For some time there was no kidnapping of any of the elemental masters. Ninja had to limit the time spent in the tea shop by searching for any clues that would lead them to them. Fortunately, the clients were able to understand the reason for reducing the time, so they didn't t have any claims to their heroes.

Today they decided to do a small tournament for training. They drew in the urn with the names of their opponents, when someone drew their name, they had to repeat it again. Kai and Emmet awaited their first sparring.

They both put on their protectors, they fought without weapons, because the fight consisted of the fact that they had to use their special powers together with Spinjitzu. The builder learned this a little from Lloyd, but he never once managed to create a tornado. However, he didn't intend to give up, because the ninja also had a problem with it at the beginning, so it was natural that he could not after a few trainings.

It might seem that the result is already decided, but Emmet won this round due to his agility. He practiced martial arts with Rex and ninja to better fight his enemies and it brought a lot of results. Now Emmet had not only strength but also speed, so the surprise attack confused the Master Of Fire and eventually lost the fight.

Zane and Nya, ice and water, fought next. These elements are very closely related. And White Ninja has improved his body and cannot damage his system. However, Nya won because she made a new move that surprised Zane. Her mother, the previous master of water, gave her tips on how to create strong creepers out of the water with which to catch an opponent, which determined the outcome of the fight.

Jay vs Rex. The Blue Ninja faced Cole many times, the strongest of their team, so he wasn't afraid of the extraordinary power of Rex. And in the fight, he used a technique that he himself called "talk-concentration". Of course, it was about telling the opponent some dry jokes or just stupid things. It might seem silly, but more than once thanks to that the Master Of Lightning won duels because the enemies quickly upset him and it just distracted them. However, Rex knew this technique very well, because he used it himself, only in a different way, so malicious jokes did not make the slightest impression on him. The cowboy won by grabbing his wrist and throwing him against the wall.

Lloyd and Cole were next. Current and past leader, both extremely stubborn to pursue their goals and win fights, as well as accept defeats with dignity. Like Emmet, Lloyd relied more on his agility and tricks, and Cole, like Rex, on his strength, but that didn't mean that the Black Ninja was less flexible quite the contrary. Thanks to the dance school, his body stretched and sometimes even used his dance skills for combat techniques. The Green Ninja, however, also had tremendous strength thanks to exercises and his special skills. Lloyd won this duel, however, because both Ninja created Spinjitzu that repelled each other, but Green Ninja used his power to create an energy ball in time. The bullet hit Cole and tipped the scales of victory to the leader.

Emmet, Nya, Rex and Lloyd made it to the semi-finals. The second draw began and Rex against Emmet and Nya against Lloyd was elected.

The first couple once fought with each other when they fell into another dimension, and they were enchanted in small toys. Brickowsky was afraid that Rex would easily defeat him.

"Imagine that I'm your enemy" Rex advised noticing his friend's uncertainty. "It always helps".

Emmet took this advice and tried to create a picture in his mind of Rex that would still be on the wrong side of the power.

The fight began, the elder made the first move, his fist dug into the ground creating a small hollow. The younger wanted to kick him, but the opponent parried the attack. Blow, dodge, parry, attack, dodge and a series of subsequent attacks.

Suddenly Rex lost his balance by throwing sand in his eyes. It blinded the cowboy and tried to wipe it off quickly, but the friction only made him pinch him even more. Emmet seized the opportunity and defeated Rex. Rex congratulated his friend on winning and praised his ingenuity.

Next were Lloyd and Nya, both vigilant because they expected the least expected things. This was one of their main rules

Lloyd knew perfectly well how to use Nya's power against her. He had five elements, and in addition to energy, lightning was the most dominant, and that was what he wanted to use against her. After a series of strokes, when the opportunity arose, he charged his hands with lightning and touched them with the water that Nya was about to throw at him. Because of that, she got a small but effective electric shock, but it wasn't the end of surprises. As the Energy Master approached to perform the final blow that would end the fight, the warrior directed the spilt water on the ground. She gathered it at one point, and when Lloyd stood where there was water, she made the water cast him down. As a result, Lloyd fell to the roof and lost.

The final fight will be fought by the water champion and builder. The competition was unexpected because most of them bet on Rex and Lloyd, but life can be really unpredictable. Emmet also did not expect him to go to the final round.

