We Are Survivors

The End or Beginning?

    Wu paced anxiously back in forth in front of Cole's and Harumi's figures, muttering to himself. "C'mon. Pleeeease." He stared hard at his hands and shook them as if he could somehow activate his powers like a glow stick.

    He despairingly looked at Cole's permanently frozen face. He said quietly, "Please come back. We need a true Master like you."

    Cole, to his great bewilderment, could hear what was going on around him but had no way of connecting with everyone or his body. It was like he was floating in a soupy darkness. He technically knew what it was like to die. For a moment, he feared he had been transformed into a ghost again, but he was unable to move away from his body. He was stuck, unknowing if he was still alive or dead. From the fall, he assumed he must've been dead but hearing Wu's voice, he wasn't too certain.

    A raspy chuckle drew his attention. Now that was a ghost.

    "Mystaké?"

    The translucent being bowed with a flourish. "The one and only."

    "Am I dead?" asked Cole shakily.

    Mystaké crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone assume that when I appear they're about to die? I know I'm intimidating but really? I am dead, not an omen of death. And I appear because it's clear you among the living need a shove to get your butts into gear. Stop floating around here like an amoeba! The Ninja need your steadfast strength. You didn't spend that long marinating in the smoke."

    Cole looked around at the endless darkness. "I'm stuck."

    "Ugh, I'm too impatient for this," grumbled Mystaké. "First the hard-headed queens and now I must deal with your boulder brain. Come along."

    With a strong wave of her arm, the oppressing darkness began clearing before them and pinpricks of light began breaking through Cole's vision.

    Before she started fading from sight, the ghost added with a small smile to the Master of Earth, "By the way, you were right to save those two even at the cost of your own safety. A true Master you are. Show that squirt Wu how a hero endures."

    At the same moment as Cole began to wake and the stone crumbled from his skin, Mystaké swept over to Harumi's figure and exchanged a few words with the bewildered princess before pulling her out from the dark. "Your journey is not yet over."

    Wu nearly jumped out his skin when Cole and the girl shook off the darkness and suddenly gasped for air. It wasn't him who had done that. As the bedraggled pair looked around and slowly stood, getting a bearing of their surroundings, the young teen ran at Cole. The Master of Earth winced as he returned the hug. Yep, some ribs were definitely cracked.

    From the ringing of metal against metal, Cole could tell the final battle had already begun. He shared a tired, pained look with Harumi. Stone still clung to their skin in some places. It covered Cole's legs and half of the Quiet One's face. Despite the sting from their wounds, the Master of Earth mustered up a smile as he looked at Wu and Harumi, "Well, Ninja never quit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

    "Done!" gasped out Maya as she held aloft the final Golden Weapon, the Nunchucks of Lightning.

    Exhaustion tore through the Smiths' bodies, but they knew their adventure was far from over. The Oni had just arrived at the base of their mountain and their cloud now blotted out the sun. Their army of Dragons harried the Oni as they attempted to scale the mountain and break through the barrier of fangs, talons, and an assortment of Elements.

    Lloyd made certain to line up their strongest fighters in front of the entrance to the monastery with a mix of the remains of the Ninja, Elemental Masters, Dragon Hunters, Serpentine, and Sons of Garmadon. His heart pounded in his chest as he made out the multitude of dark shadows slowly ascending the mountain. After another argument, Nya was now the one who held the Scythe of Quakes.