This chapter might be a little longer than the others, along with some more time between Nova and Garmadon, as she does need answers to her questions.
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*The ninja and Nova have gathered on the Destiny's Bounty's deck. In another room, Kai finds the green gi.*
"Earth!" Cole attacks what appears to be a Serpentine. Meanwhile, Kai has donned the gi.
"Whoo-hoo!" says Kai ecstatically.
"Lightning!" Jay shocks the Serpentine. Kai practices fighting.
"Ice!" Zane knocks down the Serpentine. A light goes on, revealing their enemy to be a training dummy.
"Decay!" Nova attacked the dummy. But her powers didn't do as much as she would have wanted.
"Good training. Your powers are getting stronger. But where's Kai?" said Nya.
"Except for mine." Nova mumbled sadly to herself.
"Fire! Unlock Fire! Uh, Fire go! Shoot flames! Oh, come on. Everyone else can do it. So can you. BRING HEAT!" said Kai as the ninja finds him in front of a mirror and laughs.
"Very nice. Perhaps if you tried the phrase "Fire dork," maybe it might work." said Cole.
Nova giggled a little.
"How long have you all been watching?" Kai asked, removing the mask.
"Long enough to wish, I never saw that." said Nova.
"The Green Ninja suit. That's awesome!" said Jay.
"Well, I was looking for some kind of clue from Sensei, and then I found this." said Zane.
"But you know, only he who is foretold to face is destined to be the Green Ninja, and only he should wear the Green Ninja outfit. So Sensei would most likely be very—" Zane was cut off mid-sentence.
"I know, I know. But I thought if I just tried it on, it might help me see my potential. It's not fair that you guys have unlocked your cool powers and I still haven't. Besides, Sensei's gone, and we don't know when he's coming back —" Kai tried to explain until a door opens.
"Hello? I'm home." Wu called.
"Sensei!" Everyone said excitedly while Kai goes to change back into his gi.
*On deck, the others greet Wu.*
"Ah. It's so good to be home." said Wu as the ninja and Nova showed up.
"Welcome back Wu!" said Nova, running over and giving him a hug.
"So glad you're back." said Zane.
"Did you bring us anything?" Cole asked.
"Oh, Sensei, have you missed a lot. Zane's a Nindroid, Nya's the mysterious Samurai, Cole's a dancer, Nova learned how to use spinjitzu—" Jay went on to explain everything that had happened.
"Zane is a...what?" Wu asked, confused.
"You've been gone a while. We'll catch you up later. But you should know, all of us except for Kai and Nova have discovered our True Potential." Zane told him.
"Have you now? Where is Kai?" Wu asked.
Kai runs over to the others, back in his own gi. "Right here. So glad you're back safe." Garmadon comes up from behind Wu. "Aah! Sensei, behind you!" He goes to attack the Dark Lord while Zane dives to guard Wu.
Nova just watches while waiting for a chance to talk with Garmadon, she has been waiting so long for this moment.
"Sensei!" said Zane in slow motion.
"Ugh! He's got four arms." said Kai.
"Cool!" said Nova with a big smile.
"No, not cool, Nova!" said Jay.
"So we meet again." said Garmadon.
"He must've followed you, Sensei!" said Kai.
"Kai, stop! He is the reason I left. For so long as Pythor has Lloyd, he will be our guest." Wu told him.
"We have to live with this guy?!" said Jay, shocked.
"But Sensei, he has four arms!" said Zane, also shocked.
"Uh, must I remind you ever since he turned evil, he's been trying to get our golden weapons?" said Jay.
"ENOUGH!" shouted Wu angrily at the ninja.
"Yes, Sensei." said the ninja.
"This isn't about the weapons. It's about my son." said Garmadon.
"From here on out, you will obey me, and you will respect my brother." said Wu.
"Yes, Sensei." said the ninja.
Nova smiled, walking over to Garmadon. "Hello, mister, it's nice to meet you. I'm Nova, a friend of Lloyd." She introduced herself.
"Well, at least someone here has some manners, nice to meet you, Nova. I'm happy to see Lloyd have a friend around here." said Garmadon as he patted her head.