Zane signaled to start the duel. The warrior jumped over him and tried to get him quickly from behind. He avoided the stream of water that almost hit him, and Nya made a series of streams immediately after his dodge, but Emmet avoided them very efficiently. She decided to change her tactics and tried to attack him with her spinjitzu. She pulled him into the tornado, but he managed to jump out of it, which quite surprised the Master of Water. She couldn't even deal with any damage to him. The builder took advantage of her confusion and hit the ground creating an earthquake that interrupted her Spinjitzu.

Then he remembered Lloyd's words, "Spin around and deny your power outside." Failure after failure, he did not before, but he was now trying to do exactly what Green Ninja taught him. He closed his eyes. He felt as if time in his head slowed down. He turned and his revolutions grew faster and faster until spinjitzu was created, which was orange and silver. He drew the Master of Water into the tornado and defeated her in a duel with this technique.

Lloyd felt pride because he was teaching someone for the first time and his lesson was effective. Seeing the speed of his learning, he felt something else, but he tried not to recall his mistakes and the mistakes of his master.

"Everything is fine?" Zane asked, standing next to him.

"Yes, I'm happy. He learned Spinjitzu thanks to me. I just hope I didn't make the wrong decision" He sighed.

"Lloyd, everyone makes mistakes," Kai said coming closer to him because he heard what they were talking about. "Even Master Wu does them, remember?"

"Yes, I noticed that. And thank you"

"I would like to be able to do that! Which of you can teach me?" Rex turned to Ninja.

Before the Green Ninja could say anything, Cole stepped forward first and volunteered to teach him. They seemed to be really good friends, so he agreed that Cole would teach Rex.

***

"On the other side of this map, they wrote "Nobody yet came out of the temple alive" the Black Ninja quoted.

"They always write it, and then the main characters come out alive at the last minute. Classic" Rex rolled his eyes. He could predict several scenarios of their trip. Sometimes watching movies is useful in real life.

Rex, Cole, Lloyd and Emmet have landed in the middle of the desert. According to the coordinates, the temple was located here. They looked around and noticed a very low tower a little further.

"Is this the temple?" Emmet asked in surprise. "A bit small."

"I think it's just her tower and the whole building is under the sand. She must have been covered in sand". Lloyd noticed "You will have to enter through the window."

Only this way they could get inside because it would take centuries to unearth the temple.

It was dark inside, so they took out the flashlights and turned them on. Then they saw the passage at the end of the corridor that led to the huge hall. Various hieroglyphs and carvings were on the walls. Even in low light, they could see the details.

" Blondie, you said that ..."

"Don't call me Blondie" Green Ninja interrupted him looking at him menacingly.

"Lloyd, you said that this temple was created by your grandfather, First Master of Spinjitzu and platinum gloves too. He's kind of a god, isn't he?"

"He was half-dragon, half-oni" He clearly marked the word 'was'.

"Yes, but you met him when you almost died. You can't contact him somehow?" Rex suggested. "Maybe he could teleport Emmet and I or help me find those gloves."

"It's not that easy. I don't contact him like on the phone when I feel like it."

"It's a shame, that would help us a lot" He sighed softly.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a map from inside the temple, only a way to it. The winding corridors resembled a labyrinth. Sometimes they had to go back because they came across a wall.

At the end of the corridor, they were now walking through, was a triple fork. They had to decide whether to choose one path or split up and see two. They did not consider the third option to divide into unequal teams and examine all, because it resulted in quite a high risk. That is why they chose the second option, namely splitting into two teams and examining two corridors. Rex went with Cole and Emmet went with Lloyd.

Cole wanted to talk to Rex, but he didn't know where to start and break the silence. He gets along well with him and even once asked him for advice on music, but he had the impression that despite what he shows outside, he is really very introverted. Honestly, he wanted to raise a topic that is heavy but has been bothering him for some time.

As they spent the night at the hotel, the black ninja was suddenly awakened by strange moans. It was the first time he saw Rex crying and muttering vaguely. He understood only a small part: "It's my fault, I'm sorry ... I could save you ...". Cole never asked what the dream was about. He didn't even tell Rex that he had heard him.

Suddenly they heard something from the end of the corridor. Being close enough they could see the abyss and huge blades that opened shortly before they entered the huge chamber. They were swinging, and to get to the other side you had to jump on platforms that were separated by these blades.

