RHYS

Rhys knocked on Doctor Kirk's door. The sun was peeking over the horizon. An entire night of rest should be good enough for an Elemental Master. Doctor Kirk opened the door. He rubbed his squinted eyes and yawned.

"Let's go, Brother! Today is the day, I know it," Rhys said, "Soren is grabbing Jay as we speak. We will be going home soon."

"No need to rush," Doctor Kirk said, "The ninja aren't in any position to stop us. Let Jay rest."

"Brother! Think about it. We could be home by this evening!" Rhys said, "Let's go!"

Doctor Kirk shook his head. He swung the door closed while mumbling, "Impatient work is erroneous work."

The door slammed, leaving Rhys staring at the wood. At that moment, Rhys decided he'd been too benevolent towards Doctor Kirk. He should've put his foot down instead of giving into Doctor Kirk's every whim. Doctor Kirk may think he can do whatever he wants, but he's wrong. He was still under Rhys's authority.

"Kirk!" Rhys said, "We will be doing the experiments with or without you."

There was no response. Rhys huffed. He didn't need the Doctor.

Rhys went to the compound. He met a family at the wall. He greeted his brethren: a mother, father, and a young girl. Rhys got down on his knees to make eye contact with the girl.

"Thank you for volunteering, child," Rhys said. They never forced anyone into the trials. (The only exception being that boy genius they borrowed from Ninjago City.) Every single child was a volunteer. Rhys admired the future generation. They saw the importance of the Clan's cause. Rhys was once like the girl. He volunteered for a trial when he was her age. And he volunteered many times before he was grown. He'd do anything to get his people home, to their proper realm. 

And before Rhys left Ninjago, he reminded himself, he had to take revenge on the First Spinjitzu Master. He'd search all Ninjago for the deceiver that crippled his beloved clan. And then he'd end him.

First, he had to figure out the spell for transformation. There were three ingredients: Blue Crystal, the Dragon Flower (a rare plant that grows exclusively in Hiroshi's Labyrinth), and the last ingredient: dragon power. Or as Rhys now realized: the Elemental Power of Lightning.

Rhys gestured for the family to follow him. He took them to the Experimental Room where preparations were being made. They were going to make a dragon!

The chair in the middle of the room had Blue Crystal embedded in it. She sat down in the chair while her parents held her hands. She was brave. She knew that this was worth it all.

A Clan member handed her a drink made from Dragon Flower. She gulped down the liquid, cringing at its bitter taste. Rhys remembered the taste all too well.

Next, Jay entered the Experimental Room. He fought against Soren's tight grip. Soren pushed Jay forward. The Master of Lightning looked far more awake than before. His wide eyes were darting around the room, searching for an escape. And his feet no longer dragged along the ground. He must be well-rested. Perfect.

"I swear, Elemental Power is not the key to dragon transformation!" Jay shouted.

"Where does Doctor Kirk want Jay?" Soren said, glancing around the room. As if Soren answered to Kirk! Rhys was the Chief, not Doctor Kirk. 

"I'm running this experiment. I've extracted the Power of many Elemental Masters in my lifetime," Rhys said, "We'll set up a chair there."

Rhys pointed next to the old machine that was designed to extract Elemental Power. Since they gave up trying to use Elemental Powers in experiments, it had been years into retirement. Rhys had spent the entire night setting the old relic up. He never thought it would get used again. Yet, he pulled it out of retirement. It was time again. To steal the Elemental Power of a Master. As they rightfully deserved for following the First Spinjitzu Master.

Someone put a fold-up chair by the machine. Soren tied Jay to the chair. He then proceeded to attach probes to Jay. All the while, Jay blabbered about how it wasn't going to work. Did that boy ever stop talking?

When it was finally time, Rhys approached the girl.

"Thank you," he said. She nodded, wiping away the tears in her eyes. She loved her clan. Then everyone left the Experimental Room. It was time.

Rhys stopped Soren before leaving.

"We stay," he said firmly.

"But Chief Moses-" Soren said. Rhys held up his hand and Soren snapped his mouth shut.

"We can't leave Jay undefended with a dragon," Rhys shook his head, "We stay here. Jay is the most important person in this clan at this moment."

"I'm flattered," Jay said in a snarky tone. Soren swallowed and submitted to Rhys's authority. Rhys nodded to his brethren behind the safety of the glass. The machine turned on. Jay flinched as an electrical current flowed through him. Wouldn't the Master of Lightning be resistant to electricity?

However, Jay was only background noise to Rhys. He glued his attention to the girl.

Nothing happened...

"Up the charge!" Rhys commanded. Jay winced in pain. Soren's face twisted with empathy towards The Master of Lightning.

"Chief Moses," Soren said, "We should turn it off."

"Just wait," Rhys growled.

Nothing happened...

Rhys punched the nearest wall. Soren gave a signal to turn off the machine.

"You can't possibly need more rest!" Rhys yelled. He paced the room. They were so close!

"I'm not the key," Jay said, "I told you." His laboured breathing made Soren unhook him from the machine. But Rhys wasn't going to feel bad for Jay because he was panting.

Jay tricked them... somehow. He had to be the key. There was no other explanation. Rhys saw the footage himself. He saw the Blue Ninja use his power to create a dragon from a little boy. Maybe the key was a combination of intelligence and Lightning. Where was Rhys going to find another child genius?

Rhys met Jay's eyes. His eye was twitching. But he had a relief behind his irises. Although he was trying to hide his euphoria.

"Get Doctor Kirk's sensor. The one that measures Jay's Lightning," Rhys commanded Soren.

"I thought only Doctor Kirk knows how to interpret that information?" Soren said.

"You are not here to give input," Rhys growled, "Get the sensor."

Soren complied. He came back with the machinery. Rhys hooked Jay up to the reader.

A bunch of numbers came up. Rhys committed them to memory. He had to figure out what they meant.

"Soren, I need a benchmark," Rhys said, moving the sensors from Jay to Soren.

The sensor went to work sending the information through the machine. Rhys paused. The numbers were the same. Exactly the same.

Maybe it was because Jay wasn't using his power. But Doctor Kirk said it measured the potential, not the current output. Jay had no more potential than Soren.

But that meant...

"You're not the Elemental Master of Lightning," Rhys said.

Jay began to stammer a response. Rhys put the pieces together in his head. He had the ability to output Lightning (albeit not his full power) yesterday. And today, he had no more ability than General Soren. During that time, he lost that ability. Can Elemental Masters remove their power? If that is the case, then it is possible that past Elemental Masters gave up their power before their trial. As Jay had done.

"I have a theory," Rhys said, interrupting Jay's prolonged talking, "Soren, Brother, bring me the other ninja."

"The other ninja?" Soren said.

"They are all Elemental Masters, correct?"

Jay's eyes widened. He knew. He knew and gave up his power in order to trick him. But his friends haven't given up their powers. It was a trick; a generational spanning trick. The Elemental Masters were smart. At least, most of them were.

Soren nodded and left.

"Oh Jay," Rhys said with a smile, "You tipped your team's hand to me. It must be awful to carry that guilt. You just went from the most important person to the least."

All the hope in Jay's eye dimmed. He slumped in his seat. Rhys almost felt a twinge of guilt. After all, without Jay, the Dragon Clan would have nothing. No hope, no answers, and no dragons.

"Thank you, Jay. You are the hero of the Dragon Clan," Rhys said. Jay sobbed silently.