Legends of Ninjago: The Brotherhood of a Lifetime: Chapter 23 The End?

Wu ran down hallway after hallway, searching for a sign of life. Finding his way had turned out to be impossible, and his only hope was apprehending a Skulkin who knew where the weapons were being held.

Two Skulkins came into view ahead of him, blissfully unaware that they were just about to get blind sighted by an eight hundred year old spinjitsu master. They were pinned instantly, then Wu demanded information. The soldiers were terrified and told him right away that Garmadon was in the throne room on the floor below.

"Thank you, gentlemen," said Wu. Then he used the Sword to light a fire fence around them to keep them from attacking or warning anybody and disappeared around a corner.

In the back of his mind, Wu’s thoughts were with the children fighting on his behalf and he felt his heart stiffen. He had never intended for anything of this magnitude to happen to them, and if they were hurt in any way, he knew he’d never be able to forgive himself. Especially young Jay, whose parents had trusted him with their son’s life. It hadn’t been easy to convince them all those years ago, and the pain in their eyes the last time he saw them....

No. He needed to focus on what was happening right now, he needed a clear his mind, free of guilt and doubt.

A door approached him, large and round. He slowed to a stop and stood for a moment, bracing for another confrontation. There was a small golden flash from his hand and then he opened the door with the click of a key. The moment the doors began to part, Wu slid three small orbs along the throne room floor and they began to release a blue gas, filling the room in a matter of seconds. The sound of several bodies hitting the floor gave Wu the confidence to step inside, breathing in the gas which was only harmful to the, now unconscious, skulken soldiers. He waded his way carefully into the blue unknown, silence.

Then, a voice.

“Hello, brother.”

Wu closed his eyes in dread, then turned to where the voice had come from. The room was set ablaze with purple light shining through the thick layer of gas in the air, but in the midst of it all was a pair of bright red eyes.

“Garmadon,” said Wu stoically. As the gas began to clear, he could see the Lord of Darkness sitting on a large thrown looking far too happy to see his little brother. “What have you done with the other weapons?” Wu continued.

Garmadon laughed coldly. “It’s not 'what I have done', little brother. It’s 'what you have done.'”

“And what is that?” Wu asked.

“Reunited them.”

From somewhere beyond the mist, another figure emerged. There were three weapons in his bony hands, glowing tauntingly in the eerie light, and he was walking closer and closer. It was impossible not to recognize the Skulken King's hideous face, but by the time his face in view, the Scythe in his right hand was already swinging downward. It landed on the ground with an awful clanging sound, but Wu was not touched by it. He had leapt out of the way moments before it had came close to him, and he now stood a good few feet away, boldly brandishing his Sword.

“Samukai,” Wu exclaimed. “I would never have expected someone so prodigious to be grovelling at the feet of my brother.”

Samukai scrunched up his face into a glower and sneered at Garmadon before raising the Daggers and shooting off a wave of icicles aimed at Wu's head. Wu easily used the Sword to counter attack with a wave of icicle-melting fire, then charged Samukai who blocked his attack with the Scythe, dead-locking them both.

"I never would have thought of it myself," the king answered, getting a good look at Wu. He pulled away swiftly then came at him just as fast, and Wu's only choice was to dodge. "You halflings are so beneath me." He twirled the Nunchucks quickly in the air for a moment, collecting more and more energy that buzzed and cracked above him, then shot the weapon forward, sending a blast of light with it.

Wu, however, in a wild state of panic, summoned a tendril of flame and, with the sword as a guide, swung at the blinding light and re-directed it like a baseball. The two elements crashed together and began intertwining as they hit the wall with a terrible explosion.

"But I must say," the king went on, advancing. Wu shot off a wave of fire, causing the king to erect a stone shield. "Finding your father's little trinket and taking my throne back was an offer I couldn't refuse." The fire passed and Samukai launched the slab of stone toward the last place he had seen Wu, but the only sound he heard was that of stone breaking. In a flash, there was a fence of fire all around him, and an out-of-breath Wu came walking up toward him, his sword still alight with bright yellow flames.

"What Garmadon promised, he can't deliver," said Wu, glowering at his brother for good measure. Garmadon was still in his seat, observing the whole ordeal from a distance. "No one knows the whereabouts of our father's grave. You'll never find the crystal."

"You measure wit through the lens of a bumbling human. I am no human," Samukai replied. He lifted up the ring of earth which Wu had set on fire and launched it over his head and right at Wu who wasn't quick enough this time and it hit him in the shoulder as the flying ring passed by. He was knocked to the ground and as he was about to get up, Samukai raised the Scythe high above him, ready to strike.

