A fire's shadow

Did he really want to do it?

After Lloyd woke up the others, they all continued to search for Kai and Shadow. Then after hours, they found something. "There's an abandoned ruin not far from Ninjago city." Zane said causing everyone to walk over to him. And just like he said, there was an underground ruin in the forest. The ninjas all got ready and then headed to the ruin.

When they got to the forest they started searching for the entrance to the ruin. After a while, they found a cave that lead into the ruin. At first, the walls were made out of stone, but the deeper into the ruin they got, the walls changed. They became made out of red bricks. After walking in the ruins for a while, the ninjas came to a big room. The room was dark and form what the ninjas could see, it was also empty. Then suddenly a faint lights came on over the ninjas and they took out their weapons and got into a fighting stance. They looked around the room, their eyes then stopped at the person standing a few meters away from them. They didn't need any introduction to know that it was Shadow. But he wasn't in Kai's body anymore, and that worried Lloyd. "I see you found my little hiding place." Shadow said as he lifted his head to reveal his blood red eyes that Lloyd hated so much. "No more games Shadow! Where is Kai!?" Lloyd gripped his swords tighter and had to hold back the urge to attack Shadow right then and there. Shadow let out a chuckle, "You want to see him? Well, why not, it's not like you can help him anyway. Shadow snapped his finger causing the light behind him to turn on. Kai was chained to the wall, cuts bruises all over his body. There was some blood on the floor under him and he was a bit pale. "KAI!" The ninjas all shouted. Kai flinched and lifted his head. "G-Guys...." His voice was weak and empty like it had lost all hope of ever being rescued. His usually bright, cheerful, strong spirited eyes were now dull and without hope. It was clear that Shadow had tortured him mentally more than physically. Shadow turned to the ninjas, "Now, would you all be so kind as to give up your powers, or do I have to force you." Lloyd looked at Kai and saw the way his eyes flickered with a small amount of hope when he saw Lloyd. It hurt, but at the same time, it gave Lloyd strength. Lloyd turned back to Shadow, "Over my dead body! You've caused enough problems and pain! It's time to end this!" They ninjas charged at Shadow who took out his sais. He defended himself well against the ninjas' attacks, until Lloyd got a kick in Shadow's stomach. Shadow stumbled back and growled, "You just got lucky Lloyd." Lloyd charged another punch at Shadow, but he blocked it and kicked Lloyd in the stomach. Shadow was a skilled fighter, almost better than Kai. But what made Shadow harder to beat was the fact that he was a lot better at controlling his rage as well as the small fact that he almost always knew what they were going to do. Nya charged at Shadow but he spun around in the last second, grabbing her arm and throwing her into Cole causing them both to fall to the floor. Shadow took this to his advantage and quickly stole their powers. There was a war cry behind Shadow that came from the master of lightning as he ran towards him with a clenched fist. Shadow smirked before turning around and grabbing Jay's wrist and executed a move that caused Jay to backflip onto the floor. Shadow towered over him and gave Jay a smirk before stealing his powers just like he stole the others. Shadow then looked around the room for the other two opponents he had to deal with. He wasn't surprised when he couldn't see the nindroid anywhere in the room. Shadow was not a fool, he knew that Zane used his intellect when fighting, and therefore had probably decided to try and sneak up on Shadow instead of using a direct attack. Shadow heard a slight thud behind him and glanced to his right without moving his head. Zane was sneaking up on Shadow without knowing that the dark fire master already knew he was there. Zane was inches from Sadow when he lifted his fist, ready to strike. The fist was sent flying down but Shadow spun around in a swift move and caught Zane's wrist. The nindroid blinked in surprise before Shadow executed a move that caused Zane to fly over Shadow's head and onto the floor. Unforntenly for Jay, Zane landed on him. Before Zane had a chance to get up, Shadow stole his ice powers and he became just as weak as the rest of the team. Shadow then turned to the green ninja and took a few steps towards him, "I'll give you one more chance, Lloyd. Give up, and you'll be spared the embarrassment of defeat. Or refuse and be forced to watch as I tear Ninjago to pieces." Lloyd stared at Shadow, anger burning in his forest green eyes. The green ninja scanned across the room, from his defeated teammates, to Shadow who was wearing a wicked smirk, and then to Kai who was chained up, forced to watch as his friends were defeated by his own dark side. That's when Lloyd saw the pain, guilt, regret, and sadness that filled the red ninja's eyes. It hit Lloyd like a bus. Kai was blaming himself for this. He was blaming himself for his family getting beaten down, for Shadow hurting the other elemental masters, for everything. Lloyd didn't want Kai to blame himself. This wasn't his fault. It was Shadow's. And if there were any one of the ninjas to blame, then it was Lloyd. He was the one who hurt Kai the most, the one who should have noticed the difference in Kai's behavior, the one who made it easy for Shadow to trick Kai. Lloyd was the one to blame, not Kai. Lloyd felt a fiery rage flow through his veins when he thought about how much pain Shadow had inflicted on the brunette that Lloyd called his best friend. Lloyd gripped the handle on his swords tighter and turned his attention back at Shadow who was smirking widely. Lloyd charged at Shadow, with rage fueling his attacks. Lloyd slashed his swords at Shadow over and over and it actually looked like Shadow was having a hard time defending himself from the swords. But that was just an illusion because suddenly Shadow got an opening in Lloyd's attacks and used it to kick the green ninja in the stomach with full force causing him to fly into the wall and then