"Well, a standard trap," the archaeologist crouched down and grabbed a stone, "and I have a custom solution for her." He swung, but Cole stopped him from casting. "Hey! What's wrong?"

"I need to see something." Saying this, he went to the wall, put his ear to it and knocked several times. "You can't do it because the blades are firmly attached to the ceiling. If you try to destroy them in this way, the ceiling may collapse, and then we will be buried alive under the sand. I don't know about you, but I don't want to die like that."

" Eh, okay. We must be careful not to divide us in half" He prepared for the run, sensing the right moment, began to run and jump on the platforms. Master Of Earth was just before.

The platforms had different sizes and because of the instability, it was difficult to jump on them. One of the platforms broke under Rex's feet, but he managed to jump and not fall into the abyss. He turned to see if his companion could jump over.

"Speed up, and remember about the blades, and if you fall, I'll catch you!" He shouted at him.

"Okay..." Cole looked into the black abyss, then at the deadly devices in front of him.

He accelerated and flew between two blades, but he couldn't get to the goal. He gripped the steep wall enough not to fall. He tried to climb, but the wall was so flat that even he couldn't get higher.

Rex held out his hand to him, but he noticed an open medallion next to the black Ninja that hung down on a small spike. He must have fallen when he jumped.

"Rex! Help me!" He called him, then looked in the direction where the cowboy was looking and saw the contents of the medallion. Then he remembered the words his companion had repeated in his sleep. "Rex ..."

He wondered for a moment what to do. He reached out to Cole again and pulled him. He wanted to reach for the medallion, but he slipped from the spike and the darkness absorbed him, he was gone forever.

"This picture, what was inside the medallion ... - he started a little uncertainly. "It was your wife... and a child..?

Hearing this, Rex turned toward him. He looked down for a short time, his bangs covering his eyes, his hands clenched into fists, making them tremble. He raised his head. Tears spilt out with great intensity. He wasn't able to move. He just cried completely heartbroken.

"I held back for so long because I couldn't tell anyone about it. Even Emmet and you found out first ... "he said groaning. He felt as if his whole body were squeezed, especially his heart. "They died because of me..."

Cole walked over to him and hugged him. He knew what it was like to lose a loved one. But he never blamed himself.

"It certainly wasn't your fault." He spoke calmly ."Tell me what happened. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"We have a mission to complete"

"Come on! Do you really want to overcome obstacles in this condition? Nothing will happen if you tell me first". He assured him.

They sat opposite each other, and Rex began to tell.

In Bricksburg winter came and snowflakes slowly fell, applying a white quilt to the ground.

The main door of the yellow house opened with a creak as Rex entered through it. He laid down a backpack with chopped wood and rubbed his shoes against the doormat.

"And you didn't put on your jacket again," Lucy noticed.

"I'm not cold so what do I need?" He rolled his eyes. "How's our little Rebel? Already started walking?" He changed the subject and looked for his little son.

"He's coming right now" She pointed at the little boy, who was walking slowly on his two feet to his dad.

"Oh my! He walks!" He knelt down and held out his hands to him. "Come to daddy!"

Rebel walked to his father trying to stay on his feet. When the toddler came to him, his dad took him in his arms and praised him.

Suddenly the room turned unnaturally red. This strange light was coming from the window, so the couple decided to look through it to see what was the reason for this phenomenon. They saw a meteorite flying towards the earth.

"Get down!" Rex shouted to Lucy.

They both quickly lay down on the floor, and a huge bang caused the window glass to break into small pieces. Rex got up and once again looked quickly through the broken window. More meteorites were coming.

"We have to run to your ship!" She stood up and took the child from him. "You clear the way for me and I will watch the Rebel."

Rex nodded, told Lucy to wait for the keys during that time. He stormed in on the floor looking for them. He didn't care what the mess was doing around him. Now only the keys counted. They won't launch the ship without them. Fortunately, he found them in one of the drawers.

He returned to them and they all ran out of the house together. As soon as any meteorites or smaller shards of them flew toward them, Rex jumped high and, thanks to its enormous strength, destroyed killer projectiles.

The ground parted abruptly, making a huge and deep hole that reached boiling lava. They fell into her, and the quick reaction of the cowboy made him clutch the wall with one hand and hold his wife with the other, who was also holding their child.

