Chapter Text
Everything had gone wrong so fast.
The merge happened, a cataclysmic event that ruptured the realms and tore apart reality.
Time seemed to shatter in the vantage point, so many points in time flashing through the splintering universe.
The ninja tried desperately to stop it and save whoever they could, but chaos ripped through the realms. Thick, orange magma crackled and gleamed amongst the crimson light, and no matter what the ninja did, no matter what they threw at it…
Reality seemed to shatter, the Destiny’s Bounty ripped apart mid-air. The ninja and anyone they managed to save were sent flying through the cracks in reality. Light enveloped the world before…
It was over.
The realms had merged together. But something felt off.
Like, severely off.
Of course, Arin wasn’t quite sure what he was getting into, but as the world map began to get laid out in front of him.
Despite being so young… The huge divide between kingdoms and rulers made him tense up.
He needed to find where his parents went, and fast.
He caught the green hood from the green ninja, tucking it away in his hoodie and heading off through the desert.
Lloyd was the first to awaken, at least from what he knew. Everything in his body ached, a dull throbbing pain coming from his head and back especially. He winced, sitting up, only to notice a ton of people in what felt like the same outfit staring at him. He quickly got to his feet, backing up.
“Ooh! Looks like Rapton got a brand new catch! Get that… Freak!” a voice commanded.
Lloyd didn’t even bother looking, bolting from everyone as fast as his body could carry him. His feet felt like they were filled with lead, his head beginning to ache as he tried to hide wherever he could.
He leapt behind a building, trying to figure out just what was wrong with him. He felt something hit the back of the wall, causing him to leap back in shock. He looked around, still nothing.
He felt it again, brushing up against his back. He immediately grabbed it, only to feel scales. He yelped, stumbling back as he became aware of the dragon wings now on his back.
What the hell…?
He felt his head, feeling more than just his usual pointed ears… Small, protruding horns from his forehead.
No… Oh no no no no no this can’t be happening.
Why did his dragon and oni side decide to come out now?!
An electrical rope suddenly yanked on his neck, sending him crashing onto the concrete. He winced, charging up his energy to break out, only for three more horned guardsmen to tackle him, forcing his head to the ground.
“Ooh, the Empress is going to love this.”
Kai fell into a lake, his hair soaked from the water. He gasped, trudging to the surface as he coughed. He winced, straining his hair out as he looked around at the desolate landscape, monsters roaming around as life itself seemed dead.
This… This wasn’t right…
He got to his feet, looking around, the ashen sky making it difficult for him to see amongst the darkness.
It felt like it was getting colder…
He huffed, trying to start his fire. It flickered out of his grasp, almost like a dead battery. He frowned, shaking his hand and trying again.
Nothing.
He noticed a cave in the distance, running over to it for shelter. He pushed past the vines, feeling how damp and cold it was.
It… Wasn’t ideal, but until he figured out how to get out of here, it’ll have to do.
This world felt too dangerous for anyone to exist in.
Nya collapsed into a pile of snow. Well, too much snow for anyone to be around. She scrambled out, shivering as she immediately felt frostbite on her cheeks.
It was a blizzard out here!
She dug herself out of the snow, struggling to move through the blizzard as the snow reached her knees. She fell face first into it, forcing herself back out of the snow. Using her powers would've made this worse and she absolutely knew it.
She stopped, heaving as she grew even colder, snow coating her black hair. Oh, so help the first spinjitzu master she knew how to escape this place, she’d never see the end of this stupid snow-
A spear dug itself into her shoulder. She gasped, gritting her teeth as she pulled back, gripping her arm, the blood already becoming crystalized in the freezing cold.
Ice Samurai glared her down, weapons drawn. She stumbled back, only to knock into more samurai. They yanked her to the ground, ice freezing over her body.
Her senses slowly dulled before she felt herself slip.
Further and further…
Into the darkness…
Usually Cole was good with mountains! But not when the planet felt like it was screaming every time he tried to use it!
And the Skull Sorcerer is back?! How did that happen?!
Cole shook his head. He couldn’t think about that now, not after he already began to rush whoever he could out of the mines. Munce, Geckels, even as the skeletons chased them.
He couldn’t rest. He couldn’t stop. He had to move.
“No one leaves this mountain!” the skull sorcerer bellowed, bones cracking through the ground like a gate just as Cole managed to get outside with another creature in his arms.