"Now to the bridge. We must put our attention to more pressing matters." said Wu and they went to the bridge. "So, where are we at with the four fangblades?"
"Oh, Pythor's managed to take the first two, but there's still two left." said Jay.
"And we only need one in order to prevent him from unleashing the Great Devourer." said Cole.
"Any luck finding their whereabouts?" Wu asked.
"No, but the falcon is programmed to alert us if he sees any suspicious activity." said Zane.
"Good. If we find the Fangblade, we find Lloyd. Kai and Nya, prepare the deck and double check the anchor. We need to be ready when we first get word of activity." said Wu.
"Yes, Sensei." said Kai and Nya.
Kai looked over at Garmadon "I have my eye on you." As they leave, he grunts when he hits his head, and Wu sighs. Nya grabs him and points with two fingers from his eyes to the Garmadon's to show that he's watching him, and Nya grabs him once again.
"Jay, did you say the Falcon was...programmed?" Wu asked.
Nova watched the others going on to talk about the Falcon before going over to Garmadon.
"Ummm Garmadon? I have a few questions I was wondering if you could answer?" She asked him, getting his attention.
Garmadon looked down at Nova. "Well, what are does questions?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Nova nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "I've noticed whenever I use my elemental powers I always end up exhausted without doing much, unlike the ninja who can keep going without breaking a sweat. But I just don't know why." She told him.
"Hmmm, well, what are your elemental power?" Garmadon asked.
Nova wanted to say darkness, but she was a little unsure about that. "Decay." She told him.
"Ahh, I see, well, for that question. I would believe it's because you are still very young, and decay is like my destruction. It is a powerful elemental power that is hard to control without the right training." Garmadon explained.
Nova gave a slight nod as she listened closely. "There is also something else." She said, taking off her right glove, showing her now black hand with claws.
"Whenever I use my powers even a little, this keeps growing for some reason." She told him, getting a bit anxious.
Now this caught Garmadon's attention, as he carefully took her hand with one of his own and looked closer at it.
"This looks very much like an oni's hand, but nothing like this." He said, looking over at her.
"Were you by any chance bitten by a snake?" Garmadon asked.
Nova looked at him, shaking her head. "This only happened reasonably, and I wasn't near any snake that could have done it." She told him.
"Hmmm, then my only answer to this would have to be some kind of corruption from the darkness. But the only thing I don't get is how you are getting this, if you haven't been near anything that could have caused it." Garmadon explained.
Nova's eyes grew widened by the word darkness, much to her fear.
"I-is there anything..... I-I can do to stop this?" She asked in fear.
Garmadon noticed her shaking a little, clearly scared of this news. "Well, my suggestion would be to stop using your elemental powers, but with yours being "Decay" it might become harder to control, if you never learn how to use it." He said, putting a hand to his chin, thinking.
"Hmmm, I'll try and ask Wu if he has any tea that can help delay the growth." He said.
Nova gave a slight nod. "But please don't tell the others about this...I...I'm scared of what they might think or react if they found out."
"Okay, we can keep this between us for now, but if it gets worse, we let the rest know." said Garmadon.
She smiled a little, being okay with that. "A-also Garmadon I was wondering, while you are here, if you could teach me how to better control my powers?" She asked.
Garmadon gave it some thought before looking at her. "Okay, I don't see a problem with that. I probably would be better at teaching you something that is way closer to my elemental powers, than Wu's and the others."
*Later, the ninja watches Garmadon as he brushes his teeth with a dagger. At the dinner table, Kai and Cole stares at Garmadon while he eats black grubs.*
"What's he eating?" Cole asked.
"Condensed evil. Supposed to be low in fat." said Kai.
"I don't wanna know what that is, for my own stomach's sake" Nova mumbled.
*A grub flies off his plate towards Kai who brushes it away with his fork in disgust. Sometime later, Jay, Nya, and Garmadon watch a movie.*
The man on TV. "Goodbye, my darling." Garmadon laughs as he changes the channel, while Jay and Nya looks very annoyed.
*Garmadon starts teaching Nova how to use her powers.*
"Relax your body, and let the powers flow through you, don't try to control it. That's what makes you exhausted so fast." Garmadon told her.
