Gobei panted, out of breath, as he climbed the jagged steps carved into the rough, snow clad, cliff. The snapping cold and howling winds bit at his freezing skin and his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

He clutched his coat around him mainly for keeping out the cold and to prevent it from blowing away. Holding the message scroll from Master Wu close to his chest, he groaned as he emerged on level ground which had been cut out from the cliff in order to establish the entrance of the dreaded Kryptarium Prison.

Giant steel gates were embedded into the entrance of the cave behind it. Silver dragon statutes flanked the metal doors, their paws held up as if they were praying while blue fires burned between the claws.

Two tall, broad-chested guards stood on alert, pointing their razor sharp spearheads at the tired mail deliverer who heaved himself up from the top step. As soon as he saw the weapons pointed at his face, he threw up his hands in surrender, squeaking in fear.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he yelled. "I bring a message. From Master Wu!"

The name caused the guards to draw back a little. They pulled up the man and led him inside the huge cavern of the prison. The gates groaned loudly and Gobei half expected the mountain to shake from the noise. The inside of the prison seemed to be colder than the freezing temperatures of the world outside despite the various ceramic bowls which contained fire.

The guards led the messenger to the chief warden, a big, burly man who didn't look like the type to have a soft side. After the pleasantries had been observed, Gobei revealed to him the message sent by Master Wu.

"What?!" screamed the commander as he read the master's words, anger and indignation flaring in his chest. "'Double the guard?! Extra precautions?!'"

He bent down from his enormous height to scowl at the squirming man who squeaked in fear. "'Your prison may not be adequate?!'"

Gobei looked around at the other guards who were either brandishing their weapons, baring their teeth or staring daggers at him. It did not look good.

The commander snapped the scroll shut, shoving it towards the mailman's chest. "You doubt my prison's security?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the short man menacingly.

Gobei was quick to shake his head at those words, fear gripping him. "Absolutely not!" he blurted out, trying to appear innocent. "Wu does. I'm just the messenger."

"I'll give you a message for your Master Wu," the commander hissed, glaring at him for a few seconds before giving him a push towards the stone bridge that led to the rest of the prison.

The chief warden followed alongside the quaking man, showing off to him his sanctuary for criminals. "Escape from Kryptarium Prison is impossible!" he assured somewhat angrily.

Gobei's mouth dropped open at the size of the cavernous prison, eyes wide with awe. He took out his feather quill and a piece of parchment to take notes and show them to Wu. More bridges ran over them, guards and warriors stood on every door, crossbows lined the roof for . . . emergency break-outs perhaps?

He leaned over the side of the stone walkway on which they were treading, gasping as he realized that the prison stretched down into a dungeon, dissolving into darkness deep below. "Whoa," he mumbled in horror.

He squeaked as the commander roughly thumped him on the shoulder, chuckling at the amazed look on the messenger's face. "Impressive, isn't it?"

The action caused Gobei to drop the quill he was holding and it sailed down into the pits below. Regardless, the man smiled nervously, stuttering, "Yes, v-very impressive. It's very impressive."

The commander continued on the the "tour", waving his hand around at the entire premises buried into the mountain. "One way in, one way out. One thousand guards and one prisoner."

Gobei gulped as he realized the reason as to why this place was equipped with such high security. "Yes, except that prisoner is Morro . . ."

They reach a creaky, old wooden elevator, its lever and winch under the care of two guards who helped them get inside. They lowered the elevator and it sunk into the pitch blackness that seemed never-ending. The contraption hit the bottom floor with a thud that echoed throughout the dungeons.

Giant doors shielded them for what waited beyond and Gobei found himself shivering uncontrollably. The doors were thrown open and a drawbridge was lowered, connecting their ground with a lone island of rough stone in the midst of the swirling dark abyss.

A figure was bent down on his knees on the island, his hands bound with chains which were tied to the sides of the rock he was resting on. A tortoise shell armour with an unusual key pattern was latched onto the person's back, hence the hunched position.

The boy's hair were black and stringy with a shade of green painting the right side. The greasy curtain of black and green hung over his bent head and covered his face entirely. The person barely moved and hardly registered any signs of life. It was hard to make out if he was breathing since he stayed unnaturally still.

"Oh my," Gobei breathed out, fear making his voice shake. Just being a few feet away from the most terrible warrior Ninjago has ever seen was enough to make him want to run away screaming.

"Behold, Morro, the Master of Wind," the commander muttered lowly. The uncomfortable stillness with which Morro greeted them was unnerving as if a dead body was simply tied up in chains.