He gasped, panting as he pulled them to their feet.
“Are you okay…?” he asked slowly.
The hybrid blinked, looking up at Cole in shock. “I… I’m okay, but we need to go back for the others!”
More skeletons began to emerge from the caverns, approaching them. Cole bit his lip, knowing that he didn’t want to abandon them… But he didn’t have much of a choice.
“We’ll come back and free everyone else, I promise.” Cole took his hand, running as fast as he could with the hybrid and out of the kingdom.
“What’s your name?”
“I… I’m Geo. And you?”
“Cole.”
“Nice to meet you, Cole.”
“Hang on!” Cole grabbed him by the hip, leaping off the mountain. Geo yelped, clinging onto him before he managed to summon an earth dragon, flying off from Shintaru. The skeletons made it to the ledge, unable to follow them further as they disappeared into the clouds.
“And that’s what I remember happening to the ninja…” Arin trailed off.
“Arin, I don’t mean to crush your dreams of being a ninja but like… If they were still alive after that event, do you think we would’ve seen them already? Like, roaming around?” Sora pointed out, tossing out a small screw as she kept rummaging through the junkyard.
“They’re supposed to be ninja! Why would they want to be seen?”
“... Good point.”
“And also, we gotta remember that where you came from got overrun by… What was his name?” Sora thought for a moment, digging out what she needed.
“Garmadon. Right… Emperor Garmadon.”
“Yeah, that guy. So we can’t go back to your city to find your parents without risking getting killed. And I certainly don’t wanna go back to imperium where Empress Beatrix is.”
“Oh! And the Ice Emperor! Or the Skull Sorcerer! Or even that snake sorceress! There’s too many factions to count!” Arin gasped, falling on his back in exasperation.
Sora huffed, pulling him down from the junk pile. “The more we stay out of their way, the better chances our survival will be. Come on!”
Arin followed her footsteps, the two heading out of the junkyard. He took the lead, pulling out his grappling hook before pulling them back to their small penthouse. He quickly let go of Sora once they were at the top. She winced, unclasping her prosthetic arm from her shoulder.
“Oh, the gear got stuck again… Arin? Can you help?”
“Right!” He immediately took the arm, prying open the main panel as she handed him the gear and screws she gathered. She got out her toolbox, pulling out a screwdriver. She pulled out the bolts carefully, setting them off to the side. Arin gently placed the new gear inside, spinning it around to make sure the fingers and shoulder moved accordingly. He placed the bolts back in, letting Sora screw them back in. He took the panel, snapping it back on as she latched it back into place.
“There! Good as new, thanks Arin!” She hugged Arin, taking her arm and strapping it back onto her shoulder.
“You hungry? I think I got enough berries for us to have another pie!” Arin offered, getting up and turning to the fridge. He pulled it open, already getting everything out. Sora laughed a little.
“You’ll never get tired of making pies, will you?” she said.
“Haha! Nope!”
“And I’ll never get tired of eating them, they’re delicious!”
“Aww! Thank you!” Arin gushed, finishing up with setting up the crust.
“I wonder how Frak is doing… It’s been a while since I’ve seen him from the merge.”
“I remember you bringing him up before. What was he like?” Sora asked. Arin placed the pie into the oven, shutting the door.
“Well… Frak was my best friend before the merge. He was the only one who got my excitement over the ninja. And, he taught me how to make those pies you so love!” He sat down across from her, fiddling with his hoodie strings.
“How would you describe him, if I can ask?” Sora slipped off her headphones. Arin paused, his expression appearing almost solemn.
“He was so sweet. He always liked helping others, without wanting anything in return. We both had so much to talk about, especially about the ninja… Even after all of that, we kinda just… Clicked. We had the same humor, similar tastes in music, we both liked adventure and comic books though I was more into mystery while he was into more tech fantasy. Sometimes we acted out the adventures of the ninja! I liked being Lloyd, the green ninja. He usually leaned towards Cole, the earth ninja.”
“I’m still confused about the green power thing. If the rest of the ninja have names in accordance with their elemental powers, then what exactly is Lloyd’s power?”
Arin opened his mouth to speak, only to immediately shut it. “I… I don’t know. The media keeps changing its name. Most people just say the green ninja because saying Energy or Life doesn’t quite sound right…”
“Ah. The Energy Ninja or Life Ninja doesn’t quite hit right, doesn’t it?” Sora tested the names out loud. Arin did have a point. Those names did feel odd for him.