Nova nodded, closing her eyes as she did what he told her to do. It was a little scary, but she did feel a little more flexible.
"Now try and aim for one of the dummies." He said.
Nova opened her now purple eyes as she aimed at one of the dummies, and used decay. Much to her surprise, the effect was much faster than it had ever been before.
"Since when did your eyes change color?" Garmadon asked.
Nova looked over at him confused. "My eyes changed color?"
"Yeah, they changed from blue to purple. You didn't know that?" He asked.
Nova shook her head. "No, I didn't know." She said.
Garmadon put a hand to his chin, thinking. "It might be another part of the corruption, my guess would be that, whenever you have full control of your powers, they change colors." He explained.
"Is that a good or bad thing?" Nova asked, worried that she hadn't noticed her eyes changing colors, let alone anyone else until now.
"For now, I'll say it isn't a bad thing, since it doesn't seem to have any other effect. But we should still be careful about it." said Garmadon.
*Kai tries to pilot the Bounty during a storm.*
"Where's Garmadon?" Zane asked.
Kai let out an annoyed sigh. "Sunbathing."
*The ninja share their bedroom with Garmadon, who disturbs them with electricity.*
"Do you have to do that? We're trying to sleep." said Kai, annoyed. but Garmadon ignores him and only laughs. Kai groans. Until he gets an idea.
"We are trying to sleep, if you don't quiet down, you're gonna wake up the little PRINCESS!" He shouted out loud in annoyance.
"What have you done...." The others whispered in fear, knowing what was coming.
Soon enough, they heard a door open and the sound of footsteps coming towards their room. The door opened to a very pissed off, and tired Nova, dragging her plushie with her. "WOULD YOU GUYS FUCKING SHUT UP IN HERE, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!"
Garmadon let out a gasp, as he had never heard those words come out of her. Let alone a child. "Language!"
"ENGLISH, OLD MAN!!"
Nova then glanced over at Kai, with a stare that could almost kill a person. "If you ever say that word again, I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU, MYSELF!!" She then slammed the door after her and went back to her room.
"Where did she learn such language from?" Garmadon asked.
The ninja just shrugs before going back to sleep, finally getting some peace.
*The ninja, except Jay, watch as Nova and Garmadon plays a video game using two controllers at once, due to him having four arms.*
"He's not even playing the game right. He's just shooting and destroying things." said Kai.
"I've noticed when he isn't so focused on trying to turn Ninjago into his own image, he's actually quite fascinating." said Zane.
"Sure, the four arms are freakish, but all in all, he doesn't seem that bad of a guy." said Cole.
"Plus, Sensei is very fun to play with." said Nova, smiling as she was already beating Garmadon, brutally in the game.
"He might be pulling the wool over all your eyes, but not mine. He's up to something. And I'm gonna be ready for it." said Kai glaring towards Garmadon before looking over at Nova. "When did you start calling him, Sensei? He is anything but a sensei."
"When he started helping with my elemental powers, and how to use them more effectively." Nova answered, without taking her eyes off the TV screen. Not giving Garmadon any chance to cheat.
The ninja gave Nova a surprised look after hearing this, while Kai started thinking that he was only training Nova to do evil things, well, more evil than she already was doing.
*Garmadon and Nova are outside on the deck, training more on her elemental powers.*
"Now try and go for more than one target, along with focusing on how much and little you use your powers on them." Garmadon explained.
Nova gave a small nod. "Okay, Sensei." She said, smiling at him before doing as he told her.
Nova aimed at three dummies and tried to control how much decay she used on each one, but it wasn't easy as she quickly lost control, and two of the dummies had turned to dust. While the third had only gone down to half.
"Remember what I told you, butterfly, relax your body and let it flow through you." Garmadon said.
Nova took a deep breath as she was happy she wasn't getting that much exhausted anymore, so she went for another round with the dummies again. Aiming at three, and this time remembered to relax her body, and not force the powers to do what she wanted.
When she finally was able to do it right with three different results, she cheered happily before running over to Garmadon. "Did you see that, Sensei, I did it! I actually did it! and this time I didn't pass out from exhaustion!" She said in pure joy that she hadn't felt for so long.
