Armageddon Prime

Episode 3 Wishful Thinking

Song Inspiration: Villain

Artist: Stella Jang

English Cover: Lydia the Bard (From YouTube)

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Outside of Ninjago City and off the coast resided the infamous pirate captain.

He stared out at the endless sea while his ship rocked back and forth from the waves just past the docks. He watched his crew tinker away, creating new additions to the ship and restoring it to the gigantic aircraft it once was in a previous reality.

The captain's blade, the same blade that was given to him by his falling father, rested in Nadakhan's clutches, gleaming in the sun's rays. Although he managed to salvage the blade from the rubble of his home realm, he could not find any survivors.

The djinn, though, did not look for very long. Rather, he spent the short time in his realm searching through the remains of what used to be one of his royal blood line's historical temples where ancient scrolls and texts were kept.

His father had him spend much of his time there during his youth to ensure he would be well educated in their people's history when he took the throne.

Of course, that was not the path Nadakhan chose, but seeing the likely cursed book that wretched underling held reminded the pirate of something. Something that caused the djinn to search through the temple's remains for answers.

While his crew toiled away at repairing the ship, their captain turned away on the sandy beach to unravel a scroll he managed to find. He scanned the ancient language, barely able to decipher it. He cursed his past self for not paying more attention to his lessons. He mumbled the words he could read and gripped his sword tighter and tighter as he read.

"Captain."

Nadakhan raised his weapon and nearly hit the man before him. The man jumped, clearly startled by the reaction before falling back into a neutral expression. Nadakhan relaxed his shoulders once he realized it was his second-in-command.

"Flintlocke... I didn't realize it was you," Nadakhan said before lowering his weapon and shifting back to his scroll.

"I noticed... You seem on edge, captain. Any reason why? You've barely spoken to the crew since you rescued us all from our banishment. Shouldn't we be celebrating?" Flintlocke asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nadakhan paused for a moment. He hesitated to speak, wondering how much he should say.

The pirate had not forgotten the mutiny that transpired with his crew in the past timeline. He knew that the pirates' memories had been altered from the wish, but he couldn't afford for history to repeat itself, not yet at least. He needed reliable crewmates, so he chose his next words carefully.

"I am going to be honest with you, Flintlocke... We may be in over our heads."

His first mate furrowed his brow with concern as he twirled his bushy mustache.

"What'da mean, captain?" he asked as the djinn wrapped up the scroll and turned to him. Nadakhan sighed before continuing with a heavier tone.

"I mean Ninjago is different now, much different. It has been several decades since we last ruled the seas. We attempted to take over this entire realm for ourselves before... in another reality-"

"In another reality?" Flintlocke asked with obvious bewilderment. "B-But how? I don't remember-"

"That's because we were foiled by our enemy with their wish to reset everything. The ninja, the new protectors of this realm as they see themselves. They are ruthless humans who have caused the destruction of my home realm and eventually the destruction of our crew. They had nearly stopped us from claiming Ninjago as our own... and caused the death of so many of our faithful crew members... even Dogshank," Nadakhan said as he floated closer towards the ship. Flintlocke followed the djinn's gaze, growing more alarmed by the new information, before racing after his captain. He spotted the large woman hammering away at the edge of the ship while Monkey Wrench started yelling at her and throwing a fit.