Another Way Back [Complete]

Part 1 - Let's crash a wedding!

Who wants to crash a wedding?

They were getting closer to the temple, closer to Nya, and closer to hopefully crashing the wedding instead of getting crashed themselves. But at the same time, Lloyd was lagging further and further behind the rest of his team. The Master of Energy hadn't gotten used to his aged body yet and was severely struggling to keep up with the pace of his brothers.

Jay still remembered Lloyd as the young child in the black hoodie, who would prank and constantly annoy them. Not that long ago, the four older Ninja had all just waited for the moment, when the little brat would finally grow up. And now, all that was left of this time was his still youthful voice, which would serve as a constant reminder of his lost childhood.

The auburn-haired young man smiled sadly, when he remembered the times when he and Lloyd would argue endlessly about the famous line from their beloved Starfarer comics. He couldn't convince the stubborn younger boy that 'Fear' was the correct word to use. Lloyd just kept saying 'Fair. Fair isn't a word where I come from.' And unfortunately, he had been right in his own way. No, this wasn't fair at all.

Jay still refused to think about the person who had made this phrase famous. Regardless of any biological relationship, Cliff Gordon was not his father. Jay Walker would never again be ashamed of being a poor junkyard kid with embarrassing parents.

Who wants to crash a wedding?

But it was something else that crashed first. They were just approaching the bridge to Temple Island, when suddenly cracks of all sizes started to appear in the ground all over Djinnjago, in some cases even splitting the individual land fragments. Pieces of rock came off the edges of the floating islands and plummeted down towards Ninjago.

"Is everyone alright?" Cole asked, watching the bridge collapse. "What is happening? It looks like Djinnjago is falling apart. But why?"

"I have analysed different solutions to this problem. And the most logical explanation is that Nadakhan was never strong enough to keep Djinnjago in the sky himself." Zane explained. "To create a flying archipelago of this size, Nadakhan needed the Sword of Souls. He needed... our powers. And now that our souls have escaped, the sword has lost some of its strength, and Djinnjago is indeed falling apart." He confirmed Cole's guess.

But it wasn't just Djinnjago that was falling apart. Jay's entire world continued to crumble as realisation hit him: Sensei Wu had erred.

The wise man with the long white beard. Had. Been. Wrong.

"According to ou-my calculations, the sword is still powerful enough to keep the main land mass of Djinnjago afloat, for now. at least" Zane continued.

My calculations. Not ours. Not PIXAL's. Jay could tell that Zane was suffering from the loss of his female companion. Maybe they would be able to recover her code from Zane's latest backup? He was sure that they would be able to do that. But, on the other hand, would the Titanium Ninja actually want to replace her with a copy?

Speaking of which, Zane had not said much in relation to the surprising discovery of his brother Echo. And the others had wisely avoided the topic.

Although he had had more time to process the information, Jay still didn't know what to make of it. He had known Dr Julien only for a brief period of time, but he remembered the inventor as a very kind and devoted man. So it was just incomprehensible how he could have left the younger nindroid behind at the lighthouse, when the Ninja had rescued him during their journey to the Dark Island...

"Lloyd, do you still have the comms device to contact the Bounty? Wu and the others wanted to take the ship to get back down to Ninjago." Cole's voice snapped him out of his thoughts; the Black Ninja had finally taken over command. "We must warn our friends on the ground. They need to get the people of Ninjago to safety as fast as they can."

"Already on it." The Green Ninja confirmed.

"At least we shouldn't have to worry about any more parts of Ninjago going up if he can hardly keep these ones afloat." The Master of Earth added. "And, more good news for us, as long as Djinnjago keeps crumbling, we know that Nadakhan isn't all powerful yet, which means we still have time to stop that wedding."

"Then, let's go and save my sister." Kai used his Airjitzu to get across to the now bridge-less chasm between the islands. Lloyd and Zane followed promptly.

But the other two Ninja stayed behind. Jay gave his best friend a questioning look. "When did you become such an optimist?"

"When I realised that you were starting to lose hope. This team seriously needs some positive thinking." The ghost grinned. "And I had a really great teacher. Now c'mon, let's go and crash that wedding."