Garmadon chuckled a little at her excitement, as he patted her head. "Yes, that was very impressive, butterfly." He said, smiling at her.
*The Falcon records the Serpentine heading to the Fire Temple.*
"Garmadon, get ready to get Kai'd! Fire!" Kai grunts. "Wham, bam, sorry to beat you, man!"
Wu in another room. "This way. Come, come." Kai follows his voice. "I have come to understand that the mysterious Samurai is no longer a mystery."
"Oh yeah, you heard about that. I guess I picked up a thing or two." said Nya.
"It was foolish of me to think that a girl could not be the destined Green Ninja." Kai peers through the window while standing on a stepstool.
Kai mumbled to himself. "Nya's the Green Ninja?"
"When the four weapons are laid out before the destined one, the weapons will react, revealing the identity of the Green Ninja." Wu explained.
"But, Sensei..." said Nya.
"Approach the weapons." said Wu.
"What are you doing out here?" asked Garmadon and Nova, coming up to Kai.
"Whoa!" Kai falls off the stepstool. "What are you doing out here? And with the shrimp?"
"Evil never sleeps." said Garmadon.
"Wouldn't you like to know." said Nova with a smirk.
"Yeah, well, good never rests." said Kai glaring at Garmadon.
"Maybe we should take care of this right now." said Garmadon.
Nova stepped to the side, knowing what was coming and didn't want to be in the middle of it.
"I was hoping you'd say that." said Kai as they pushed each other.
"Guys, guys, what are you doing out here?" Nya asked, coming out of the room.
"Perhaps you should be asking Mr. Snoopy Pants that question." said Garmadon.
"Spying on your own sister. Shame on you Kai, shame on you." said Nova, shaking her head.
"Kai, were you spying on me?" Nya asked, looking at him.
"What? No way! I was, uh, keeping watch. So are you the Green Ninja?" Kai asked, a little nervous.
"What? Of course not."said Nya.
"So the weapons didn't tell you. Ah, that means I still have a chance." said Kai.
"Truth is, she never wanted to know." answered Wu coming out of the room.
"At first, all I wanted was to be like you, but after seeing how obsessed you've become and discovered what I could do on my own, I'm happy being a Samurai." said Nya.
"Then what about shrimp here?" Kai asked, pointing at Nova.
"She said she wasn't interested in being the green ninja." answered Wu.
"So then, who's the Green Ninja?" Kai asked.
"Perhaps we will never know." said Wu, and then Jay comes in.
"Kai, you were supposed to be on the bridge. Zane's Falcon spotted them." said Jay.
*Everyone enters the bridge.*
"Looks like Pythor is at the Fire Temple." said Nya.
"That means the Fangblade is there." said Kai.
"And Lloyd." added Garmadon and Nova in unison.
"That's the same Fire Temple where Kai and Lord Garmadon first faced off." said Jay.
"If my memory serves me correct, I'd say one of us cheated back when we last fought." said Kai glaring at Garmadon.
"And I remember someone needing their Sensei to save them." said Garmadon, glaring back at Kai.
Nova giggled a little. "Damn, he got burned from that comeback." She thought.
"Guys! For the sake of the Fangblade and Lloyd, can we please just get along?" said Cole, clearly getting tired of this.
"Since the last time we've been there, it looks like the volcano has grown unstable. The place is a powder keg just waiting to blow up. This will be a highly combustible environment." said Nya.
"Oh, great. Just what I like. Fighting armed and deadly snakes in a highly combustible environment about to blow up!" shouted Jay.
"We will do what we must." said Wu.
"Yes, Sensei. But where are our weapons?" Zane asked.
"And why is Lord Garmadon not here?" Kai asked, getting a bad feeling as he leaves the bridge.
"Kai!" Wu shouted.
"Too late, now he's really gone and done it." said Nova with a shrug.
*Kai slides down the stair railing to the lower deck and enters a room to find Garmadon holding the Weapons.*
"I knew I couldn't trust you, you thief!" shouted Kai angrily.
"Foolish child. I look forward to teaching you a lesson." said Garmadon.