“Yep. Like that. Also the prophecy said Green Ninja, so of course he’d be named like that!”
“I guess you’re right.”
The oven lit up, signaling that the pie was done. Arin pulled down the door, taking out the pie.
“Perfect!” He set it down on the countertop, cutting it into slices. He placed the first for Sora, passing it to her.
“I’m sure tomorrow is going to be… Bearable.” Sora tried to be optimistic, but it didn’t get very far. Arin frowned, staring at his own pie slice.
“We stick together, remember? No matter what happens.”
She exhaled, her shoulder’s sagging. “Right… Thanks, Arin.”
“No problem, Sora.” he bit into his pie slice, savoring the flavor.
Sora frowned, staring at her own piece. Something inside her was trying to warn her… She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but internally…
She feared tomorrow.
He woke up, stretched, and immediately felt the world rumble. Arin stumbled out of bed, throwing back on his hoodie as he looked outside. A vent had broken open in the crossroads as three figures in flying vehicles flew out, chasing after something.
He squinted his eyes, trying to see what it was.
… A baby dragon.
He froze, immediately throwing on his green ninja hood, leaping out the window with his grappling hook. He stumbled down, picking up the dragon in his arms.
“It’s okay, little guy. I got you!” he panted, seeing the hunters turn their attention towards him. The baby dragon growled a little, whining at the chasers.
“It’s okay, I have an idea.” He launched his grappling hook, flying through the crossroads. He skidded to a stop, still holding onto the dragon.
“Come on, you need to go!” Arin urged.
The tiny dragon growled, trying to talk to him.
“What? What is it?”
“Hey! That dragon belongs to the Claws of Imperium!” the leader of the hunters yelled, his voice raspy. Arin winced, making sure the dragon was secured snugly in his arms.
“Ninja… GO!” he spun into what he managed for spinjitzu, throwing himself at the hovercrafts. He crashed into the first, sending it colliding with a second. He stumbled to the ground, panting.
“That… Worked?!” he gasped. Lasers nearly struck him, forcing him to leap out of the way.
He scrambled to his feet as the third guard gave chase after him, catching up to him.
“ARIN!”
Arin’s head snapped up, seeing Sora on the rooftop. She gestured for him to get up there. Arin deployed his grappling hook, launching himself directly at her. She swiftly caught him, propping him up once he was steadily on the ground.
“T-Thanks.”
“The claws of imperium are going to drain that dragon. Don’t let go of him.” she instructed.
“Drain that- What?!” Arin stared at her, horrified. Imperium drained dragons of their energy? Weren’t they supposed to be their friends? That was horrifying!
The tiny dragon in his arms whimpered, nuzzling up to his chest.
“Okay, got it. Where do we go?” he asked.
“Far away from here until they give up.”
“But what about the other kingdoms?” he pointed out. Sora frowned, looking at the area beyond the crossroads.
It was dangerous to go beyond these lands… Because if they did, they might not survive. Each kingdom had its own risk, and she feared it.
But… The dragon’s safety was most important to her.
“Our safest route is through the World Forest. Think we can climb all those trees and get out of their sight?” she offered.
“Sounds good enough to me! Let’s go!”
The two took off as Arin launched his grappling hook, Sora hanging onto him as they flew right out of the Crossroads. He tossed the baby dragon to her, letting her catch him as they picked up speed. The hovercars were still hot on their trail, which wasn’t a good sign.
“Uh… Sora? How can we go faster?” Arin yelled, pained and frantic. Sora looked back, then at the dragon.
“I don’t know! Just follow my lead!” she leapt onto a vine, holding onto it for dear life as the baby dragon held onto her back. Arin followed, using his grappling hook as they kept bouncing between branches and vines.
Sora held her hand out, grabbing onto Arin before throwing him above her head, letting him catch onto a higher branch. He pulled himself up, using his grappling hook to pull her up with him.
They bolted into one of the holes of the trunk, ducking behind the leaves as the hovercars zoomed past them. They couldn’t be found, surely not… Please no…
… They exhaled, seeing as they didn’t circle back to find them. Arin stepped forward, only for Sora to place her arm in front of him.
“Not yet. They could be here for hours.” she whispered. Arin nodded, ducking back into the darkness with the dragon.
