Can't believe we're almost there after all we've been through!"
"I can't believe I'm underwater," groaned Kai.
"You? What about me? Just how thick is this glass?" Cole tapped the glass a couple of times and I sighed.
"You'll both be fine."
Wu popped up on the screen, Misako in the background, and we turned our attention to him.
"We're heading to your location now. With Morro already ahead of you and able to foresee the traps protecting the tomb with the Sword of Sanctuary, it's going to be up to you five to find the Realm Crystal before he does."
"Heh, Cole's a Ghost, Kai can't swim, we have no magical sword or Elemental Powers other than a shapeshifter." Jay laughed nervously. "What could go wrong?"
"I'm not quite sure if I should be offended or not." Misako stepped closer to the screen.
"I wouldn't be offended, Taylor. I may not know the three tests you're about to face, but I discovered a riddle that makes reference to it that may help: 'A Spinjitzu Master can. A Spinjitzu Master cannot. To move forward, don't look ahead, to find his resting spot.'"
"Huh. That's food for thought," Cole shrugged as Jay glanced out the window. He gulped and I followed his gaze only to immediately regret it afterwards. A large octopus-like creature drew closer and I recognised it from Clouse's scrolls. A Leviathan.
"Speaking of food, we're about to be some!"
"We have to go faster. Much faster," Kai urged as the Leviathan cracked Rex's glass. "Why did the tomb have to be underwater?"
"Hold on!" Cole yelled and the motion made my insides turn. The ship's speed increased as the creature kept swimming after us. I gripped the back of Cole's chair in hopes of calming my nerves, but I knew that wouldn't do anything.
"Ugh! What kind of weapons is this thing equipped with?" Jay groaned and my gaze remained on the Leviathan.
"We don't need weapons. Aim for that rock!" Zane called out and Cole nodded,
"On it." Cole steered REX toward a gap in a rock, the large squid-like animal following us. We narrowly passed through the hole as the Leviathan tried to squeeze its way through.
"Thank the Master," I mumbled, swiping a gloved hand over my eyebrows and I joined in with the guys' cheers. Jay threw up his hands,
"Yeah! All right! Thatta Boy, Rex! Thatta boy!"
As we approached the tomb's entrance, I began to feel jittery. We might save Lloyd. What if we defeat Morro? What if we don't? What if we fail?
Kai placed a hand on my shoulder. "We're going to be okay. We'll get Lloyd back. Don't worry."
I nodded weakly.
Cole guided Rex under a ledge and out of the water. The five of us jumped out of the ship and onto a sandy bank. It was dark and the rocks formed a roof over us. I made a mental note that we may need another way out of here.
"If you wanna hide a tomb, this looks like a good place. We're here," Cole breathed, and Jay walked over to a stick. There was green fabric on it. He groaned loudly,
"There goes any hope Morro couldn't find this place!"
"Hey, stay positive," Kai told him as he put a hand on his shoulder from behind. "We're about to risk our lives going through traps we know nothing about. All we have to rely on is each other. At least feel lucky we got this far," Porcupine finished with a half-shrug.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. What was I thinking? Hey, there goes any hope Morro couldn't find the tomb! We're not alone! Yay! Now we're gonna have to fight him again! Sure, we got our tails handed to us last time, but you never know in the future, because Ninja never quit!" Jay cried out sarcastically before returning to his normal voice, "Better?"
"Eh, I'll take it."
"You two argue like a married couple," I teased, and Kai gave me a playful shove.
"You should've seen Jay's parents. They-"
"Hey! Leave my parents out of this!"
"See?" Kai laughed at my response.
Zane stepped forward, drawing our attention to a massive statue. It looked like Wu, but with shoulder armour. "Look!"
"The First Spinjitzu Master," said Cole. I added on,
"Creator of all Ninjago." Kai 'whoa'ed in awe.
"Destination reached. Auto return initiated," a voice called out and we turned around. Jay gasped,
"Auto return? No, no! Bad, Rex! Bad!" We ran after Rex, but it submerged underwater before we could get on. I groaned and raked my hands down my face.
"Our Aeroblade weapons were in there," Zane pointed out and I turned around, pacing.
Kai scoffed, "Not to mention our only way back."
"Just our luck," I spat.
"Hey, stay positive! Who needs a way back when we gotta go that way?" Jay replied, obnoxiously happy. Sometimes that Blueberry makes me want to squish him into a pulp and give it to Luna.