"I'll, um . . . I'm just gonna wait right here," Gobei murmured, stepping back a few steps.

The warden shoved him forward, smiling in a sinister way. "There's nothing to worry about. It's perfectly safe."

Gobei had no choice but to follow him onto the island to get up close and personal with the dreaded Master of Wind.

"Crossbows! At the ready!" the warden hollered to which the said weapons were set by the guards to shoot if need be.

The commander walked up to the prisoner, sneering at the pathetic sight before him. "Hey, tough guy! Did you hear?" he spoke with a taunting edge to his tone. "The First Spinjitzu Master's finally gonna give someone the Spinjitzu Scroll and it's not gonna be you."

Gobei's eyes widened at that. Teasing Morro about the very thing that got him into this forsaken place was not a good idea. He had to stop this lunatic of a warden. "What are you doing?!" he half-screamed at his companion. "Don't get him mad!"

The larger man chuckled arrogantly, shaking his head while doing so. "What's he going to do about it?" he asked, walking around to Morro's back where his feet were exposed, sole and heel facing up. "I've got him completely immobilised."

To prove his point, the commander stepped on one of the boy's bare foot with strength enough to crush it to bits. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened. Gobei winced at the crunch sound that emerged after the action, scared that the boy would now break free and would destroy them all.

Strangely, Morro remained still. He made no sound. No groan or yelp. He didn't even flinch though having your feet stomped on like that could make even the fiercest warriors yell in pain. The Master of Wind kept his head down, unmoving and quiet as if dead.

This was enough to scare the living daylights out of Gobei as he was already freaked out from being this close to the fearsome wind master. "I'm good! I've seen enough!" he exclaimed in a fake, happy voice. "I'll tell Wu there's nothing to worry about."

"No, there isn't," assured the commander as the two of them made their way back to the elevator.

What they didn't see was the quill from earlier float down and finally land in front of the prisoner. As the quill innocently lay there, Morro's head jerked up, nightmarish green eyes visible through the dirty strands of dark hair.

His fingers twitched as he noticed the quill. He was still weak to use his powers fully but he could still conjure light breezes. With feeble movements of his fingers, Morro was able to blow the quill upwards and into his waiting palm.

"The First Spinjitzu Master's finally gonna give someone the Spinjitzu Scroll and it's not gonna be you."

He would deal with Wu and his father personally and then, he would finish off the other warrior who had dared to take his place.

He was coming to claim what was rightfully his . . .

☯️🐉☯️🐉☯️

"GREEN NINJA! GREEN NINJA!"

The crowd's cheers carried all the way up to the Monastery of Spinjitzu as Lloyd was taken there on the palanquin, after donning the legendary gi produced for the Green Ninja.

The hooded men place the palanquin on the marbled floor of the Hall of Heroes, waiting for Lloyd to climb out of it. As the blonde emerged from the curtained carriage, the men took it up on their shoulders once more before bowing and scuttling out of the hall, shutting the doors behind them.

Lloyd dashed back to the closed doors, confusion written all over his face. "Hello? Wait, I think there's been a mistake," he called out to anyone who could hear him on the other side. "Everyone seems to think that I'm, uh . . . "

He trailed off as he finally realized where he was. His body slowly turned around, his mouth gradually widening as he took in the legendary Hall where the collection of the coolest warrior relics were said to be stored. Lloyd dared to walk forward, afraid that the wrong move could make all of this disappear.

"The sacred Hall of Heroes! No way!"

The blonde excitedly rushed over to a display on which an armour rested, made entirely out of pure gold and glinting in late afternoon sun that poured in from the rafters. He let out an unusually loud gasp as he observed the armour from all sides.

"The First Spinjitzu Master's Dragon Armour," he stated, eyes shining. "With authentic battle damage!"

He then made a run for a sword with an emerald hilt and gold markings. Lloyd was too distracted by the "awesomeness" of the weapon for him to see the reflection in its blade which was of him pleading before Master Wu while the aged master held his index finger in a strange hold.

"The Sword of Sanctuary," Lloyd spoke, the reflection from before disintegrating and becoming that of the blonde's excited face. "Said to help warriors determine their opponent's next move!"

Next, he approached two staffs with scrolls wrapped around the tops, making them look like flags. The scrolls were adorned with ancient symbols and words which Lloyd could not make out. But he was fascinated by it all the same.

"The Scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu!"

