Outbreak: Ninjago's Dark Dawn

Chapter 2 - The Fall of Ninjago

The chaos descended faster than any of them could have imagined.

What had begun as a normal evening in Ninjago City—streets bustling with activity, families enjoying their dinners, shops preparing to close for the night—was now rapidly dissolving into pandemonium. The meteor that had landed outside the monastery had been just the beginning, a catalyst for the nightmare that was quickly engulfing the city.

At first, it was just the strange substance that had seeped from the meteor's core, moving with an intelligence and speed that defied logic. But soon, reports began flooding in from all over the city. People were falling ill—first, a fever, then confusion, then aggression. They lashed out at anyone near them, attacking without reason or warning. Within hours, entire neighborhoods were overrun with these... creatures.

Zane, ever the analytical one, had called them "zombie-like," though the term didn't quite capture the horror of what they had become. These weren't the undead, shambling mindlessly in search of brains. These were people—alive, breathing, but driven by an uncontrollable force to destroy everything in their path. Their eyes glowed with the same eerie green light as the meteor, and whatever had taken hold of them had stripped away all traces of humanity.

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Kai sprinted through the streets, his heart pounding in his chest. Flames flickered at his fingertips, ready to strike at a moment's notice. But no amount of fire could burn away the panic that had settled deep in his bones. Everywhere he looked, there was carnage. People screaming, buildings burning, once-peaceful streets now overrun with chaos.

"Get out of the way!" he shouted as he pushed through a crowd of terrified civilians. They surged toward him, desperate to escape the madness. A woman clutched a child to her chest, tears streaming down her face as she begged for help.

Kai reached out, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the side just as one of the infected lunged toward her, teeth bared. With a roar, he summoned a wall of fire, pushing the creature back before it could reach them.

"Go! Get to safety!" he yelled, his voice hoarse. The woman nodded frantically and ran, disappearing into the masses.

But safety... where was it? There was no safe place anymore.

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Back at the monastery, Lloyd stood at the epicenter of the storm, his green eyes glowing with a fierce determination. He had always been the leader, the one who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But even he wasn't prepared for this.

The courtyard of the monastery had become a battleground. The tendrils of the parasitic substance had spread far and wide, crawling over every surface, warping the ancient stones with its unnatural energy. It was alive—feeding, growing stronger by the second. And as it spread, it brought more of the infected with it, drawn to the monastery as if summoned by some invisible force.

Lloyd slashed his sword through the air, cutting down one of the infected that had managed to breach the courtyard's outer defenses. His breath came in ragged gasps as he turned to see another wave approaching, their eyes glowing with that same sickening green light.

"We're being overrun!" Nya shouted from across the courtyard. She stood beside Zane, her hands crackling with water as she sent a torrent crashing into the approaching horde. But no matter how many they took down, more just kept coming.

Zane's normally calm expression had tightened into something resembling fear. "This isn't sustainable," he said, his voice cold and measured despite the chaos around them. "We need to fall back."