The Temple of the Dragon Cores/Transcript

(In the Crossroads, a group of citizens drive away after a meal.)
Woman 1: That Merlopian tofu was magnifique!
Woman 2: And topped with a Crème de Imperium? Oh, pastry chef Grab-Barg's creations are just... mwa!
Woman 1: Since our Crossroads built up, our culinary exploits have truly been second-to-none!
Woman 2: So many exotic options!
Gus: Agreed! It's almost worth the ninja being gone for this! (Everyone glares at him.) I was joking! It was a joke!
Woman 1: Don't make light of the loss of our beloved heroes, Gus.
Man: But I have heard rumors the ninja are still alive. Some people have even seen them. They're just waiting until the time is right to show themselves.
Woman 2: Sounds like a baloney conspiracy to me. The Ninjas are gone.
(They hear a booming noise and their car starts shaking. They scream.)
Gus: Is it happening again?
(A MergeQuake opens above them and fireballs shoots from it. The car crashes and nearly falls off the side of the bridge. The citizens escape the car, but Gus nearly falls.)
Gus: I should not have had a second helping of Grab-Barg's dessert!
(The bridge cracks and falls apart. Just then, the ninja arrive on dragons. Zane freezes the broken pier. Gus falls from the bridge, but Sora catches him on Sora the dragon.) 
Sora: Welcome aboard! Sorry if it's a bumpy ride.
(A falling sign nearly hits the citizens. Lloyd and Arin's dragon catches it just in time.)
Woman 2: Well! Thank you, young man!
Arin: You're welcome, ma'am!
(The citizens run, but the bridge splits apart before them. Wyldfyre and Zane repair the gap with Heat and Ice.)
Man: Kai the Fire Ninja is back!
Wyldfyre: Nope! You've upgraded to Wyldfyre!
Kai: Upgraded? Really?
(Lloyd closes the MergeQuake with his powers, and the ninja depart.)
Sora: Hope you have a great evening!
Gus: See? Told you they were back!
Woman 1: No one is ever going to believe us.
----
(The ninja return to the Monastery of Spinjitzu.)
Lloyd: I'm still surprised how many dragons decided to stay after we freed them from Imperium.
Sora: Having these stables makes it easier.
Arin: Stables that weren't here before the Merge, right? It's almost like everything's coming together for a reason.
Sora: I love ya, Arin, but not everything is some big cosmic plan. These dragons love living in this caves, we humans love living in the comfortable monastery up top. (Wyldfyre sends a fireball their way to light a torch.) Well, most of us here.
Wyldfyre: Yes!
Lloyd: You're getting better at lighting those torches, Wyldfyre. But are you sure you don't want, I don't know, a bed? A bathroom?
Wyldfyre: Ugh. I'm not soft like the rest of you. I was raised by a dragon. My bathroom is everywhere!
Arin: I don't think that's sanitary.
Lloyd: Well, you'll always have a space up at the monastery, if you want it.
Wyldfyre: Don't want, don't need.
Arin: Is Wyldfyre ever going to train with us?
Lloyd: She's helping stop the MergeQuakes. I'm hoping she'll eventually warm up to the idea of becoming a ninja.
(The three head upstairs. Lloyd adjusts a photograph on the wall.)
Lloyd: There we go. Perfect. The monastery works best when everything is in its proper place. (Behind them, a photo falls and shatters.)
Sora: But isn't keeping this place running a lot of work? Especially when you're also training new ninja?
Arin: Yeah, maybe you could get some help.
Lloyd: Heh, Master Wu could handle everything on his own. It's my sworn duty to do just the same. I got this.
(Some time later, Lloyd is collecting the laundry when Zane approaches him.)
Zane: Lloyd, I must speak with you.
Lloyd: Sorry, Zane, but I really need to get this place cleaned up. Talk soon.
(Arin trains in the courtyard of the monastery.)
Arin: 98, 99... 100! Done! What's next?
Lloyd: (He looks up distractedly.) What? Uh, just do that over again.
Arin: Ugh, again? Can't you come up with some new drills? I'm bored.
(Later, Lloyd is repairing the walls when Sora crashes through it on her mech.)
