Promises (Ninjago's Kai x Reader)

Episode 3 - Family History

Everyone sounds like they're whispering. Every conversation is hard to hear. I have to focus extra hard. Thank god for Lloyd signing.

"Ah. Another cup, please, Misako," Uncle says.

"Okay, but drink it slower this time," Mom replies. "Healing Tea doesn't work on a burnt tongue." Wu disregards her warning and chugs the new glass. "Sip! You are quite impatient."

"The same could be said of them."

"Okay, Master Wu," says Cole, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward, "you've had your tea. Now can we talk?"

"Ask any question you wish."

The boys start talking over each other. I can barely decipher their questions.

"Who did we fight in the monastery?"

"That was Acronix!"

"From the painting?"

"Twins look alike!"

"Or was it Krux?"

"Is he from the future?"

"How does he speed up time?"

"Was he from the past?"

"Who ate my pudding cup?" Of course, Jay asks that. "What? He said ask any question. I put my name on this, just because we're in a new dojo doesn't mean we disobey the refrigerator rules!" Everyone looks at him. "Right. Sorry. Guy in monastery. What's his story?"

"Well, to answer that, I must begin at the end.

"It was forty years ago, shortly after the Serpentine Wars. When I was a much younger man. As you know, we fought valiantly, but our enemies were strong, and our powers alone were not enough. It was the discovery of the magic flutes that allowed us to finally defeat the Anacondrai. Their leaders were banished. And peace was returned to Ninjago, thanks the Elemental Masters. Smoke, Meal, Lightning, Shadow, Fire, Water, and Time."

"Hold on a sec," says Cole. "So that guy at the monastery is an actual Elemental Master of Time?"

"No. Acronix was an Elemental Master of Time, like his brother, Krux." Wu pauses to sup his tea. "After helping us win our hard-fought peace, they betrayed me, Garmadon, and the others. The so called Hands of Time felt they controlled the most powerful Element, therefore entitling them to rule all of Ninjago."

"What did you do?" asks Nya.

"We had to stop them. And it would take all of us. Garmadon, myself, and every Elemental Master."

Kai steps forward. "Even our parents?"

"Of course. Kai, Nya, your mother and father were great fighters, but it appeared even they had met their match. Acronix was a skilled warrior, one of the best I've ever seen, but his real power was his ability to control the forward movement of time. By sending himself forward, he was always ahead of the action, as if he had super speed. However, a slow progression can be just as dangerous, but equally effective.

"One Master of Time was bad enough, but like hands on a clock, there were two. Krux's power was the opposite of his brother's. He could reverse time. It's a huge advantage in combat. Know your opponent's next move, know how to counter it. He could even control time to the point of halting it. Of course, he didn't halt himself.

"We knew we had to prepare. Fearing that next time, we would not be so lucky."

"You said the Hands of Time were unbeatable, yet you beat them," says Lloyd. "How?"

"The way one often defeats an enemy--by taking away their weapon."

Zane furrows his eyebrows. "But their weapon was Time."