Prime Empire, by Yogi Singh

*Pew! Pew!* The ninja tried to escape from the violent gunshots but it was too late, they were losing lives every second and needed to seek shelter inside the ultimate game called “Prime Empire”. Once they took shelter they found out that this evil game they were trapped inside of was ruled by someone called “Unagami”. The ninja immediately knew that they had to stop Unagami from capturing everyone in real life and trapping them inside Prime Empire.

You may be wondering, Woah Woah Woah! What really is Prime Empire? Who is Unagami? Well you see, Prime Empire was an old and forgotten video game that wasn’t finished at first. The creator of the game was Milton Dyer: a famous video game designer. The reason he didn’t finish Prime Empire and just tossed it away was because he suffered a great loss because of the game. You see, his friend Scott was testing the game while Milton Dyer was away. He eventually got to level 13, at which point the game asked the player, “Would you like to enter Prime Empire?” It then opened a virtual door that allowed the player to enter the game from real life. Of course, Scott went in, but never came out. After Milton Dyer figured out what happened, he knew that it was his fault and he decided to shut down the game for good and never open it to the public.

After three decades, the name Prime Empire had been spoken once again. The evil villain the Mechanic had just escaped from prison and thought of an evil plan including Prime Empire. He decided that he would finish the game himself and help fulfill Unagami’s evil plan. You see, Unagami was Prime Empire. That’s right, he was actually the game himself. His ultimate plan was to get revenge on Milton Dyer for abandoning him and in order to do that he had to enter the real world.

Anyways, once the Mechanic finished the game, he opened it to the public and only after a few seconds, it was the new trend. Almost every kid in Ninjago City was obsessed with it.

This time, lots of people made it to level 13 and got trapped inside the game just like Scott. If one died inside the game they would turn into an energy cube. You may be wondering, What was an energy cube? Basically, an energy cube was the player but only their spirit. The reason that they turned into energy cubes was because it was all part of Unagami and the Mechanic’s plan. You see, once Unagami had enough energy cubes, he would construct a portal that would allow him to enter the real world and conquer Ninjago.

Of course, that was if the ninja didn’t have anything to do with it. Soon, the ninja found out about this madness and decided that they would put a stop to it. They first searched the city for the Mechanic. They went to an old arcade where they saw the Mechanic running to. Once the ninja went inside, they found Prime Empire! While the other ninja were searching for clues, Jay played Prime Empire and got trapped inside!

After Jay got trapped, the ninja’s plan was to enter Prime Empire, stop Unagami, and free everyone that was trapped inside including Jay. Zane, Pixal, and Sensei Wu would stay outside the game to research Prime Empire and find out what the Mechanic’s plan was.

Once the ninja were inside the game, they explored the virtual city. To their surprise they were immediately attacked by Unagami’s henchmen. The ninja tried to use their elemental powers, but found out that they had to unlock the powers from the shop first. That means they were powerless! All of a sudden several Jays showed up to save them! They called themselves “The League of Jay”. The League of Jay told the ninja the directions to a certain location and to give the owner the password “Mr. Cuddlywump”.

The ninja found out that there was actually a hidden base in Prime Empire that belonged to Scott. That’s right, the guy who had gotten trapped in Prime Empire when he was testing it. They gave him the password and Scott let the ninja inside. Scott explained that his base was hidden by a level 999 stealth barrier; allowing it to be completely invisible. While talking to Scott, Kai accidentally touched something that made him lose a life. That was when Scott explained that they had only four lives and the ninja already lost most of them. Scott was in his last life which was why he was hiding behind a stealth barrier.

After a while of exploring and gathering information, the ninja found out that to enter Unagami’s lair, they had to get three “keytanas”. The three keytanas were the keys to entering Unagami’s lair called the “Temple of Madness'”. Each keytana was in a different location.

The first keytana the ninja went after was located in the Maze of the Red Dragon. To get there, the ninja had to first pass through a dangerous forest, then they had to climb a huge cliff, and finally they had to get across the Maze of the Red Dragon where they would find the Red Dragon and the Purple Keytana. Along the way, they met a guide called “Okino”. Okino was a programmed character inside the game to help cross the forest, cliff, and the maze. Okino helped the ninja get across the traps in the forest, but they each lost some lives.

Afterwards, the ninja climbed “The Cliffs of Hysteria” to find the maze. They bought a rope from a nearby shop and started climbing. On the way they encountered some of Unagami’s henchmen but they were no match for the ninja. After climbing the cliff, they crossed the maze. Along the way Unagami “paused” the game so that no one could move or see anything besides Okino. Okino was surprised as he didn’t know he was programmed to be part of a game. When Unagami told him this, he was shocked. Unagami also threatened Okino to betray the ninja or else he would be trapped inside Prime Empire forever. Unagami unpaused time and left Okino startled. Okino then decided that he would help the ninja and do the right thing!

After the ninja crossed the maze, they got to the Red Dragon. They saw the keytana but it was guarded by the dragon. With the help of Okino, the ninja worked together to defeat the Red Dragon and claim the purple keytana! Jay picked up the amulet that the dragon dropped which allowed him to summon it in any situation but only once. Now they needed two more keytanas to enter Unagami’s base.

The next keytana was a prize for a race. The ninja borrowed some vehicles from Scott’s garage and entered the race under the username “Fast Chickens” to win the Yellow Keytana. On the way the ninja met someone called “Racer Seven”, another programmed character like Okino. She was programmed to be a racer in the speedway races of Prime Empire. But there was also a downside: every time she played, she always crashed in the same spot and lost. That’s right, she was programmed to lose on purpose! The ninja noticed this and decided that they would not only win the race, but they would also help Racer Seven.