"This ends NOW!!!" shouted Kai furiously.
"Indeed!" Garmadon agreed.
"Ninja, go!" They hit each other. "I'm alive. I'm alive!"
"You need to be taught a lesson!" said Garmadon.
"Kai? You in here?" Nya asked until she noticed that Kai locked the door. "What are you doing?"
Kai pressed against the door. "Discovering my True Potential!"
"Unh! The door won't budge!" said Jay.
"Kai thinks he'll unlock his power if he stands up to Lord Garmadon." Nya told the others.
"Why would he think that?!" Zane asked.
"He's desperate." said Nova bluntly.
Nya makes the cuckoo gesture. "'Cause he thinks he's the Green Ninja!"
"Well, if we don't open this door soon, I think he's gonna be mincemeat! Stand back!" said Cole and activates his True potential. "Earth." He breaks the door down, but Kai had already defeated Garmadon.
"I defeated him. I did it! Are my eyes glowing? Did I unlock my powers? Is this my True Potential? Argh! Why isn't it working?" said Kai.
"Because you cannot defeat someone who allowed himself to be defeated." explained Wu.
"I wasn't going to hurt you, boy. I was only fetching your weapons." said Garmadon.
"But you were trying to steal them!" said Kai.
"I asked him to get them. Perhaps it is best you do not reach your True Potential, or else someone could get hurt." said Wu in a stoic tone.
"Way to go, hero." said Cole.
"Let me help you, Sensei." said Nova, coming over to help Garmadon.
"Oh. Poor thing. Let me help you." said Nya, also joining in to help.
"Yes. Poor thing." said Garmadon as Kai clenches his fists angrily when the ship suddenly stops.
"Sounds like we've finally reached our destination." said Cole.
*Everyone disembarks and observes their destination.*
"The Fire Temple." said Cole.
Nya on the Bounty, using the Falcon as communication. "The volcano seems to be on the verge of eruption, guys. All recent indicators tell me that this place is becoming increasingly fragile. Even the smallest rupture can make the whole thing go off."
"Then we must not use our weapons." said Wu and everyone but Kai puts their weapons away.
"Kai." said Nya and Nova, looking at him.
Kai sighs before sheathing his sword. "Yeah, yeah. No fire sword. But only because I wouldn't want anything to prevent us from getting that Fangblade."
"Or my son." added Garmadon.
"There. The Serpentine must be inside the inner core. From here on out, we travel by shadows." said Wu.
"It's the only way I know how." said Garmadon as the group rushes down the tunnel to the base of the volcano, where the Serpentine are digging on a pillar.
"There's Lloyd." said Nova, pointing at the young boy being held in a cage.
Garmadon let out a gasp. "Son."
"Huh?" Pythor notices the digger hit something. "Out of my way, fool!" He pulls out his prize. "The third Fangblade is ours" They cheer, but Pythor sees the ninja in the Blade's reflection. "Ninja? Attack!"
"Light as a leaf. Attack like there is no tomorrow." said Wu.
"Wind." said Jay as he releases a gale from his hand before attacking.
Nova started laughing when he said that, since she knows they are gonna run into Morro in later seasons, but seeing and hearing that was just too funny for her.
"Ice!" said Zane before Kai notices he's surrounded and brings out his weapon, but the volcano reacts to its power.
"Kai, the weapon is compromising our safety." said Nya.
"I will do what I must." said Kai.
"Let's get out of here! But not before we leave them with a parting gift. Boys?" said Pythor looking over at the constrictial who digs up some holes.
"They're making the volcano unstable." said Zane.
"Any minute, this place is gonna blow. We have to get out of here." said Jay.
"Not without my son." said Garmadon.
"Not without Lloyd." said Nova.
"Dad!" shouted Lloyd.
"Argh, lose the boy!" said Pythor and they drop the cage near some rising lava.
"Dad!" shouted Lloyd.
"Lloyd!" said Garmadon as he saves Lloyd just as the cage bottom melts.
"Dad." said Lloyd, relieved as they hug.
"Son." said Garmadon while Kai rushes past them.
"Dude seriously?" Nova mumbled.