"Wait," Garmadon said firmly.

"What?!" Samukai barked. "You would let this weakling live?!"

"I want him... to watch." Garmadon didn't raise his voice a single decibel, but the intensity of his words was clear, and Samukai lowered the Scythe. "Now, bring me the Weapons, as we agreed."

Wu watched, horrified, as the Skulken King reached down and snagged the Sword from him, finally uniting all four Weapons. There was a visible change that came over him, a glow of confidence and power. Then he released a cruel chuckle.

Samukai turned and walked back over to where Garmadon was still sitting and said, "Oh, you naive sap. You utter hatchling of a leader! To think that the King of the Underworld would just hand you the single most powerful relics in the universe is by far the most amusing thing I've heard in over five thousand years!" Armed to the teeth, he marched up to the foot of Garmadon's throne and his rotting face twisted into a smile, but Garmadon didn't seem worried. In fact, he didn't even flinch.

"Didn't I plan for this?" he asked menacingly. In one motion, he stood and lifted his left hand up, throwing a blast of purple energy toward the gloating Samukai.

Wu got to his knees as quickly as possible, but he blinked at just the wrong time, and before him now was a horrible scene. Samukai was still standing, clutching onto the Weapons for protection, and a stone shield with a hole melted through it separated him and Garmadon.

"AAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" the Skulken King screamed his suit of armour started to rust and flake away followed by his bones turning black and falling apart from the ribcage onward. One by one, his hands disappeared into a pile of rubble; one weapon for each pile now scattered on the floor alongside a handful of jewels.

“Are you mad?” Wu cried. “You’ve just killed the king of an entire civilisation!”

“No, I bore witness to the untimely death of a king who fell at the hands of a certain, human warrior.” Garmadon gave a smug glance at his brother who was still on the floor. He then stooped down and picked up the Sword.

“Garmadon, you know that the Weapons will destroy you!” said Wu, desperately trying to get back up to his feet.

“Poor, little Wu. Always one step behind,” Garmadon chastised. “Father said that if any mortal tried to wield them, they would perish. You and I both know that we are far from mortal.”

Wu watched, horrified, as his brother picked up the Scythe and then the Daggers, and finally the Nunchucks in one of his four hands. He waited with baited breath for the worst to happen, but apart from what looked like minor burns, Garmadon was still very much alive.

“Bow before your new emperor,” Garmadon said, glaring at Wu.

“I do not bow to lesser men.”

Garmadon was fuming. He raised the Weapons high above his head, ready to wipe Wu from the face of the earth, when suddenly an invisible force stopped him. He seemed frozen in place, unable to deliver the final blow. There was a stiff wind blowing around them, too, and not from any natural source. That’s when Wu noticed the Weapons were glowing a deep red colour.

“What is this?” Garmadon shrieked. “Some sort of trick? Are you doing this?”

Wu was at a loss for words and stared as a large, swirling vortex began to appear out of thin air behind Garmadon. It churned and gurgled and grew large enough to fit three men inside of it, then it seemed to pull Garmadon backwards toward it. He screamed in protest, but nothing he did—no amount of superhuman strength—could stop it.

"Garmadon!" Wu yelled, rushing up to him and offering his hand, but the warlord refused. "Don't be a fool!"

"I don't want your help!" Garmadon snapped back, even as his torso was being swallowed up.

Bit by bit, his body was engulfed by the swirling, inky material, until finally his head and arms where the only things left.

“This is not the end, Wu! I will conquer Ninjago, and the day I do, you’ll die an unimaginable de—“

Garmadon’s body vanished from sight, but the weapons didn’t go with him. They were unable to pass through the portal and Garmadon lost his grip on them. Now they fell to the floor again, lifeless and dim, just like the portal as it slowly faded away. But Garmadon’s final words still rattled through Wu’s head for several minutes afterwards.

The fight was over, and now was a time of rejoicing. The leader of the invading army was dead, and his followers would likely scatter soon enough, and... who was Wu kidding? Despite all of the awful circumstances, he had just witnessed his brother get sucked into a portal, presumably leading into another realm. It had to have been one of his father’s safety measures. There were so many things that he had not told the two boys... so many secrets... Wu wondered if perhaps some events could have been avoided if his father had only been more honest with them.

Wu got to his feet slowly and gathered the weapons, careful not to let them touch his bare skin, and preventing himself from using their power, even a little. Now he needed to find the children and get back to Ninjago before the Skulkins found out about any of this.

He began his journey back to the courtyard, a heavy weight bearing down on him every step of the way.