A canvas caught his eye which was hung on his left. It had on it the silhouette of a tree enveloped in a circle with two different creatures flanking its sides. On the right was a dark humanoid being with ugly horns protruding from its head and claws lining its fingers. On the left was a wingless dragon that seemed to look more like a snake, the lower body coiled on itself.

Lloyd gazed at it in awe as he drew closer. "The Dragon and the Oni," he whispered as if in a trance. "I've only seen paintings of that painting."

A smaller hall led off from behind the wall the painting was hanging on and Lloyd noticed a big picture frame peeking out from behind a few boxes. Something told him that the portrait was not meant for anyone's viewing pleasure but he couldn't push down his curiosity.

Since visiting this hall had always been a dream of his, Lloyd had to see everything this place contained. If the picture was hidden away like that, it must be something pretty cool. Though no one was there except him, Lloyd still looked around to check before tip-toeing over to the cardboard boxes.

He carefully managed to heave the large frame into view and blew off the dust clinging to the glass. "Let's see what this is – huh?" The blonde frowned and tilted his head as he inspected the painting. It wasn't of an ancient battle or a demonic being. Rather it seemed to be a family picture.

The old man in the middle was recognized as the comparitively younger version of the First Spinjitzu Master. He had a hand on the shoulder of a man standing to his right who looked to be in his early twenties. Blonde hair sat atop his head and sapphire eyes gazed happily at whoever was painting them.

What intrigued Lloyd the most was the left half of the painting – the missing left half, that is. There seemed to be another person on the other side of the First Spinjitzu Master but he or she had been completely ripped away from the picture.

The torn and frayed edge of the paper gave Lloyd sinister vibes and he assumed something must've happened which he wasn't supposed to know about. Afraid someone might eventually find him, Lloyd quickly stuffed the frame back behind the boxes. He dusted off his hands and walked back into the hall, wanting to continue his exploring.

The ordeal with the painting rapidly faded away from his mind as soon as his eager eyes fell on a golden teapot that rested on a mahogany pedestal. Lloyd excitedly ran over to it, wringing his hands enthusiastically as he took in the pirate skull marking on the side.

"The legendary Teapot Of Tyrahn!" his inner fanboy squealed, jumping from one foot to the other. "Said to contain the soul of the genie prince of Djinnjago."

The blonde slowly leaned closer to the teapot, whispering into its snout. "Hello?"

A voice responded and Lloyd assumed it came from the genie in the teapot relic. "Have you finished sightseeing?" the voice said in what seemed to be an annoyed tone.

The blonde gasped at the voice, his curiosity flaring again. He thought he had offended the spirit of the genie in some way and he attempted to make things right. "I'm sorry. I should've come to see you first."

"My patience is wearing thin," the voice replied, still annoyed.

"Oh," Lloyd muttered, raising an eyebrow at that. "Well, I mean it's not like you were going anywhere."

"Would you turn around?" commanded the voice to which Lloyd shrugged and obliged. He twisted around to see Master Wu standing at the far end of the hall by the green pool, glaring at him.

Lloyd, preoccupied with the possibilities of a conversation with the prince of Djinnjago, didn't make much of it. Rather, he casually greeted him with, "Hey. How's it going?"

The oblivious boy then turned back to the pot, wanting to resume the talk with the genie. He peeped into the snout, trying to take a sneak peek at whoever was inside. "How do you manage to get a prince–"

That's when he realized the horror of the situation.

"–Oh no, Master Wu!" Lloyd exclaimed, turning back to the wizened master so abruptly that he accidentally upset the pedestal. The wood toppled over and fell to the floor while the teapot came crashing after it, breaking into a million pieces. A faint moan emerged from the mess and Lloyd winced once he realized it was probably the spirit of the genie.

With a grimace the blonde faced Wu, an apologetic look in his eyes. "Uh, someone . . . broke that," he muttered, fidgeting with his fingers. He then quickly bent down to pick up the debris. "But I'm gonna fix it. Do you have some glue?"

Lloyd carelessly started to retrieve the shattered pieces, another moan escaping from the mess. The blonde winced as he got a tiny shard wedged in his finger. "Ow! A splinter."

Master Wu rolled his eyes but tried to remain patient. "So, you're the legendary Green Ninja, hm?" he asked the boy in a polite tone and faked a smile. Lloyd slowly stood up, rubbing the back of his neck uncertainly, and shrugged. "Uh . . . I guess so?"

Master Wu let out a low chuckle before glaring at Lloyd and snapping at him. "Wrong!" he yelled, causing the boy to jump and stumble back. "You are not the Green Ninja. You will never be the Green Ninja until you have learned the secret of the Spinjitzu Scroll."