Sora: Sorry! Just practicing my mech fighting skills. I can help fix it!
Lloyd: No, I got it.
(Then, Lloyd carries a ladder through the hangar bay.)
Zane: Lloyd! The information I have is vital!
Lloyd: Not now, Zane. (He attempts to shut the elevator door multiple times, but fails because the ladder is in the way.)
(In Arin's room, Lloyd waters a plant. Kai enters angrily with his clothes on fire.)
Lloyd: Um, I have questions?
Kai: You asked me to train Wyldfyre, and this is how she took to the idea!
Wyldfyre: Train me?! I should be training you!
Kai: Oh, says the kid who thinks that control is to blast at everything?
Wyldfyre: Control this! (She fires Heat at Kai.)
Lloyd: Cease fire!
Kai: Tell her to stop!
Wyldfyre: I'll stop when you stop!
Arin: Ah! My room!
(Everyone rushes to separate the two, while Zane puts out the fire with his ice.)
Zane: I need you all to come with me!
Lloyd: Can't you see we have a situation?
Zane: Yes! A very serious one I need to inform you about! Right now! (He takes them to the hangar bay.) I have spent the past few days catching up on everything I missed when I went offline during the Merge, especially the MergeQuakes like we saw yesterday. They threaten to destroy everything, and are increasing in frequency and intensity.
Lloyd: Zane, we know the MergeQuakes are getting worse. Did you just bring us down here for that? Because I have plants to water.
Zane: I do not believe you understand the severity of the data here. The MergeQuakes are not simply getting worse. Their frequency is about to hit a tipping point. Right now they're appearing one at a time, but very soon, they will be everywhere, simultaneously. Until finally, all is destroyed.
Kai: Then, what's the solution, Zane?
Zane: I see no solution. This is inevitable.
Nya: (She has an idea.) Zane, can you roll back? (Zane adjusts the map on the screen.) Zoom in. Stop there. Up a bit, um... over to the left. There! Stop right there. I knew I had seen this before. When I was researching MergeQuakes in the Cloud Kingdom, I found old texts referring to a "Coalescence".
Lloyd: That could be a Merge. 
Nya: That's what I thought too. A Coalescence was once prophesized to happen, but didn't. It was stopped.
Sora: How?
Nya: By an ancient power kept here. The Temple of the Dragon Cores. But I had no context for this image until now. Zane's data revealed where the temple is. If something here prevented a Merge before, then it's our best bet at stopping the MergeQuakes now, before it's too late.
Lloyd: Watering the plants can wait.
(The ninja set off on their dragons, unaware that Rapton is spying on them.)
----
(In Imperium, citizens watch Beatrix's speech on a holographic screen.)
Beatrix: Imperium is the jewel of this new united world. However, a tiny number of disloyal citizens among us have spread false rumors that dragons, our source of safe energy, have escaped. A blatant lie. Yes, some evil dragons rebelled, but they were decisively recaptured. And now that the dragons are back in our hands, there is no energy shortage! In fact, anyone who says that the dragons are gone, or that there are energy shortages, is a traitor, and will be imprisoned. But do not worry, citizens. I, the Empress Beatrix Vespasian-Orus, promise to continue to guide you into the light. Thank you.
Crowd: All hail the good Empress!
Percival: (To the Imperium Teen Protection Force.) But, I was there! I saw the dragons go into that weird building that came up from the ground! There's just no way they were recaptured.
Imperium Girl: Why would the good Empress lie?
Percival: I... I don't know.
(They exchange looks.)
----
(In the Imperium Palace, Beatrix ends her broadcast.)
Dr. LaRow: An excellent job at assuring the public the dragons didn't escape and there is no energy crisis.
Beatrix: Status report.
Dr. LaRow: Ever since those dragons escaped, we've been having an energy crisis.
Beatrix: We control one of the greatest fonts of energy in existence, a Source Dragon. You told me our energy needs would be met forever.
Dr. LaRow: Yes, Empress, but as I've explained before, the process of draining the Source Dragon is difficult. That's why Lord Ras —
Beatrix: Never say that name in my presence!
