To Defeat Your Enemy

Shift in the Balance

Lloyd pushed open the sliding door to Wu's room, immediately coughing as the smell of incense filled his nose. He waved away the strong-smelling smoke and cleared his throat.

"Uncle- Sensei Wu?"

"Lloyd, quickly, gather everyone in the bridge," Sensei Wu stood up hastily and grabbed his staff, the image of the dark island still burnt into his vision.

"What is it, Sensei?" Lloyd stepped aside, following Wu out of the room.

"There has been a great shift in the balance. I fear Garmadon has finally found what I have been dreading."

"A shift in the balance?" Lloyd ran after his uncle, not understanding the cryptic warning.

"No time to explain. Nya, set a course to Ninjago City."

"What is it?" Cole asked, running up the stairs with Jay at his side.

"Zane's falcon spotted a group of Serpentine at the edge of the city," Nya replied, gesturing towards the screen that took up most of the wall. "And it seems like they've been digging something."

"Is it Garmadon?" Jay asked, taking Nya's hand as he stepped towards the screen. Cole took up a position on the other side of the screen, on the opposite side of the room, studying the digital map carefully.

"I don't know," she said, the hint of a smile on her face at Jay's touch fading away as she spoke.

"I do not believe my brother is behind this," Wu said, taking a step forward. "He has done something far worse."

"What? Worse?" Jay asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "We already had to fight him when he had the Megaweapon, and now you're telling us he did something worse!?"

Cole held out his scythe. "Whatever it is, we need to be prepared." We can't risk what happened to Kai happening again, went unsaid. Lloyd felt his heart ache a little at the unspoken reminder.

"What do I do then?" Aki asked, his voice laced with exhaustion. Lloyd turned around, startled at the clone's sudden presence. Cole and Jay gave each other a look as Zane helped Aki up the stairs to the bridge, almost carrying him. Aki leaned on the white ninja's shoulder, stubbornly trying to stay upright despite his obvious lack of energy.

Lloyd opened his mouth to say something, but Cole spoke before he could.

"You stay here. You're not in any condition to fight after what you did."

"I'm fine, see- whoa-" the clone tried to take a step forwards without Zane's help and almost immediately would have fallen if the ninja hadn't caught him.

"Yeah, no. You stay here."

Aki glared at Cole, muttering something under his breath, too quiet for Cole to hear from the other side of the room. "I don't know why you care anyways..."

"I'll stay and watch the Bounty," Nya volunteered.

"How long will it be until we arrive?" Zane asked, shifting his position a little so Aki would be more comfortable.

Nya glanced back up at the screen. "Hard to say. The Destiny's Bounty sustained some damage during our last encounter with Garmadon, so we won't be able to go top speed until it's repaired. My best estimate is about six hours."

Everyone groaned.

"Six hours? That's even longer than last time!" Jay whined.

"Well, unless you know how we can magically repair the Bounty, we're out of luck."