"Lucy, don't be afraid, I'll drop you in a minute!"

"Okay" She shook her head in agreement and held the Rebel tighter so that he wouldn't fall out of her hands by tossing.

He rocked her and when he was about to drop her off, another earthquake made him release Lucy's hand too quickly. Lucy's scream echoed against the crater walls. Before Rex could do anything, they already fell into the boiling lava and burned immediately.

"LUCY! REBEL!" He exclaimed, but he didn't have time to despair, he had to run alone.

He climbed to the top and ran as fast as he could. He was constantly wiping away tears that reduced his visibility. And huge negative emotions tried to stop him, but he forced his body to run.

With the key button, he opened the hatch from a small spaceship and immediately launched it rising into the air. He was getting faster and faster to jump to another dimension, but then several meteorite shards hit before the jump and damaged the ship.

He teleported, but his machine began to fail due to damage and threw him off the ship. He hit the ground hard and lost consciousness.

After an indefinite time, he woke up with a headache, teleportation failed and landed somewhere else. At the moment, he didn't care. He fell to his knees because he realized that he had just lost his whole family, friends and the world, and he was the only survivor.

Tears welled up in his eyes all the time, and his body trembled. He clenched his fists and began to hit the ground, making a depression in it. He shouted. Sobbed. He was pissed at the whole world, especially at himself. All the time he heard in his head the scream of his wife and saw the image of two bodies burning.

- Lucy ... Rebel ... - Tired, curled up and cried.

He heard someone's footsteps. In a short moment, his desperate face changed beyond recognition. He couldn't show fear or weakness to strangers because they could use it, but instead of strangers, he saw Emmet. Then it occurred to him that his machine had to make anomalies in Emmet's world.

He wanted to approach his old friend and tell him everything, but he couldn't tell anyone about it now. Even if he wanted to, he would gibbers.

He checked if he still had a medallion in his pocket, which he made himself, especially for Lucy. He did not manage to give it to her, so the gift for her became his memento to his loved ones.

***

Cole stared at him for a long time when he finished telling. What was he supposed to tell him? That everything will be fine? It will not be good, he has lost so much and nothing will reverse it.

"I'm sorry. That's all I can do for you, feel sorry for you." Master of Earth said quietly, irritated by his powerlessness in this situation.

"No, that's not all. You have already done a lot." He forced a small smile to cover the pain. "Okay, we have to get going. Probably Lloyd and Emmet are already far away and are waiting for us."

***

"Were you really possessed?" Emmet was surprised.

"Yes," Lloyd answered honestly.

"And how did it feel?" He inquired about every detail because the adventures of the Green Ninja fascinated him.

"Not very pleasant because you feel that someone is taking control over you and you are fighting with him. It's hard to describe, but it's really not pleasant". He flinched at remembering it.

Emmet stood on the floor that collapsed under him and activated the trap.

"Watch out!" Lloyd shouted and pushed him until they both fell over.

Shots fired from the wall, and one of them hit the ninja's shoulder. After a while, the trap stopped.

"Lloyd, you're hurt! It's all because of me ..."

"It's nothing ..." He sat up and clenched his teeth tightly. "At least she's not poisoned. Then I would die right away."

"But if I was more attentive, it wouldn't happen." He reached out to him. "Will you give me your sword?"

The Energy Master didn't know what he needed for it at first, but he gave it to him. Emmet cut his sleeves from his blue blouse and dipped one piece of fabric with water from a bottle.

"Take out the arrow and I will clean it and bandage it."

Lloyd nodded and grabbed the shaft of the arrow, then quickly pulled it out. His body pierced even worse pain than before, and the blood flowed faster.

The builder thoroughly cleaned the wound, and then began to wrap the hand with a shred of material, stopping the blood spilling intensively. Finally, he tied a makeshift bandage on his bow so that it could be easily untied later.

" Thanks, but you didn't have to do it. I could handle it myself."

"But it went faster when I helped you. We are a team and you have to help each other on the team. Did you forget about it, leader?"

Lloyd agreed quietly with him because he knew he was right. The green ninja often wanted to take everything on himself, even the smallest things.

"It didn't hit you?" He asked

"No, I'm all right." He stood up and helped him up. "We have to get going. Probably Rex and Cole are already far away and are waiting for us."