Dr. LaRow: Apologies. But, since we haven't found a way to fully harness the Source Dragon's power, we still need other dragons to meet our energy needs.
Beatrix: Ugh, there must be a solution.
Dr. LaRow: Actually, there is quite a simple one. We could lower power usage. Some easy conservation steps could save so much power that —
Beatrix: No! Asking people to do without upsets them, and upset people are difficult to rule. I want my people plugged in, content, and passive. This is the fault of the ninja, and they will pay. That fool Rapton's spy mission better bring me results!
----
(The ninja travel through the World Forest.)
Lloyd: These trees are the size of skyscrapers.
Zane: They are the World Trees.
Nya: According to the map, the temple should be right around here.
(They land in a hole on the side of a tree. Inside, they find the Temple of the Dragon Cores.)
Sora: I feel like I'm the size of an ant. The Temple of the Dragons Cores. Looks like the whole door's one big puzzle lock. Maybe if we try —
Kai: Let us handle this one, trainee. (He pulls a lever, and two letters light up.) I made it do a thing! I deserve a break.
Nya: I think what my rude brother meant was, we have a lot of experience getting into ancient temples.
Lloyd: There's probably a combination of movements that unlocks it.
Zane: I can run all possible scenarios. (He scans the door and begins to analyze. Behind him, the ninja engage in various activities while waiting, even falling asleep.) I have processed all possible combinations, and none of them have resulted in a positive outcome. We must have missed something.
Arin: I was thinking, three Dragon Cores.
Wyldfyre: And three levers!
Sora: So it could be designed so no single person can enter alone.
(The three of them each pull a lever, and the door opens. They enter.)
Arin: No handles, no knobs, no anything. Maybe another puzzle?
Wyldfyre: Bet I know a way to open the doors.
Kai: You and I don't agree on a lot, but we agree on this. (They both fire up.)
Lloyd: Wait! Stop!
(They each blast a door.)
Kai: Puzzle solved!
(Two spirits emerge from the openings and attack the ninja.)
Lloyd: Not the solution we were looking for!
----
(Outside, the dragons fall asleep. Rapton sneaks past them while humming and singing.)
Rapton: (In a singsong voice.) I am, Sneaky Man! Sneaky sneaky, ninja what? (He hears the howling of the spirits.) Uh, maybe I'll wait out here for a bit.
----
(In the temple, the ninja dodge the spirits' attacks.)
Sora: What are these things?
Zane: Evidently, angry spirits have taken up residence inside the temple!
Sora: But why? And why don't they — ugh! (A spirit slams into her.)
Zane: (He shoots ice at the spirits, but it passes through them.) Warning! Elemental powers have no impact on these spirits!
Wyldfyre: Your powers are just weak! See the force of Wyldfyre! (She attacks, but is knocked away herself.) Everyone! Elemental powers have no impact on these spirits!
Nya: We're more than just our powers! We're ninja!
(She and Lloyd try fighting with Spinjitzu, but it doesn't work either.)
Arin: Leave him alone!
Wyldfyre: Eat fire! (Her blast collides with Kai's sending both flying back.) Ouch.
Lloyd: (He notices something at the base of a statue.) An altar? (He runs to it.)
Nya: Lloyd! Attacking spirits that way!
Lloyd: There's something I gotta fix.
Sora: Not the time to tidy up, Lloyd!
Lloyd: Things work best when they're in their proper place. Get those candles! Help me set up!
Wyldfyre: This is impossible! Like trying to root out armpit parasites!
Nya: Your armpits have what?
Lloyd: (He finishes setting up the altar.) Kai! Wyldfyre! We need some heat!
Kai and Wyldfyre: On it! (They light the candles, though Wyldfyre's blast burns off half the candle.)
Kai: We're gonna have to work on your precision skills, kid.
Lloyd: Look! It's working!
Spirit: (The two spirit entities merge into one.) Thank you, ninja. I am the spirit of this temple, and I am grateful to you for rebuilding my altar.
Arin: But, uh, there were two of you?
Spirit: My essence was held in that altar. When a quake caused it to split apart, I was also split in two.
Sora: Is that why you were so angry?
