Ninjago : The Purple Ninja - Book 1

The Hands of Time: Chapter 1 - The Hands of Time

A butterfly landed on a blossoming flower bush. A rabbit ate the flowe it landed on. Something thundered up above in the sky. A man opened his pocket watch. 

In a flash of light, a man in a hood and cloak, and red, green and black attire landed in the monastery. He lifted his head. 

"Right on time." Wu said. 

The man raised his eyebrow. "What?" He turned to see it was Wu, sitting quietly behind him on the monastery floor. 

"Long time, no see."

"Master Wu?" The man said in confusion. "You look...old. As if your best days have passed. Not unlike your monastery."

"I still have plenty of days left." Wu put his pocketwatch away, and stood up. "Shall we finish what we started? I've been waiting decades."

The man chuckled. "Really?" He was holding a dagger behind him. "It doesn't feel that long to me."

"This ends now."

"This ends now, Samukai." Jay was holding a fake Samukai head that was dismantled from its body. He sighed. "Nope, pretending this is the actual Samukai doesn't make cleaning up the museum any more interesting. This is so lame. We're ninja, not janitors." Jay said. 

Lloyd came up to him, wheeling a cart of other items, including Chen's head. "Come on, Jay. We're all kind of responsible for the damage to the museum. After all, if we hadn't had that massive battle on the Day of the Departed, this place would still be in one piece."

Jay scoffed. That's right, how could he forget that battle they all had against the people who once terrorized Ninjago? He turned to Cole, who was now back to normal and no longer a ghost. "Yeah, and whose fault it that, Cole?"

Cole dropped the Yang portrait to his side and sighed. "Okay. How many more times do I have to say I'm sorry for accidentally unleashing the ghostly forces of evil that attacked Ninjago?" He placed the portrait back into another cart. 

"How high can you count?"

As soon as Cole grabbed the wheelbarrow handles, his arms started to glow an earthly orange. He examined them. The scar on his head glowed the same color. "Eh, speaking of which, you're still not used to having your old, non-ghost hands back?"

Cole shook his head as soon as his hands and arms turned back to normal. He started to wheel the cart. "Oh, I'm working on it."

Cole and Jay walked out of the area they were in. Nya, who was carrying a box, set it dow. "This is exhausting." She cracked her back. "If I could go back in time, I'd tell Dr. Saunders we were too busy to help." 

"Nya, you may recall that the some of us once time-travelled. It can have devastating effects, and should not be used lightly. Certainly not to get out of labor." Zane explained. 

"It's just an expression, Zane." She walked over to Kai, who was staring at a portrait. 

"I... I don't believe it." Kai whispered. 

"What is it?"

"I think it's a portrait of...our parents."

She went over to the back of the painting and moved it. She raised her eyebrows. "Whoa. This dates to when I was, like, 3 years old."

"Shortly before they disappeared. We know so little about them, Nya." Kai said. 

"Father was the Elemental Master of Fire. Mother was the Master of Water." She conjured a water ball in her hands, letting it appear in mid-air.