"The Fangblade's mine!" said Kai, determined.
"Come back. It's too dangerous. The whole place is going to explode!" shouted Cole.
"Then I better be quick!" said Kai and throws the Sword of Fire and knocks the Fangblade out of Pythor's grasp and impales both of them into the wall, and Pythor snarls angrily at Kai while he runs with determination. Pythor tries to pull the Sword of Fire and the Fangblade out but no effort.
"Hurry, we must leave here at once!" said Skales and they do so before the entrance is blocked. Kai leaps down to the Fangblade.
"Leave it, Kai! It's not worth your life!" shouted Jay.
"Kai! it isn't worth it! you fucking idiot!!" Nova shouted at him.
"Not without that Fangblade!" shouted Kai.
"But what about Kai? Kai!" shouted Lloyd before the ground under him breaks.
Nova's eyes widened, knowing she had the abilities to save him, but knew that she couldn't break the story, no matter how much she wanted to jump in and save him.
"NOOOOO!!!!! Lloyd!" Garmadon shouted.
"Dad! Dad! I'm sinking!" shouted Lloyd.
"It, unh, won't budge." said Kai as he drops the Fangblade on a rock.
"We have to get out of here, or else none of us will get out of here!" said Wu.
"But my son!" said Garmadon as they leave, and the entrance is blocked by rocks.
Nova looked back at the now blocked entrance, annoyed at herself that she had to force herself to not act out and use her own powers, no matter how much she wanted to.
"LLOYD!! LLOYD!!!!" Garmadon yelled out in horror as they leave on the Bounty and the volcano explodes.
Nova watched with tears slowly running down her face.
"Kai!" shouted Nya.
"Son." said Garmadon, sad, until a ball of fire shoots out of the volcano. It's soon revealed to be Kai and Lloyd flying back to the Bounty.
"It's Kai! He's found his True Potential!" shouted Nova, smiling when the two land; Kai removes his mask and gives a look of understanding to Wu before his power diminishes and he passes out. The Bounty takes off for open skies.
Nova smiled, running over and giving Lloyd a hug, happy that he was alright and safe.
"Don't scare me like that, you big idiot." She said before pulling away and punched his shoulder playfully.
Lloyd let out a small chuckle at this. "Sorry about that, I didn't think you would be that scared for me."
A small blush grew on Nova's face. "You're my friend, Lloyd, of course I'll be scared for you."
*In the bridge, everyone watches the Garmadons have a proper reunion.*
"Dad? Is it really you?" said Lloyd, walking towards his father.
"It is, son." said Garmadon, pulling him into a hug.
"Dad? Why do you have four arms?" Lloyd asked, causing Nova to let out a giggle.
"He's gonna be okay." said Cole and the ninja cheered.
"Thank you, Kai." said Garmadon.
"But how did you survive? How did you discover the key to unlocking your powers?" Zane asked.
"I knew when I had to make a choice. I wanted the Fangblade so badly, to prove I was good enough to become the Green Ninja. But then I figured it out. All of my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the Green Ninja. It was... to protect him." Kai explains and looks at Lloyd while everybody else catches on to what he means.
"What? What is everybody looking at me for?" Lloyd asked.
Nova had a soft smile on her face, knowing what was gonna happen next.
"That means..." said Nya as she, Kai and Cole bring the weapons in front of Lloyd, and they react by levitating and emitting green lightning.
"Lloyd is the Green Ninja. I had thought it would be one of you, but it was him the whole time. It all makes sense. Not only have you four been chosen to protect the Golden Weapons, but also to protect the Chosen One." said Wu before the weapons fall to the floor.
Garmadon then realizes something. "That means..."
"The battle lines have been drawn, brother. Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now, son versus father." said Wu as the group develops looks of sadness when Jay breaks the silence.
"Hehe, this is heavy and all, but whatever happened to the Fangblade!?" shouted Jay.
Nova was shaking her head, knowing what happened to it. "Looks like my training with Garmadon is pretty much over as he leaves in the next episode, but hey, I at least had time to learn how to better use my powers. Though it was only decay, I'm sure I can use those same guides with the rest." She thought to herself with a soft smile.