In the End (A Ninjago Fanfiction- ORIGINAL)

Chapter 2

The sun was beginning to set as the remaining Ninja and Elemental Masters reached the edge of the city. A few Akrohai were milling about, waiting for the hunt to begin, but aside from them the streets were empty.

"Are we all clear on the plan, then?" Lloyd asked, turning to the others as they paused before walking those last few steps out of the city and into the hunt.

They nodded. They'd agreed it would be best to split up into smaller teams, in hopes that the Akrohai might have trouble trailing multiple groups at once. Since even slight contact with an Akrohai could allow them to take control, there wasn't much safety in numbers anyway. The more chance there was that at least one of them could escape the initial hunt, the better chance they'd have of stopping the Akrohai- however that might be possible.

"Right," Lloyd said quietly, "Then let's do this."

The team quickly summoned their dragons, taking to the skies. Since Cole and Tox were the only Akrohai-infected with dragons, they hoped it might delay at least some of their pursuit. Then they split up, circling off into the sky.

"Do we have any idea where we're going?" Jay yelled over the wind.

"Nope, not a clue!" Kai called back. "We've just gotta stay away from the city and the others!"

"Guys, we've got trouble," Nya said, looking back from her seat behind Jay. "Look!"

All of them turned around. Cole was pursuing them on his dragon, coming in hard.

"I'll stall him," Skylor, who was sitting behind Kai, said. She used gravity to propel herself upward.

"Careful!" Jay warned, "Don't let him touch you! And don't hurt him- he's not responsible for this!"

"Right," she said, "You guys get out of here- I'll catch up!"

As the others dove out of sight, Skylor circled off to the side, drawing Cole's attention. He locked onto her, diving after her with his dragon, but she maneuvered out of the way, careful not to let either him or his dragon touch her, in case even the beast was capable of infecting her. She doubled back, toward the city, giving the others a head start. She could use her speed powers to catch up to them once she'd lost her pursuit.

Cole's dragon snapped at her, lunging from beside, and she barely managed to dodge, diving underneath the dragon and coming up behind it. It lashed its tail, nearly striking her, but she evaded it again. Cole blasted earth at her, but she countered with a burst of flame, dropping low to the ground. As she'd predicted, the dragon dove to follow her, heading away from the others.

She kept it up for some time, until she was sure she'd given the others time to get away. Then she dropped to the ground again and took off at full speed, turning herself invisible as she did. She knew the direction the others had gone, and knew them well enough to be able to accurately predict their next move.

Kai, Jay, and Nya had taken shelter just out of sight in the rocks of Crash Course Canyon, and so far their efforts at concealment had worked, as they had not been located- yet. Skylor found them with ease, however, her mind powers immediately alerting her to their presence once she got close enough to be able to read their thoughts.

"I got them heading in the wrong direction," she breathed, "But we need to move before they figure it out and come back."

"Right," Kai said, summoning his dragon, "Let's move!" He extended his hand, helping her up, as Jay also called his dragon and did the same for Nya. Quickly they turned and soared off into the night sky.

Once they were a little ways out, Skylor took a deep breath. "I did learn a few things about the Akrohai that might help," she said. "Or, at least one main thing."