Even as the sunlight began to die down, the soft humming and swooshing in the trees kept the two alert. Arin frowned, back to holding the baby dragon as the hovercars kept searching.
Sora groaned. “I guess we’re sleeping here tonight…”
“Wait, but what about the dragon?” Arin asked as the baby dragon chirped.
“We’ll take turns watching. In case we’re heard, we wake up the other to get out, got it?”
“Okay… Got it. You go to sleep first, I’ll wake you up later.”
She softly smiled. “Thanks, Arin. Goodnight…”
“Goodnight.”
There was a crack. Arin snapped awake, immediately shaking Sora awake. She gasped, sitting up.
“Sora…?” he whispered.
“W-What…?” she rubbed her eyes. Arin pointed to the outside, the leaves rustling unnaturally.
“It’s Rapton, ya kids! Now, give me back that dragon!” Rapton pointed his gun at the two. Arin held onto the baby dragon tightly as the two backed up.
“Never!” he yelled, hating how his voice sounded terrified.
“Like you can stop the Imperium forces. Now, hand it over or we’re going to have a problem.”
Sora tensed up, stepping in front of Arin and the dragon. “I won’t let all of you hurt any more dragons!”
Rapton laughed, coming closer to the two. “Boys, get in here! We got two people interfering with our order!”
Four more guards leapt out, swords drawn alongside ropes. The two exchanged a look as he kept ahold of the dragon. Rapton pried the baby out of his hands, struggling to keep ahold of it as it wrestled against him.
“GAH! Get it in the stupid cage!” he yelled as two more guards came in with a box.
“No!” Sora cried out, lunging toward him. The electric ropes wrapped around her, yanking her back and slamming her into Arin. The two fell down together with a thud, the rest of the guards making sure the two didn’t escape.
“Now, let’s get back before Lord Ras realizes we’ve screwed up.” Rapton ordered. Two of the guards pulled the duo to their feet, escorting them out of the tree and onto their hovercars. They drove off, flying through the forest and back towards Imperium.
“That poor dragon…” Sora whispered, struggling against the bindings.
“What are we gonna do?” Arin asked.
“I… I don’t know anymore, Arin.”
He felt it.
He wasn’t sure why, but somewhere in imperium someone needed his help.
“Come on, just down here.” the iridescent ninja directed. He nodded, leaping down past the sewers and into the train station.
“Wait… They should be coming close.” he directed. His teammate nodded, sticking close behind.
The train roared their way. The black ninja leapt onto the wall, pulling the iridescent ninja on with him. The two climbed up to the roof, looking around for a way to get inside.
“So… This is it, huh?” Arin leaned back on the wall, his wrists shackled alongside Sora.
“Yeah…”
“I’m sure we’re gonna survive this, hopefully.”
“I wouldn’t think so… We failed in protecting that poor dragon, and now it’s going to get drained for it’s energy.”
“Hey, we can go and break it out!”
“How? We’re effectively prisoners now.” Sora groaned, burying her face in her hands. “And I’m going to be stuck back in that hellish place with the Empress…”
“Sora, listen. I know that… Things may be dire.” Arin began, trying to reassure her.
“Very dire.” she said flatly.
“Right, very dire. But I know that I have hope that we can get out of this. Just like the ninja.”
She frowned. “Not everything is tied to your lost heroes, you know.”
“If I lose hope that the ninja could come back, then I lose hope my parents could come back. Hope is the only thing the Merge didn't take from me…”
“Well, hope won't be enough anymore. We can't build you a new ninja monastery from an Imperium Prison.” she said.
“It's called the Monastery of Spinjitzu. But you're right… I still wanna try to be optimistic, y’know?” he offered.
There was a loud bang from the roof. The two stopped, staring at the hatch from above. It was broken down from the top, a hooded figure peeking down.
Arin’s eyes widened.
“The earth ninja… Cole!”
“Are you kids okay?” Cole immediately leapt down, inspecting their cuffs.
“Geo, do you know how to get these off?” he asked, turning to the iridescent ninja. Arin tilted his head, confused.
There was a new ninja already?
… Okay, to be fair it had been seven years since the merge. A lot must’ve changed. But still!
One of the guards leapt down, brandishing their sword. The two ninja leapt into action, quickly deflecting their blade. Geo grabbed it, aiming it towards Arin and Sora.
“Arms out!” he directed.
The two looked at each other, confused, but did what he said. He brought the sword down, cutting off each of their chains.