Spirit: My identity was divided, and that division made me act out in uncontrollable rage. Allow me to offer the only gift I have to give, the story of this temple. Long before time had a name, the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago. Few know that he did not only create Ninjago, but also some of the other realms. One day, as the First Spinjitzu Master meditated, he foresaw an event that all the realms would crash together. He called this event the "Coalescence", and he knew its time would soon be upon them. So he appeared before the seven Source Dragons and begged of them to freely give energy, so he could forge three Dragon Cores. The Dragon Cores kept the Coalescence at bay. The realms were prevented from smashing into one another. For ages, all was well. When the First Spinjitzu Master knew his time in the realms was at an end, he feared what evil-hearted people might do with the Cores, so he hid them in three different locations.
Nya: The Coalescence is what we call the Merge. It might have been stopped back then, but no one stopped it this time.
Lloyd: Master Wu must have been trying to rediscover the Dragon Cores before the Merge happened, but it came sooner than he'd expected. Why didn't he just let us help him?
Zane: Can you please reveal the locations of the Dragon Cores? It's too late to stop the Merge, but we can use them to stop the MergeQuakes.
Spirit: My master created an enchantment, so the locations of the Cores could only be revealed when one of his descendants requested it.
Lloyd: My name is Lloyd, son of Garmadon, who is a child of the First Spinjitzu Master. I hereby request the locations of the Dragon Cores.
Sora: How did you just never mention that you're the grandson of the guy that created Ninjago?
Lloyd: It never came up.
Spirit: I sense the truth in your words. (He raises his arms and shows them three maps on the walls.) The Mother Garden, the Pinnacle of Crystals, and the Wyldness.
Lloyd: Thank you, spirit. You've helped us, and our world.
Kai: So I'd say this mission goes squarely in the "not a disaster column".
Arin: Yeah! All we have to do is go pick up those Cores. How hard can it be?
(The ninja exit the temple. Rapton sneaks in behind them and scans the maps.)
----
(Back at the Monastery, Sora and Arin approach Lloyd.)
Sora: Lloyd? What are you doing?
Lloyd: We don't have very reliable maps of the Merged lands. Most have yet to be explored, so I'm trying to plot out our missions to get the Cores.
Arin: While doing the dishes?
Lloyd: Dragon Cores or no Dragon Cores, the Keeper of the Monastery's got a monastery to keep.
Sora: About that, if we're going off to get Cores, you'll need help here.
Lloyd: I told you, Master Wu managed the monastery all on his own, and so will I.
Arin: But in the temple, you asked us to help fix up the altar. There's no shame in needing help.
Sora: That's why we wanted to introduce you to our good friend from the Crossroads, Mr. Alfonzo Frohicky!
Frohicky: Oh, wow. Oh, wowzy wow. A real life hero? Even before my realm merged with Ninjago, when I was a wee little tadpole, we used to hear tales of the ninja.
Lloyd: Oh, uh, hi?
Arin: Mr. Frohicky's great at organizing stuff. He runs mech races, carnival pie baking contests, and even the annual soup launching festival.
Sora: If he can keep all that together, he can help run a monastery.
Frohicky: And I'd do anything, if it meant getting to help true heroes like you.
Lloyd: Well, I don't know... (The dishes crash behind him.) You know what? Yeah. I could do with some help. Mr. Frohicky, you are now the Assistant Keeper of the Monastery of Spinjitzu.
Frohicky: Oh, thank you, sir. It is an honor to serve!
Lloyd: Can you start right now?
----
(In the Imperium Palace, Beatrix speaks to Rapton through a communicator.)
Beatrix: So, together, these three Dragon Energy Cores can control the MergeQuakes?
Rapton: That's what the ninja say.
Beatrix: Then I'll send my forces to beat the ninja to the Cores.
Rapton: You want to stop the MergeQuakes?
Beatrix: (She laughs.) Of course not. I want to use them as a weapon, a weapon that will wipe those elemental-powered, dragon-stealing ninja out of existence.
(End of the episode. For more information, click here.)
Category:Transcript
Category:2023
Category:Season 1 (Dragons Rising)