Onyx and the Tournament of Elements

The Greatest Fear of All

Onyx soared through the air on her dragon, Ori beside her. The younger had had a few difficulties with figuring out how to fly, but she'd been much better than a few of the others. "Chen and his Anacondrai army have a day's start on us. Be prepared for anything and everything," Lloyd ordered. "How did we lose so much time?" Kai wondered aloud.

Dareth laughed sheepishly from Zane's dragon. "You know, you took an oath never to leave a man behind," he said. "And we're not all quick learners. Mastering your fear to create Power Dragons takes time," Jay said. "Well, we're running out of that. There's Ninjago City. Hurry," Nya called from Jay's dragon. Onyx glanced at the two. As much as she liked having her own mount, she had to admit, it had been nice to sit so close to Lloyd.

"Hurry's my middle name. Hyah!" Turner said, shooting ahead. "Remember, whatever happens down there, we're stronger united. We fight as one," Lloyd cautioned as they swept their dragons down to land. "Let's do this!" Jay cried. As Kai landed, a woman caught sight of Skylor and screamed. "Serpentine!" She cried. The street erupted into panic. Onyx dispelled her dragon, nearly falling over as she almost botched the landing. She suddenly heard Ori yelp and spun around to catch her.

"If we're the first ones they've seen, where's Chen, and why hasn't he attacked?" Garmadon murmured, hopping-or slithering. Onyx wasn't sure what adjective applied there-from his son's dragon. Lloyd shook his head. "I don't know, but we have to get you and Skylor off the streets before we alarm everyone. Everyone else, stick together and watch over the people," he ordered. Onyx nodded, setting Ori down and turning to contain the chaos.

(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)(=^･ｪ･^=)

It took a few hours, but the chaos was finally contained, and the ninja, Skylor, Garmadon, and Ori had arrived at the Samurai X cave. Onyx led Ori in, pointing things out and keeping her excitement under control. Ori gasped excitedly when she saw Master Wu. "Is that-?" Onyx nodded. "That's our Sensei," she said. "Ah. You're all back. Zane, look at you. You're all...shiny!" Wu said, adding the last bit as he hurried over to Zane and looked him over.

"But where's your father?" Misako asked anxiously. The ninja stepped aside to reveal Garmadon and Skylor. "It's me, Misako," he said. Misako gasped. "Don't worry. We have a reason to believe the spell may be wearing off," Skylor assured her, holding out her hand where the scales on her palm had begun to shed. "But if that's true, it only makes Chen more desperate to act now. Everyone, this is Skylor, Chen's daughter," Kai said. "You're amongst friends, Skylor," Misako said kindly.

"And this is Ori, Master of Origami," Onyx said, introducing her. Wu nodded to Ori and shook her hand. "Well met, Ori. I knew your mother years ago," he said. Ori turned to Onyx, eyes wide with excitement. "He shook my hand!" She whispered. Onyx smiled at her innocent excitement. "I saw," she said.

"Thank you for looking after my Misako," Garmadon said to Wu, who nodded. "As any good brother should," he said. Was it Onyx's imagination, or did he wince? "Yes. A good brother," he said. Lloyd quickly interrupted the conversation. "There isn't much time. Our friends are on standby, but we don't know where Chen will strike first," he said. "And if we're not all there to stop him when he first attacks..." Cole trailed off. "Ninjago will succumb to war. Our greatest fear will come true," Garmadon said. Wu's face darkened. "Then the greatest victory will be that which has no battle," he said.

Ori frowned. "How do we do that?" She asked. Jay nodded. "Yeah, how do we prevent a war? How do we stop an enemy we know so little about?" Wu turned to the screen, where the falcon had just landed and begun to display camera footage of Kryptarium prison. "We find someone who does."

Which was how Onyx wound up flying to Kryptarium prison beside Ori and everyone else. "Kryptarium Prison. Home of Ninjago's worst of the worst," Garmadon murmured as they entered the building. "I don't get it. Who's gonna help us here?" Cole asked. "If one must learn how to fight a snake, one must talk to one first," Wu said. Onyx narrowed her eyes, realizing exactly who he was talking about. Lloyd met her eye as he came to the same conclusion.