“Okay, cool.” Cole threw the guard out of the cart. Geo tossed Sora the sword, letting her hold it for now.
“We gotta get out of here. And fast.” he directed.
“Wait! We gotta save the dragon!” Sora pointed out.
“There’s a dragon here?” Cole asked, walking up to her.
“Yes, in one of the other carts on this train.”
The two ninja exchanged a look. “Okay… What’s your name, both of you?”
“I’m Sora, and that’s Arin.” She introduced herself, gesturing to Arin next. Cole hummed.
“I’m Cole, and that’s my husband Geo. Arin, you go with Geo to find that dragon. Sora and I will keep the guards busy. Think you can do that?”
Sora fidgeted with the sword, trying to switch it between a blade and a gun.
“Yeah! Hopefully…”
“Okay, come on.” Cole helped the two on top of the cart. The ninja climbed up behind them, ducking from the lasers.
“This way!” Geo urged. Arin followed behind him, the kid leaping down into a cart. He landed firmly on top of the hatch, seeing the cage where the baby dragon was being kept.
“It’s okay, little guy…” he fidgeted with the lock, frowning.
“Ugh! Sora was always better at tech stuff than me! Do you know how to break this open?” he panicked, turning to Geo. He hummed, inspecting the lock.
“I’m not sure, either.”
Arin frowned. He backed up, shifting into his own spinjitzu and rammed right into the cage. It ricocheted before the door fell open, the baby dragon leaping on top of him. He gasped, laughing as it kept licking his face.
Geo stared in shock. “You know spinjitzu…?”
“I… Yeah? I mean, I taught myself. But that’s a story for another time, we gotta go help the others!” Arin urged, picking up the dragon as the two quickly got back to the top of the ship.
The little creature scrambled out of his arms, running up to Sora.
“Oh! You’re okay, thank goodness!” she gasped, relieved. The baby dragon chirped, his eyes glowing white. Her eyes lit up as well, the dragon charging up something inside of her.
“Woah…!” She fell back to the ground in shock, her hands glowing pink. He turned to the claws, grasping all of their weapons at once. Sora held her hands out, dismantling all of them before reforming all of them into a blade launcher. She caught the device in her hands, aiming at them.
“Fall back! FALL BACK!” Rapton panicked, the entire army fleeing from her device.
“You have an elemental power…?” Cole asked, shocked.
“I… What?! I didn’t even know I could do this until just now!” Sora said, flabbergasted.
“We gotta get off this train!” Geo urged.
“I got it!” Arin pulled out his grappling hook, holding the baby dragon. Sora held onto his side as he swung off the train, landing on the tracks with a thud. The two ninja followed afterwards, controlling their fall using spinjitzu.
“Oh, Cole you won’t believe this!” Geo gasped, flipping off his hood.
“You won’t believe me either, Geo!” Cole also said, almost excited.
“Arin taught himself spinjitzu!” “Sora has an elemental power!” both said at once.
The two froze, snapping their attention to the younger duo and their dragon.
“Wait, what?!”
“Is that really such a shock…?” Arin winced, rubbing his head. Sora kept flexing her fingers, dumbstruck by what she somehow pulled off.
“It… It’s supposed to be impossible to teach someone spinjitzu. But… Is it true? Do you know how?” Cole asked, pulling him to his feet. Arin stumbled a little, setting down the baby dragon.
“It’s a bit of a wonky version, but yeah?” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
“And… Sora. You know how to use elemental powers?” Geo asked.
“I just found out I had them like five minutes ago! And… And I made this!” She presented her blade launcher. Geo inspected it carefully, turning back to her.
“I suppose it’s some sort of tech power…”
“Come on, you two. It’s not safe here…” Cole gestured for everyone to follow him. The group headed back up to the surface, peeking out from the floor panel. Cole helped pull everyone up, summoning his elemental dragon again.
“Get on. We’re going to the Monastery.”
Arin’s eyes lit up. “The Monastery of spinjitzu?!”
He chuckled. “Yes, that monastery.”
Arin excitedly got on the dragon, feeling the texture of the magic. Sora climbed on as well, clinging onto the baby dragon in her arms. Geo got on last, making sure the two younger ones were secure. Cole patted the dragon on the side, giving it the all clear to take off into the air. The team flew off into the skies, heading past the clouds and towards the Monastery of Spinjitzu.