1. The Dark Side of Destiny: Beginnings

Chapter 3 - Prophecies and Plots

A little over a week after their talk, Garmadon and Misako had been brainstorming the best way to protect the weapons and had settled on a handful of ideas to keep them out of Wu's reach. Further preparations would take a lot more time, but Garmadon seemed to feel a little better now that they were making progress. Meanwhile, Misako was working on a little project of her own.

She sat now in the monastery's library, scanning through aging scrolls and ancient tomes. In the distance, she could hear sounds of laughter as Garmadon played with Lloyd in the courtyard.

Ever since the battle between Garmadon and Wu, her husband had been more regretful of the past and more weighed down by responsibility than ever before. His actions since then showed how hard he was trying to make things right. Misako could see plainly the guilt he felt towards his brother's fate.

But all this had gotten Misako thinking: what if it wasn't fate? Evil ran through Wu's veins, but was it truly destiny, or could it be removed?

Determined to help her family, Misako had set out to learn what she could about the Great Devourer and Wu's condition and, hopefully, find some way to cure him. She'd always had an interest in studying history and learning secrets of the past, but with the hope of saving someone close to her, it had turned into a passion. So Misako had pulled out everything in the library that had even the slightest mention of the Great Devourer or the balance of good and evil or dark magic. She only hoped that amongst all this knowledge there would be an answer.

She examined scrolls, one after another, but nothing helpful caught her eye. She flipped through pages of books thick with days long past, but still found nothing.

Sighing to herself, Misako wondered for a moment if this really was hopeless. Surely, when Wu had been bitten all those years ago, the First Spinjitzu Master must have read through every scroll in search of a way to save his son. Surely, if anyone would have known what to do, it would have been him.

She rolled up another piece of parchment before setting it aside and picked up another to examine. But as soon as she unfolded it and caught sight of the images, she knew that it involved Wu. The painted image of a shadowy figure loomed at the forefront, unmistakable as the ghastly creature that she had watched fall into the Underworld.

But it was a prophecy, not yet fulfilled, that spoke of the Ultimate Battle between good and evil. This was hardly news, however. Misako had already found a hundred scrolls about the same thing. However, this prophecy was the first to paint a clear picture of Wu, in both words and image. Curious, she took a closer look.

Prophecies are often difficult to interpret correctly at first, vague as they are, and so full of symbolism and metaphors. In fact, Garmadon had once been certain that he had found the prophesied Green Ninja, though he'd turned out to be wrong.

But there was no mistaking the words in this scroll. It drew a clear line from the First Spinjitzu Master to the Final Battle through his own descendants. Wu, his own son, would be an instrument of evil and attempt to bring about a world of darkness. But in order for there to be balance, Wu would have to be faced by one of equal power to the First Spinjitzu Master, someone to which the power of light and energy would be passed down. The prophecy went on to speak about descendants and kin, and soon it was all too obvious.

Garmadon's son, descendant of the First Spinjitzu Master – Misako's baby – was destined to become the Green Ninja and fight Wu for the fate of the world.

. . .

Wu sat cross-legged in his new throne room amongst dim candlelight and more bones than he knew what to do with. In his hands he held a steaming cup of tea. And there was incense. Lots of incense. The stink of death was too much for him to tolerate very long. He breathed in the calming scents, clearing his mind so he could focus on the task at hand.

He had an army, but he still needed a plan. No matter the strength that Wu gathered, Garmadon would be expecting him to return, and Wu would need something foolproof. There was no way that Wu could go back to the monastery in hopes of stealing weapons again; most likely, Garmadon would hide them elsewhere so Wu would have to take the time to track them down, as well as to draw Wu away from his brother's family. But where to begin looking, Wu couldn't be sure.

Then there was the problem of the weapons' power. Clearly he wasn't in a state to wield them properly. That problem in itself required its own plan

Another problem was the balance of good and evil. Ninjago had always managed to keep itself balanced one way or another, but since Wu's father had passed, there was nothing to offset the darkness within Wu himself. But there was sure to be a counterbalance of light that would rise up against him. Wu had his own suspicions about this.

Finally, and most importantly, being trapped in the Underworld didn't make it easy to solve any of these issues, and he wasn't confident that he would be able to employ his new Skulkin underlings to take care of anything for him. They were a bunch of bumbling idiots, so whatever task he gave them, he couldn't be sure they wouldn't mess it up. That was yet another problem: making his new army battle-ready. Sure, they already had a lot of fighting experience, but there was a reason Wu and Garmadon had been able to defeat them in the past.

Taking in a long sip of tea, Wu didn't allow these obstacles to faze him. All he needed was a little patience. He would have his revenge, in time.

Wu was jostled out of his meditation by the echoing creek of door hinges as Samukai entered and kneeled before him. "What?" the dark lord growled.

"Master, the scouts have returned. I came to report their findings."

Wu forced himself to stay calm, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Very well," he responded. This banishment was still new to him, and he hadn't yet gotten used to his incorporeal form in Ninjago. For the time being, he sent the skeleton soldiers to do the spying for him.

"The weapons remain in the monastery for now, but it seems that Garmadon plans to move them as soon as he can. We have yet to find out where."

Wu nodded slowly. After a moment's pause he asked, "And how is Garmadon?"

Samukai was a little taken aback by this question. "He's uh . . . fine." The Skulkin shrugged.

"And his son?"

"He's fine too . . . I think. But you didn't say you wanted us to . . . ."

Wu waved his hand dismissively. "I know, I know. I was just thinking. I expect that the boy will be raised to help protect the golden weapons, and more importantly, to battle myself alongside Garmadon."

Samukai nodded, thinking he understood. "Yes, we should kill him now, before he becomes a threat."

But Wu shook his head. "I have a feeling that destiny will not allow it. But – Garmadon might be on to something. There could be much to gain from having a pupil."

Samukai quirked his brow bone in question. "An apprentice, Master?" Was his army of skeleton warriors not enough?

Wu was smiling now at the genius of the plan stirring in his mind. "To obtain and protect the weapons of Spinjitzu for me. An apprentice. Or should I say . . . apprentices."

. . .

A/N: Hello all, sorry for posting a little later today, but I felt like I had to rewrite the beginning of this chapter. I'm still not totally satisfied with it, but there's only so much you can do, right? Next week we'll really start getting to the good stuff, so you better be ready! Again, I really appreciate all your comments, I'll see you next time!