tournament | ninjago {featuring your ocs!}

14 | the final battle

Sixteen dragons travel the skies, heading for Ninjago.

"Chen and his army have a day's start on us," Lloyd announces as they draw closer. "Be prepared for anything."

"You know, I'm still confused," says Katlain. "If Chen needed our powers for the spell, how did he make it work after we destroyed the staff?"

Kira swallows. "It...it's my fault."

"What are you talking about?" asks Ivan.

"After the fight in the cave...Chen and Clouse took me. Since I'm the master of crystal, they thought I could fix the crystal in the staff. Clouse used dark magic to fool me into doing it." She notices the other Ninjas' expression and bites her lip. "If I hadn't given in, Chen wouldn't have this power, and we wouldn't be in this mess. I'm so sorry."

"Ah, don't blame yourself." Taylor smiles at her. "It sounds like you didn't have much of a choice."

"Agreed," says Melody. "Let's just focus on taking Chen down."

"Preferably quickly," Nya adds from the back of Jay's dragon. "We're running out of time."

They keep traveling, but Lloyd manuevers his dragon until he's flying beside his girlfriend. "When were you gonna tell me and the guys they did this to you?" he asks.

"When we didn't have a war hanging over our heads," she responds. "I...I don't wanna talk about it. Not now."

Lloyd growls, his grip on his dragon's reigns tightening. "Chen and Clouse are gonna pay for what they did to you, and for what they're doing to Ninjago."

"Speaking of Ninjago," Kai says as he pulls up beside them, "we're here." Sure enough, a landmass looms before the group: they're finally home.

"I say we hit the Samurai X Cave and strategize there," Nya suggests.

"Sounds good to me," her brother responds. "Can you lead the way?"

She smirks. "Piece of cake."

"Cake?!" Cole echoes, perking up.

The Elemental Masters take off. Civilians gawk and point as they fly over Ninjago City, rendered speechless by such a stunning sight. The flock reaches the Sea of Sand not long after, their dragons disappearing as they make their way into the cave.

Nya checks the GPS system, looking distressed. "In the time it took us to get here, Chen has taken over the entire Eastern seaboard and is moving inland," she reports. "With each village destroyed, they grow stronger."

"The Eastern seaboard?" Kira gasps. "That means they must've taken Jamanakai..."

"Are you alright?" Rose shuffles closer with a concerned expression.

"It's my hometown. My mother still lives there." Kira's hands clench into fists. "Oh, they are so gonna pay for this."

"So, how exactly are we supposed to stop those freaks?" Apollo asks with folded arms. "We won't last long on our dragons given how scared we all are, not to mention we're outnumbered ten to one."

"Actually, 62.4 to one," Zane corrects him.

"...Right. Thanks, Tin Man."

"Look, I'm scared like the rest of you," Lloyd speaks up. "It may look like we've lost, but it's not over. When we thought we lost Zane, it nearly tore us apart. But we didn't quit. We let it fuel us. We grew stronger."

"There's hope," his uncle says. "The Corridor of Elders."

Ray cocks his head questioningly.

"I know we don't stand much of a chance taking on his entire army at once," Wu explains, "but since he's controlled the East, he'll move West tomorrow and have to pass through. Our best tactical position is to make our stand where it bottlenecks: at the Corridor of Elders, the monuments honoring our ancestors. It's the narrowest channel, but our greatest chance."