sunk to the floor. Shadow laughed as he walked closer to the barely conscious green ninja. Shadow took Lloyd's powers before he even had a chance to get up. Shadow turned around and took a few steps away from Lloyd before stopping and turning his head to the green ninja, "You disappoint me, Lloyd. I thought the all so powerful green ninja would put up more of a fight. But I guess even you have your limit." Shadow's tone became sadistic and wicked as he continued, "You just have to know which buttons to press." Shadow turned his head and Lloyd followed his gaze. When Lloyd saw what Shadow looked at Lloyd felt his whole body freezing as if he had been turned to stone. Shadow was looking at Kai. Lloyd couldn't lie, he was weak after his powers were taken from him, but he still felt the ever burning rage to kill Shadow grow. Shadow started walking towards Kai. Lloyd knew what he was going to do, but he wouldn't let that happen. Lloyd slowly stood up, "Shadow!" The black-haired man turned around and smirked, "What is it, Lloyd. Want another round?" The green ninja struggled to stand, but he managed to stay up, "If that's what it takes for you to leave Kai alone, then fine. I'll fight you." He was too weak to fight, and he knew it. But he wasn't going to let Shadow hurt Kai. Lloyd took a fighting stance and Shadow smirked. Shadow charged at Lloyd who blocked the attack with his swords. The sound of metal colliding echoed in the room. Kai saw how much Lloyd was struggling just to stand. He knew Lloyd wouldn't be able to win. The only person who had a chance against Shadow, was Kai himself. The red ninja saw Shadow kicking Lloyd in the stomach causing him to fall to the floor. Shadow walked up to the green ninja, gripping the handles on his sais tighter. "You've been a thorn in my side Lloyd. And I think it's time I got rid of the problem." Shadow was just about to strike at Lloyd when the sound of chains breaking echoed through the room, followed by something hitting Shadow's hand causing him to drop the sai. There was a hiss of pain from Shadow's mouth, followed by an angry growl. Shadow grabbed the hand that was hit with his other hand, making him drop the other sai as well. Shadow and Lloyd turned their heads to where the thing that hit Shadow's hand had come from. They were both shocked to see that Kai had broken the chains and was now standing, his hands ablaze. Shadow showed a slight hint of fear when he saw that Kai was free. It was like if a wave of strength hit Kai when he suddenly stood up straight and charged at Shadow. The dark side blocked it and a shock wave pushed everyone except the two fire masters back. They were almost equal in strength, but Shadow seemed a little stronger. Kai had to take a step back to not get overpowered by the dark side of himself. Lloyd saw this and understood that Kai was still not fully recovered spiritually. Lloyd had to do something, "You can do it, Kai!" Kai's attention turned to Lloyd for a moment before Shadow attacked him causing his focus to turn back to the dark side. Kai was barely able to hold his position and Shadow was slowly pushing him back. "Don't give up Kai! We all believe in you! I believe in you! I'm sorry for all that things we said and did! We didn't know how you felt! I didn't know how you felt! Heck! I didn't even know what I felt! But I do now! Kai! You are strong!" Kai was slowly becoming more of a challenge to Shadow, but something was holding him back. Lloyd thought of what to say, then it clicked in his head. Lloyd slowly stood up and clenched his fists. Kai was close to losing when Lloyd suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "I LOVE YOU TOO KAI!" It was like time stopped for a moment, Kai stared at Lloyd with the brightest eyes Lloyd had ever seen. And Lloyd smiled back. Tears filled Kai's eyes but he quickly wiped them away and then overpowered Shadow, causing the dark side to fall back. Shadow fell to the ground and it was like he was hit mid-air, because when he landed on the ground, he lay motionless. Kai panted and fell to his knees, exhausted. The powers left Shadow and returned to the ninjas or streamed out the ruins and ended up back at their owners. Lloyd got his strength back and ran to Kai and caught him before the brunette fell to the ground. "Woah, I got you, Kai." Lloyd sat down next to the fire ninja who rested his head on Lloyd's shoulder. "Did...Did you mean it?" The green ninja turned to Kai who was smiling slightly. Lloyd returned the smile, "Of course I did. I realized how I felt when we were trying to save you." Kai let out a small chuckle, "I guess Sadow was good for something then." Kai's eyes turned to the dark side lying motionless on the floor. The fire ninja got up and despite Lloyd's protests about him being too weak, Kai made his way to Shadow. When Kai was about half a meter from him, Shadow let out a groan and tried to get up. Kai hesitated before reaching out his hand and speaking, "Shadow?" Shadow flinched and in a swift motion turned around to face Kai, still sitting on the floor though. Kai let out a gasp when he saw Shadow's eyes. They were no longer blood red, instead, they were Auburn, just like his own. Shadow's face showed fear which made Kai confused. "Shadow?" Shadow backed away from Kai and held out his hand as a sign for Kai to not come any closer, "Don't come closer! I'll just hurt you again!" Kai stared at Shadow with confusion filling his gaze. Shadow was shaking slightly and could almost be mistaken for a frightened child. Kai didn't understand what was going on, but he didn't step closer, "What's going on?" "I don't want to hurt you anymore Kai. But I can't control myself." Kai suddenly got a headache and fell to his knees, grabbing his head. He could hear one word repeat in his head. "Control. Control. Control." Then the headache disappeared as quickly as it came and when Kai looked up he saw that Shadow was crying. But what took Kai's attention was when Shadow's eyes turned blood red. Shadow growled and glared daggers at Kai before disappearing into the shadows. Kai looked back and saw his friends ready to leave. Lloyd seemed to want to leave, more than the others. He felt confused, but then exhaustion took over and Kai fainted.