Ninjago : The Purple Ninja - Book 1

Hands of Time: Chapter 8 - Out of the Fire and Into the Boiling Sea

Lightning crackled as the airship soared over the seas. Nya, Kai and their parents stayed by Master Wu's side while Krux and Acronix stood across from them and kept a watchful eye on them. 

"Destination dead ahead!" Machia announced. 

Krux nodded. "Excellent, Supreme Commander Machia. The final Time Blade will soon be ours."

Machia glared at the Fire and Water Ninja and their parents. "Unless this is all a trick to trap us in the middle of nowhere."

"It had best not be. For his sake." Acronix said threateningly. 

Kai internally groaned. "We can't do this. We can't let Krux and Acronix force us into getting the last Time Blade for them." He whispered to his sister and his parents. 

"Its reversal power is the only way to undo the effects of the Time Punch on Master Wu. What other choice do we have?" Nya pointed out. 

"Time is short and our friend's survival. Your master's survival is at stake." Their father said, putting a hand on Kai's shoulder. 

Their mother nodded in agreement. "Your father's right. Focus on the task at hand. Retrieving the Time Blade will be more dangerous than you can possibly imagine."

"I don't get it. Why did you put the Time Blade way out here?" Kai asked his mother and father. 

"It was so powerful that Wu and Katarina knew it had to be hidden somewhere safe. So they asked us to seal it in the ancient Library of Hono Mizu." Their father explained, walking to the side of the boat and looking overseas. 

"Hono-what now?" Nya said, confused by the name. 

"Hono Mizu was once a thriving port town that was consumed by an undersea volcano that buried the city leagues below an impossibly harsh environment. A combination of Fire and Water."

Lightning crackled. 

"The Boiling Sea."

Kai and Nya looked down below and their eyes widened. Dozens of feet below the airship was a sea with fire on the water's boiling surface, smoke billowing from above. 

They just hope they would be able to reach the Reversal Time Blade in time to save Master Wu. 

"Ew. No matter how many times you see it, watching those suckers hatch is gross." Jay said, utterly disgusted as he watched another Vermillion egg hatch. 

Lloyd, Katarina, Zane and Cole ran up the steps to the sewage passageways. Lloyd turned around and yelled, "Jay! Less watching, more helping!"

Jay immediately followed after his friends as a swarm of Vermillion followed after them. "You know guys, I was thinking now that we got Ninjago's workers out of here, maybe we should join them."

"What about Master Wu?" Lloyd said, as he and the remainder of the team worked on fending off the Vermillion Warriors. 

"He's gone." Jay punched a Vermillion without looking. "It's a strategic retreat."

"'Strategic retreat' is just a fancy way of saying 'giving up.'" Katarina said. "We're ninja, and ninja never quit!"

"What do you think, Lloyd? You're the Master-in-Training here."

Lloyd looked around. There were too many Vermillion to fight off, and they couldn't hold them off forever even if they tried. "We need to regroup at the Temple! Zane, cover ice!"

Once everyone got inside the passageway's entrance, Zane created a barrier of ice to block the Vermillion out. They watched the Vermillion use their egg catapults to break the ice.