The old man pointed to the ceiling with his staff where the golden dragon was gazing down at the hall with the emerald green scroll clutched in its mouth. Lloyd followed Wu's staff and sighed in awe at the structure.

"Whoa," he breathed out, stepping back to view it better. He looked back at Master Wu, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "So, how does this work?" he wondered, thinking up ways of his own to reach the scroll. "You have a ladder or trampoline or . . .?

Master Wu smiled and laughed drily, making Lloyd regret ever agreeing to come here in the first place. "You think it's that easy?" Wu asked nicely before his face twisted into a scowl as he advanced towards the blonde. "That I'm just going to hand you the secret to limitless power?!"

Lloyd backed away, stuttering all the while. "No, I–"

"One must first master the highest level of being a ninja," Wu stated, catching up to Lloyd. He gazed severely into Lloyd's eyes, sapphire clashing against green, and in that moment, Lloyd realized who the blonde man in the painting was.

The old master continued his speech, coming closer and making Lloyd stumble back even more. "One must master Spinjitzu, unlock their True Potential, create their Elemental Dragons and find inner peace."

Wu looked at Lloyd in disgust and the boy suddenly felt self-conscious. The master stopped walking but still scowled at Lloyd. "However, all of that is impossible if that one is someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Lloyd repeated, following Wu with his eyes as the old man went around him, pointing out his weaknesses.

"Yes!" Master Wu exclaimed. "Look at you . . . this lazy butt!" He swatted Lloyd's behind with his staff as the boy jumped and yelped. "These spindly legs," he continued, gracing the boys legs with the same smack of the stick. "And this ridiculous belly," Wu muttered, prodding Lloyd's abdomen with his staff.

Lloyd winced and rubbed all the places where Wu had struck him. He didn't know why the ninja master had a problem with his flat stomach though. Sure, he wasn't fat but maybe he should've worked out and made an ab or two. "Ow," he muttered, glaring at the older man. "What was that for?!"

Wu scrunched up his nose and turned away entirely. "And utter disregard for personal hygiene."

Lloyd looked offended. Now, it had gone too far. Was this man going to keep insulting him till Lloyd gave up? How dare he say that he had no regard for his cleanliness? Lloyd was nothing if not a hygiene freak.

"Now, wait a minute!" the blonde stated indignantly, raising a finger at Wu. "That's a little uncalled for."

The master moved a little farther, cringing at a stench only he could smell. "Don't stand that close . . . I can smell your breath."

Lloyd ignored the comment. He forgot all about respect and manner and took a daring step closer to Master Wu. "Listen," he began hotly. "Your father said that I was the–"

The blonde didn't have the time to finish his sentence since Wu had abruptly turned around and pinched Lloyd's outstretched digit between his thumb and middle finger. The boy's eyes widened and he quickly fell to his knees, fear gripping him. "The Yin-Yang finger hold?" he whimpered helplessly. "Not the Yin-Yang finger hold!"

Master Wu smirked slyly, trying to intimidate the boy even more. "Ohh, so you know this hold."

Lloyd looked at the verge of freaking out. He answered nonetheless. "Developed by Master Yang over three hundred years ago – yes!"

Wu took the blonde's scared act and used it to his own advantage. "Then you must know what happens when I flex my pinky," he hinted, lightly twitching his pinky-finger. The little movement made Lloyd start whimpering even louder. "No no no!"

"You know the hardest part of this?" Master Wu whispered, leaning forward, his eyes narrowed to slits. "The hardest part . . . is cleaning up afterwards." This was followed by a sinister chuckle that put Lloyd on edge. "Okay!" the blonde pleaded. "Okay, please, take it easy!"

Wu squeezed Lloyd's finger a little harder than before. "Now listen closely, boy," he ordered and Lloyd became all ears. "My father may have picked you but when I'm through with you, I promise you, you're going to wish he hadn't!" The old man bared his teeth menacingly at the boy. "Are we clear?"

Lloyd nodded frantically, wanting nothing more than to free himself from the dreaded hold that could end his life in a matter of seconds. "Oh yeah, we're c-clear," he managed to say, shivering all over. "We're clear. We are so clear."

Master Wu gave a sly smile, raising an eyebrow interestingly. "Good. I can't wait to get started."

☯️🐉☯️🐉☯️

Finally updated!! *Dances even though I don't know how*

Guess, Morro finally made an appearance.