"Okay". He smiled despite the burning pain and walked beside him.

Seeing Emmet's profile, he noticed that he had changed a lot. Through training, his muscles became more sculpted and he also lost weight. His cheekbones protruded gently. He felt like he was looking at Rex.

"Emmet, are you and Rex related?"

"It's quite ... complicated" He chuckled. "Rex was kind of ahead of me. His name means Radical Emmet eXtreme or R.E.X for short. He fell into another dimension, then got out of it and wanted to change his future to take revenge on friends who, in his opinion, left him. Yes, I am an alternative version of Rex, and I exist only because Rex decided to change the past wanting to transform me into himself so that he could exist, but he did not succeed. And recently I found out that it exists, only two similar worlds with alternative realities have arisen. Forgive me, I am a bit confused and my translation is a little pointless. It's really complicated to describe."

"A bit" He shook his head in surprise at his confession.

He suspected they might be related, but not that they were alternate versions of the same person. Even their voices sound different, but he remembered several situations when he thought Emmet was calling him and it was Rex, so sometimes their voices were identical.

They stopped because they noticed a deep chasm in front of them that separated them from the next passage.

"We have to figure out a way to get to the other side" Lloyd was looking for something that could help them, but he had no idea.

"I'll use it" He pointed to the overturned pillar.

"Emmet, I'm not sure if even you are-"

Before he finished, the construction worker lifted the pillar with great care and turned it into a makeshift bridge to the other side. The Green Ninja has never seen such strength in his life. Even he did not have such strength, and yet he had a particle of earth. Without a word, they crossed over.

"I have one more question, you and Rex, is your power increased or acquired?"

"I'm not sure, but probably innate. In my world, everyone has a lot of strength and can build, but it seems to me that only me and Rex can do it on such a scale and we can still destroy. If I think about it now, it is quite strange. Apparently, they called me "the chosen one", but I didn't stand out. It was the influence of more creative people that changed me."

"I understand, so you don't really know" He said. "At first, I didn't know I had the power. Later I discovered it thanks to my friends and uncle. Mine is certainly innate because not only that my grandfather is the creator of Ninjago, my father is also his son who belongs to the dark side, it, unfortunately, possessed him. To think that I used to be a child who wanted to become someone like him."

"I don't know him, but you're definitely better than him." He put his hand on his good shoulder. Then they both stopped for a moment. "Remember that."

"I will remember it."

At the end of the corridor, another passage led up, which led to the end of the road. They saw gloves on a stone pedestal that looked more like stone carvings.

"Oh, hi!" Cole waved at them, who had just left the second passage. "How was your place?"

"It's hard enough, Lloyd has suffered a bit, but it's not a big deal," Emmet assured them. "And at your place?"

"I almost fell into a big hole, but luckily I'm still alive." The black ninja laughed.

"I thought my cookies would be safe" The green ninja whispered.

"What are you mumbling there?" Master of Earth asked.

"Nothing" He lied, trying to stop the burst of laughter.

The road to the pedestal seemed too easy, but earlier traps for most people could prove fatal.

According to legend, when you touch the gloves, they change from stone to platinum. Rex took one and Emmet took the other, but nothing happened. The gloves were still petrified.

"It's a fake!" Danger threw the glove on the floor. Or maybe they never had any power?

He felt cheated. He hoped that they would help them, but they turned out to be only worthless sculptures.

"We'll definitely find some other source of energy. We must not give up, we will definitely succeed." Emmet tried to lift his spirits.

"But why? Rather no one would make this temple for no reason" Cole whispered to Lloyd.

" It is possible that someone was here much earlier and left fakes, and all the treasure has appropriated. This temple is many thousands of years old, so if someone was here, they probably died a long time ago or used the power of gloves to travel around dimensions."

They left the temple and immediately went to the jet. Rex watched the setting sun. Looking at them, he wondered if they needed to get out. Earlier he flew to the world of Emmet because only he knew and wanted to save himself from the crumbling dimension. Now, however, he knew Ninjago, in which he made new friends. Does it even make sense to look for it? There is everyone I knew, Lucy, too. I lost my Lucy and my child ... I have to deal with it. Returning to this dimension will not be good for me, but Em may want to go back there. He told me how it was there, but ... maybe he misses his world?