"No sword, no powers, minus Taylor, no problem. We can do this, guys. As long as we got each other, right?"
"Hope so," I sighed and Cole grinned,
"Sibling sharpens sibling."
We trekked through the tunnels to the first test only to walk through a door and find more doors with symbols on each of them. The door behind us suddenly closed by itself.
"This could be the first test," Cole guessed.
"No shit."
"Why did it have to be tests? Why can't the tomb just be protected by Dragons? We're good with Dragons," Jay complained, and I rolled my eyes.
"I'm pretty sure we're supposed to pick a door."
"But which one?" Kai asked and I shrugged.
Jay turned around and looked at the symbols. "Um, what was it Misako said?"
"'A Spinjitzu Master can. A Spinjitzu Master cannot. To move forward, don't look ahead, to find his resting spot.'" I listened to Zane's words as we split off, examining the symbols. I walked over to one of the doors asking myself,
"What can we do?"
The door I was looking at had a symbol that almost looked like an eagle. With a point on the left side and thin jagged triangles on the top and bottom, it really did look like a bird.
"A Spinjitzu master can. Can what?" Kai questioned and Jay shrugged,
"Sixteen doors, for Sixteen Realms?" I joined the others in the middle.
"Well, could be," Cole agreed, "but let me guess, pick the wrong door and we'll be in a realm of hurt."
"Oh, I wish we had the Sword right about now."
"We can figure this out. 'A Spinjitzu Master can.' Can..." Kai trailed off, looking up at a symbol of a tornado.
"The symbol above this door, it's a tornado. This could be the one, right?"
"You could be right."
"I dunno, something tells me it's not it. It's too easy," I stated, rubbing the side of one of my pointer fingers across my lips. Zane stepped forward urgently as Jay reached forward to grab the handle,
"Jay, wait! Step away from that door, Jay." He pulled him away gently.
"W-what is it?"
"We're inside a zoetrope."
Kai stared at Zane blankly, "A zoe-what?"
"A zoetrope. The engravings in rapid succession creates a moving image."
"Uh, I don't get it," Cole tilted his head.
"'A Spinjitzu Master can.'" I hummed, "Do Spinjitzu!"
"Exactly!" Zane grinned and I returned the smile. We stepped back as he began to do Spinjitzu. "He's creating some sort of shape." Zane stopped and pointed to a door with a symbol like the Yin and Yang. "That one. That's the door out."
"I don't know, Zane. Isn't that the same door we came in? Are you sure?" Cole asked, sceptical.
"Are you sure you want to doubt a Nindroid?"
"Open the door. Let's find out," Kai said, cutting off Cole and Zane. Possibly to prevent an argument. Jay opened the door, revealing the second test.
"But...that wasn't here before. How can it be the way, if that's the way we came in?" I shrugged at Cole.
"Well, welcome to the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master."
The second test was a large spacious room with tiles covering the floor. At the end, on a rocky ledge, was a golden staff. One step closer to Lloyd and Morro.
"Hey, hey! Nice one, Zane. Who needs the Sword of Sanctuary when you've got a Nindroid?" Jay cheered. Jay is too pure for this world.
Kai began to walk forward,
"The Staff of the First Spinjitzu Master." Cole grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Wait! This is the second test, remember? Zane, what do you think?"
"Pixal can see no pattern. For this riddle room, I'm at a loss."
Jay tapped a finger on his chin in thought. "Think about it. The first test was a 'A Spinjitzu Master can.' So, this one's 'A Spinjitzu Master cannot.' Though, saying it out loud, I don't like the sound of that." Kai walked forward, glancing around the space,
"Hmm." He stepped on a tile that sank under his foot with a creak. "Uh-oh!" Stone arrows shot out from the sides, and I transformed into an ant in hopes of escaping them.
"Is everyone okay?" Cole asked, glancing up at us. I transformed back.
"That was a close one," Zane sighed in relief.
Jay chided nervously, "Every step, uh, a trap."
"How does one reach the staff if it becomes more difficult with every step to get there? If I'm correct, this riddle room poses quite the conundrum."
"So, if a Spinjitzu Master can't do it," Cole threw his hands up, "how are we supposed to reach the staff?"
"Watch and learn." Kai summoned his Airjitzu and landed on a ledge. Arrows appeared on the rock, and I cringed. "Huh? What—uh-oh!" The Master of Fire jumped off, barely dodging the arrows but activating more traps.
