The Wanderer

The Swamp

I found the others in a hallway of the sewers "Hey, guys!" I called and ran to them, they turned to me. "Asteria, there you are! We were worried!" Nya said.

"Uhm...As I was saying...Zane will use his sensors to locate Cyrus Borg while Jay, Cole and Asteria rescue the workers from the warehouse. I'll get Master Wu, who's probably in the holding cell. Kai and Nya, you have the toughest job...locating Krux and Acronix. So you take the map" Lloyd said and handed Kai the map. "Ok, everyone know what they're doing?" Lloyd asked, I nod and we all said in unison "Yes!" We all ran into the swamp and went separate ways.

~~~

Me, Jay and Cole hid behind some rocks. "Hm. I don't think we can get in by the front door" Cole said and Jay spoke "Well, we can but I doubt fighting half the Vermillion Warriors is good for Lloyd's stealth plan."

"I'll fly you guys in." I said and put Jay on my back while I picked up Cole. "Woah!-" Cole exclaimed and I flew in the air quietly to the warehouse and landed on a skylight. I set the two down.

"Gotta love skylights. No one ever thinks to guard them" Cole said and opened the skylight as the three of us looked inside. "Woah..." Jay muttered as a lot of workers were inside the warehouse.

I flew down on one of the tables as Jay and Cole landed in front of me by jumping down. The workers gasped in shock. "Shh! We're here to rescue-" Jay started but Karlof came out of nowhere and tackled Jay to the ground. My eyes widened and I glanced over quickly running over with Cole.

"Ninja! We are rescued!" Karlof shouted happily. "What are you doing here?" Cole questioned.

"Snake warriors kidnap Karlof!"

"Can't...Breathe..." Jay said in a gruff voice as Karlof was suffocating him. "Krux and Acronix are rounding up the Elemental Masters?" Cole inquired.

"Retired Elemental Masters. Until snakes grab Karlof, cuff him in vengestone to control his power and make him forge." Karlof said as he let go of Jay. My brother tried to breathe "Oh man, you're strong..."

Karlof turned to me and Cole "They force us to build armor, vehicles, weapons. All in Ninjago who know how to build they take" he explained as he walked off with us following while he showed us everything.

"Now I get why the Vermillion grabbed all that metal" Jay said "And why they took who they took" Cole added while I listened to Karlof.

"Carpenters, constriction workers, tailors, Master of Metal and..." Karlof explained until Lou suddenly jumped in front of us singing Doo-Wop.

My eyes widened as I watched him slide back to his quartet singing "Revenge will be mine~"

"Dad? But you guys are just called the Royal Blacksmiths. You're not, you know, actual blacksmiths" Cole said as the singing continued. I gently bopped my head to the music until Lou took my hand and dragged me to them.

I looked and smiled, I started to dance to the music swaying my hips as my tail swayed at the beat. Lou spun me in a circle and the singing stopped as the workers cheered.

~~~

"Okay, you first Karlof" Jay said and Karlof jumped in his arms as Jay tried to use his airjitzu but failed. I covered my mouth while snickering with Cole.

"Why does dirt Ninja and wanderer smile?" Karlof asked while raising an eyebrow. "Oh just getting deja vu saving you for a second time. Go, Jay." Cole said and my brother struggled to use his airjitzu. "You got extra metal in your pockets or something?"

"Oh, Karlof almost forget. Heh, heh!" Karlof exclaimed and set car keys on the table "Car keys."

Jay groaned and set Karlof down "No, this isn't gonna work. Unless the new Samurai X does his thing, shows out of the blue again or Asteria turns into a Dragon, we gotta come up with something. Fast!"

I put a hand on my chin but then got an idea. "Wait. We have builders and scrap metal right?" I asked and Jay's eyes brightened "Right!" He exclaimed and jumped up on one of the worker tables. "Does anyone here know how to design, construct and independently power a 200 foot industrial grade cargo elevator in three minutes?"

I chuckled lightly "I meant ladder, Jay."

"Oh, right. Hehe...Good call" Jay said and the workers started to build a ladder.

"Good thinking you three" Lou smiled at us. "Thanks Dad. Hey, I've got a question. All the armor and stuff you forged...Where did all the designs come from?" Cole questioned as he walked to some blueprints with Lou.

"I heard one of the generals say they came from a Master Blacksmith" Lou exclaimed and I raised an eyebrow. "Master Blacksmith...?"

~~~

I looked up the ladder with Jay and Cole. "Nice. And those Vermillion never knew what we were doing. Look at this bad boy. Solid!" Jay exclaimed.

"No wait! Ladder is not done!" Karlof called and the ladder broke apart.

"...Oops." Jay rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So much for stealth..." I thought.

Vermillion warriors bursted in and I ran towards them as me, Jay and Cole fought them. A few moments went by and time stood still for a second. It stopped and we continued to fight.

I hit a warrior with my tail. "Did you guys feel that? It was like time stood still!" Jay called.

"Well, they're not standing still. Step aside." I warned the both of them and they backed up as I stood in a defensive position facing the warriors. I took in a breath and roared emitting sound waves as the warriors were blasted out through the doors.

"Woo-hoo! Yes!" Jay exclaimed but saw more warriors. "Uh-oh...Tunnels everyone, now!" He called and we all ran out of the warehouse.

We soon got cornered and I helped the people go up the stairs of the large rock wall.

"Bring it on you Vermillion doofs!" Jay yelled and I looked "Seriously? Vermillion doofs?" I shouted down to him as I shoved a warrior off the cliff. I saw Zane and Lloyd approaching and waved "Zane! Lloyd! We could use your help!"

~~~

I kicked the last warrior off the cliff and sighed.

"Yeah that's what I'm talking about! Vermillion done, workers saved, Ninja in the swamp!" Jay exclaimed as I walked over to him and the others. "Now we can return to search for Borg and Wu" Lloyd said and Zane looked up "I'm afraid I found them..."

I raised an eyebrow and looked up seeing a ship with Kai, Nya, Master Wu, Krux and Acronix on. My eyes widened "Nya!" I shouted and flew after them. The general, Machia shot me with the pause time blade and the ship took off. The reverse effect wore off and my wings flapped as I stayed in the sky.

"Nya..." I said in shock as I couldn't see my girlfriend in sight.