Ninjago: The Tribes AU

"True evil"

Kai sat on the steps leading up to his throne, holding a damp towl to his head. Clouse paced around the dimly lit room enraged. He'd been ranting for hours about how the fight with Garmadon and the other elemental masters went terribly. How they'd lost even though they were outnumbering them. But something strange happened towards the end. Garmadon, in his Oni form, had pinned Clouse down and held his talons to the sorcerer's throat. But he hesitated, and never actually took the blow; instead, he locked Clouse in the cage he had been trapped in and flew away. He had the opportunity to kill him- but instead he didn't.
"You see, that's always been the problem with him- he's weak. And the very fact that all the other leaders even came to their rescue, means they have the same problem. In the fact that they took that rich flea bag of a prisoner with them, means they're even worse than I thought. They care about each other's well being... and caring a sign of weakness." Clouse scoffed. "Everyone in this tribe knows that, that's why we're stronger, more superior. If you never have to worry about anyone else, then there's nothing holding you back from success. That's why this tribe is every person for themselves- it makes us the only ones fit to rule this land.."

"Yeah, but I'm the exception though, right?" Kai interjected.

Clouse raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well, I'm the leader- so naturally everyone has to care about me. I know you do. You have to.. you promised my father you would."

The sorcerer let out a slightly irritated sigh before putting on a convincing enough smile. "Well of course I do! After those wretched other tribes wounded your father, he came back here. But alas- I could not save him, for his wounds were fatal. But his dying request was that I should take care of you- raise you to be strong. And most importantly, raise you to one day conquer this land just as he had always wanted."

Kai nodded his head in agreement. "Exactly."

"Though, I will admit that your defeat at the hands of those masters was quite... disappointing." His eyes glistened with an ominous purple glow. "There's a change of plans, young master... We do more than just concur the Jade Tribe. We destroy it."

"Destroy it?! While everyone's there to defend it?! They absolutely demolished us just yesterday! Imagine how much stronger they'll be with all the tribes as an army."

Clouse smirked as he stroked the young master's cheek with his thumb. "That's why we get another army of our own. The Anacondrai."

The master of fire's eyes widened. He'd heard stories about them, and of how they invaded this land tried to destroy everything in their path. They were ruthless, vile, monsters. To be honest, those are words that everyone would use to describe their tribe too. So maybe they could get along... maybe they could work together.

"Though, there's a slight problem with this plan." Clouse started. "If I summon them, they'll refuse to take orders from anyone else except our leader..." He glanced up at a very confused looking Kai. " The Anacondrai are all about power; only listening to those with immense amounts of it... And with your recent loss in mind, I don't think they'll find you good enough. However, we NEED them on our side- so the only logical explanation would be........ If YOU weren't the leader."

Kai began to feel panic rise in his chest as he watched Clouse turn around and glare at him with glowing purple eyes. Without warning, dark tendrills shot up from the ground and wrapped around the boy.

"WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS!??!! I AM YOUR EMPEROR! YOU CAN'T HURT ME!! IT'S AGAINST THE LAW!! THIS IS TREASON!!!" Kai shouts echoed through the room as he struggled desperately to get out, but Clouse only made the binding tighter. He lifted the boy in the air with his magic, and sent him slamming into the stone ground with a powerful crack. The evil man knelt down and grabbed Kai’s hair; forcing eye contact with the fallen leader. "Oh, you poor thing... you wanna know what really happened the night your father came back from the fight?..." Clouse bent down further and put his lips to Kai’s ear. "I killed him." He whispered.