"Stop Kai!" I yelled as he jumped over some fire.
"No. Wait!" Cole called as Jay screamed, "Not that one!"
Zane held out his hands in warning, "Just stop!"
Jay stepped back and accidentally triggered a tile. Tiles in between us and Kai fell away and I gasped,
"Oh, no!"
A large ball fell from the ceiling behind us, and I transformed into a bird as Jay and Zane jumped over to Kai's side. A wrecking ball swept across the room, passing through Cole.
"Wait, I'm a ghost. What am I worried about?" The wrecking ball hit a button, causing water to start leaking out. "That! That, I can worry about!"
Kai looked up at the staff. "I can make it." Kai ran towards the staff again and I dodged arrows that came plummeting down from the roof. I stopped focusing on Kai for a moment, trying to avoid being hit with fire or gas from the sides until Jay called out,
"Will everyone please stop moving!?" There were no more tiles left except for a collective few near the base of the staff.
"I can make it. It's just a hop, skip, and a jump," Kai declared and tried to use Airjitzu. He fell and more tiles fell, making him crawl back to his lone tile.
"But what else comes with a hop, skip, and a jump? You trigger one more trap, I don't know how much more we can take," Cole snapped.
"The clue clearly said this is a test a Spinjitzu Master cannot do. So why are we not listening to the clue!?"
"I have no idea, Jay!"
"Why can't Taylor grab it? You're the one who can fly!" Kai looked up at me.
"Didn't you see what happened when you got up the staff? You got shot at!"
Cole crossed his arms, "Wait. What if it's a trick? What if the reason we can't do it is because we were never meant to reach the staff? What is the first rule of being a ninja?"
"A ninja never quits," Zane answered.
"Exactly, and that's why we can't do it. Because a ninja would never give up."
"What are you trying to say? We just quit? Are you insane?"
"I agree with Kai," I said, and Cole looked down at the void.
"This time, trust me." He jumped off his tile. The was a loud chorus of 'Cole!'s from the rest of us as we stared down. "Whoo-hoo! Haha! Come on down and enjoy the ride!
"He's alive!" Zane exclaimed and we jumped down, landing on an ice slide. I honestly cannot question anything anymore. We slid down a spiral and Kai yelled from the top,
"Seriously? Try to stay together!"
We were flung around, from ledge to ledge and I couldn't help but feel sick.
"Stay together? I'm just trying to stay in one piece! Aah!" Jay screamed and I slid into another path. I let out a groan.
"No!" I heard Cole yell at one point. I transformed into a penguin, hoping that I would be able to control myself better. I quickly caught up to the others, Kai, Zane and Cole in a large pile until Jay knocked the four of them over. We were headed straight for a ledge!
"Watch out!" I yelled, transforming back in time for us to be flung over the edge and to cling onto the ice stalagmite as well.
"No, no! Aah!" Zane screamed and fell, Kai and I in pursuit. I could hear Cole and Jay falling soon afterwards. We had landed on another ice path, and I took this as my opportunity to turn back into a penguin.
"Oh, no!" Kai groaned as we ducked under crossed icicles, and he accidentally grabbed two icicles. "Huh?" I glanced back to my left and I noticed Jay using the icicles as skis. Smart.
"Whoo-hoo! I love skiing!" he laughed as Kai copied him. "Yeah!" I grinned.
"All right!" Cole whooped and I looked back at the front only to see a wall of ice in front of us. I let out a scream, driving first into the... soft snow? I guess it wasn't made of ice then. I groaned and rubbed my head, transforming back into a human.
"Is everyone okay?"
"I think so, Zane," I grumbled. I stood up and looked around. There were tall ice walls that surrounded us.
"What did we get ourselves into?" Kai asked as we began to walk through them. Jay climbed up the snow wall and called out, "Oh, it's a maze! I'm great at mazes!" Great. Another thing to remind me of my father. Kai turned to his left as I kept walking,
"Huh! Whoa! If my reflection means anything, I'm starting to think we won't be breaking out of this maze any time at all." I turned around and furrowed my eyebrows.
"Reflection? What do you mean reflection?" And I investigated the ice.
It was me, obviously. Except I was wearing different robes. And I was older.
"My reflection. Is that...me? I look older, but our attire is different. I don't believe these reflections reveal our inability to escape, but a mere glimpse of our future selves." My hair was down, surprisingly, and shorter than what I have now. There was a long pale scar on the left side of my face. What happen-
"You traitor! They're gone, all because of you! How could you?"
"Everything was taken from me; my parents, my life, my home, my future. I was satisfied - until you showed up! You took my future away so I'm going to take everything you've ever loved away from you!"
And I was staring up at my reflection again. Who was that? What did I do? Or what happened to me-
"Misako said 'To move forward, don't look ahead.' Is that what it means? Wait a minute, why is it I can't see my reflection? Where is my reflection?" Cole went on but I wasn't really listening. Why did I hear that? Why did my vision go blurry? Was it a vision? I shook my head. Perhaps I was just hearing things. I probably need to get more sleep.
Deciding to forget the haunting words, I glanced back up. I was mesmerised by the older woman who stood before me. She looked wise, beautiful even, and happy.
Suddenly, there was movement behind her, well me, I guess.
"It's probably because you're a Ghost." I could hear the roll of Kai's eyes in his voice.
"Ghosts cast reflections, Kai. He's probably just looking in the wrong place," Zane replied.
A tall handsome blond man appeared beside her, his arms wrapping around her waist, and I wanted to glance back to see if he was behind me, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.
"I am looking at the same place you are," grumbled Cole.
His hands rested on her stomach which had a noticeable bump. She- I was pregnant . Well, maybe not that noticeable considering I only just saw it.
I gasped loudly and my hand flew up to my mouth. There was a wedding ring on his left hand.
"What can you see Taylor?" Kai asked me and I hesitantly looked away.
"Oh, I just got a lot more scars." I hated lying but it didn't feel right to share. When I looked back, I recognised the man.
Lloyd.
"Hey, guys, guess what. I get an awesome eyepatch! And there's something else," Jay called out and gasped.
Lloyd and I were going to get married. We were going to have kids. We were going to have a future together.
My heart ached for a future that seemed at least a decade away.
"What, Jay? What is so great that you see that I clearly cannot?" I felt bad for Cole.
"N-nothing. Just an eyepatch."
We're going to get Lloyd back. I glanced up at his vibrant eyes which hadn't left the face of my future self. He pressed a kiss to her temple, and she giggled as I felt a breeze right where he kissed her. I felt myself fall deeper for Lloyd.
"Wait a minute, I think I see me." He paused and I turned to look at him. "It's Morro! He's in the maze too!" The ice in front of Cole suddenly smashed into chunks, revealing Morro who headed for Jay, cornering him with his sword pointed out in front of him.
"All you ninja do is talk. Blah, blah, blah. I'll stop you from talking!" Morro exclaimed, swinging the sword at Jay, narrowly missing him. Jay ran, dodging Morro's attacks as he screamed.
"He's attacking an unarmed man!"
"We're coming for you!" Kai yelled, running towards Jay's voice and Zane and I followed him. We raced down the corridor, trying to avoid slipping on the ice.
"Zane's here, but Cole, where are you?" Zane's with Jay? That means he went the other way . "I don't really know. But I'm coming!" Cole's words rang through the ice, proceeded by the clatter of a fight.
"We went the wrong way, Kai."
"I know, but I know how to get back," he responded gruffly.
"Right, so I'm supposed to trust that you know where you're going despite going the wrong way in the first place?" Kai turned his head toward me,
"Go back the way we came then."
I knew he had a point, going back would take even more time. I may as well just follow him.
I rolled my eyes, "Nevermind."
Kai turned right and abruptly stopped, almost causing me to collide with him. The nineteen-year-old glanced around, ignoring the others being swept off their feet by a gust of wind. He leapt at Morro, stopping a swing of his sword with an icicle.
"Kai! What are you doing?" I yelled.
"Come on! Catch me if you can!" Kai taunted the ghost, ignoring me as well. He lead Morro near some icicles, who kept slicing at them as they grew. Soon enough, Morro was trapped,
"No!" I helped the others stand up as Kai smugly grinned. "You can't trap me. I'll find you, ninja. Just wait, you'll see!"
We began to walk off as Jay turned around,
"Quick, how do we get out of here?"
"To move forward, don't look ahead," Cole recited, tapping his chin and Jay slipped across the floor.
"Don't look ahead." I watched Jay intently as he looked through the glass on the floor. "Look below!"
"There's light!" I spotted and everyone gathered around the crack.
"Everyone, dig!" I nodded at Kai in acknowledgement, switching to a wolf, and joining the others in digging. It didn't take long before the floor fell away and we toppled into another place underground. I transformed out of a wolf and that's when I spotted it.
"Look!" I raced down the rocky stairs, past the river, and across the stoned floor. "Quick!"
"What? What is it?" Jay yelled, running after me. I stopped at a coffin made out of rock, a rotting skeleton resting on it.
"It's him." Kai gasped as the guys joined me,
"The First Spinjitzu Master." Out of respect, we lowered onto one knee, our heads hung low. This was Lloyd's grandfather, our god.
"The Realm Crystal," Zane observed, picking it up and he held it up for all of us to see. It was shaped like a diamond and a glowing blue.
"It's beautiful..." I added in awe.
"How does it work?" Kai asked.
"How it works is you'll hand over the Crystal or say goodbye to your friend." We turned around at the sound of his voice.
"Lloyd!" I gasped, noticing that Morro was holding Lloyd out, no longer possessing him.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him."
"So, what'll it be?" the ghost chided. Zane turned to us,
If we hand him the Crystal, he'll usher the reign of his master, cursing Ninjago and every realm."
"But if we don't, when has he never made good on a threat? Look at Lloyd. He's too weak to protect himself," Cole uttered.
"Ugh, either option totally stinks." Jay groaned, "What do you think, Kai? What do we do?"
"Looks like the decision is up to you, Kai. So, choose."
"It's either, world domination by a giant ghost thing and we get our friend and your powers back or our friend dies along with your powers and no world domination," I said grimly. "So yes Kai, you choose."
"Wow, great. Thanks, Taylor."
"You're welcome." I gave him a bitter smile and glanced up at Morro. He was getting impatient.
"Stop stalling! Give me the Realm Crystal, or else!"
"We're not stalling! We're thinking!" Kai called back and turned around, ushering us into a huddle. "He's totally right, I'm stalling. What are we gonna do?"
"Ugh, this guy really chaps my hide. I swear when this is all over..." The ground shook a little in response to Cole's anger.
"Our powers. Now that Morro's out of Lloyd's body, they're starting to come back."
Jay tried to use his electricity, resulting in a small spark. "Yeah, but like Lloyd, they're weak. And we're in no position to fight back."
"Leave that to me. Be ready."
"Time's up! You leave me no choice."
"Wait!" I eyed Kai's hands, noticing the slight flame. "We'll give you the Realm Crystal!" The Fire Master threw it to Morro, who let go of Lloyd to catch it. Morro laughed, which soon turned into a scream, and he dropped the crystal into the water. I discreetly gave Kai a high five.
"The Crystal! What have you done!?" Lloyd got up and hit the sword out of Morro's hand. This angered Morro and he pushed Lloyd into the river using his wind.
"Lloyd!" we yelled in unison. I took off down the river, Kai and Cole hot on my heels.
"I can't get to him. I can't swim!"
"You can't swim? I can't touch the water! I'm a Ghost, remember? You at least had a reflection! What happens to me?"
Idiots.
While Kai and Cole bickered, I tried to find the easiest way to get Lloyd out. About to transform and dive in, I heard a splash and saw Kai in the water.
"What the heck, Kai?"
"Oh, no. Kai's got Lloyd, but who's got, Kai?" Jay gasped and I rolled my eyes,
"I do! And no one else better jump in!" I jumped in, changing to a polar bear. As I attempted to fight against the river, I grabbed hold of Kai with my teeth and used my front paws to pull the two of them out. "No more swimming for you guys from now on."
"Agreed..." Cole trailed off before racing to the edge of the waterfall. "No! The crystal!" Except the crystal flew up and up until... "Morro has the crystal! Everyone, run!"
"Wait Cole! No! It's not worth it," Jay called, and Lloyd sighed from Zane's side.
"I'm sorry."
We made our way back to the Bounty in silence. Lloyd was being helped by Kai while the rest of us stuck to their sides. I spotted Misako, Wu and Nya and I grinned,
"Hey, it's Sensei, Nya and Misako!" Lloyd glanced at me as we paused.
"You all sacrificed so much to save me."
"Heh, I promised to look after you, didn't I?" Kai replied with a chuckle.
"But now Ninjago's gonna be cursed."
Zane shrugged, "Yes, but now we have you." Jay lit up some electricity,
"And now our powers are back, plus two new members on the team."
"As you get strong, so will we. And they haven't even seen us at full strength," Cole finished, and the guys shot up the powers into the air. You're gonna pay for this Morro and we're coming for you.