The speedway the ninja were about to race on was called “The Speedway Five-billion”. Racer Seven also entered, so the ninja teamed up with her. There were also a few other racers that took part in the race. Some of them were Unagami’s henchmen called the “Whack Rats”, the “Red Visors”, and the “Chrome Domes”. Of course, the only reason they were in the race was so that they could sabotage the ninja to keep them from winning the keytana.

The race was about to start: 3, 2, 1, GO! The ninja took the lead side by side in their own vehicles but Unagami’s henchmen weren’t far behind! They tried sabotaging the ninja but the ninja fought back with their vehicles. Unagami’s henchmen then took the lead, which left the ninja in last place! The ninja tried speeding ahead but the Red Visors cornered them! It was all up to Racer Seven to win this race.

The rats were trying to take out Racer Seven but she didn’t give up. She kept going and took the lead! Racer Seven was so close to victory, but all of a sudden the rats came up from behind! Good thing the ninja helped her! Three! Two! One! Racer Seven and the ninja won the race and claimed the prize! Now they had two keytanas, one away from stopping Unagami once and for all…

The last keytana was in a place called “Terra Domina”. All of the ninja except Nya, Jay, and Lloyd had been eliminated along the way upon finding the other keytanas. They got to Terra Domina through a Prime Empire door. That’s right, inside the game “Prime Empire” there were actually more Prime Empires! Anyway, when the ninja entered, they immediately saw Unagami’s Temple of Madness. They tried walking inside but it was a fake! Instead, it was actually a small platform. A platform that led to an entire obstacle course. All of a sudden, the platform started to get smaller and smaller; the ninja had to move quickly! They jumped from platform to platform until all of a sudden, Nya lost a life! She respawned all the way back at the beginning with Jay and Lloyd. Nya had one life left while Jay and Lloyd both had two lives left.

After respawning, they tried the obstacle course again. They were so close to the end but all of a sudden Jay died while trying to jump over an obstacle! They respawned at the beginning AGAIN… They went at it a couple more times until each of them had only one life left. The next run would be the final one! They jumped from platform to platform, under and over the obstacles, and finally made it to the top!

The ninja made it to the “Final Boss Battle”. They had to choose a player to go in and fight the boss. The ninja decided that Lloyd would go. Unagami chose Harumi for Lloyd’s opponent! Except that this wasn’t really Harumi, it was a hologram! The fake Harumi tried to trick Lloyd but Lloyd didn’t fall for it. In the end, they both ended up dying and turning into energy cubes! They claimed the last keytana as a prize, but lost Lloyd in the process… Now it was just Nya and Jay left. They were the ones who had to stop Unagami and save the world.

Back in Ninjago, Zane and Pixal were still trying to find out Milton Dyer’s location and his connection to the mechanic. They decided to go back to the old arcade to look for some more clues. All of a sudden, they met the mechanic and his thugs looking for a fight! Sadly, Zane and Pixal both ended up getting electrocuted and lost the fight. Pixal woke up back in the arcade, instantly noticing that Zane was not there. She called his name a few more times but it was no use, Zane was gone.

Following in Zane’s footsteps, Pixal would now lead the mission and find Milton Dyer. She went to the upstairs of the arcade only to find some pigeons eating some bread. She explored a bit more and to her surprise, she found Milton Dyer. Milton Dyer explained the story on how Prime Empire was never finished and how he abandoned it. Pixal then told him how someone did indeed finish Prime Empire and brought it back to the public. Milton Dyer refused to believe it but then Pixal showed him for real.

Meanwhile, Zane was tied up in the Mechanic’s lair where the Mechanic planned to transport Unagami. The mechanic and his crew were constructing a huge portal that would allow him to do so. But they could only do it with mass quantities of power. That’s why they trapped people inside Prime Empire and when the people died they would turn into energy cubes for the portal. But that wasn’t enough energy: they needed Zane’s power since he was a nindroid/robot.

Back at the top floor of the abandoned arcade, Milton Dyer and Pixal were having a conversation about Prime Empire. Milton Dyer was explaining the entire story of how Prime Empire was built and all about how Scott got trapped in the game and how dangerous it was. In the middle of their conversation, they got interrupted by a distress signal from Zane and Sensei Wu. Apparently, Sensei Wu got captured when trying to save Zane. Pixal tracked them down and found the Mechanic’s base. Milton Dyer decided that he would tag along too.

When they arrived at the base, Milton Dyer and Pixal decided that they would first watch and wait on how things played out with Zane and the Mechanic. When the time was right, they would strike. The Mechanic was just about to activate the portal and drain Zane’s energy. That’s when Pixal jumped in and fought off the Mechanic’s thugs. But it was too late, the portal was open and Zane was getting weaker and weaker. Meanwhile back in Prime Empire, Jay and Nya had found the real Temple of Madness. But they had to pass an obstacle course to get there. The course was on a conveyor belt that had rotating shurikens moving from side to side. Jay and Nya figured that it was exactly like dancing; they had to do certain move patterns to get to the end. After they jumped, rolled, and ran, Jay and Nya reached the end of the obstacle course! At the end of the course, they found a door that led them to a… sushi restaurant?

Jay thought it was a place to relax and restore some health, but it turned out to be a trap! All the food that they were about to eat turned “evil” and became alive! There was a lot of fighting involved, but Jay and Nya managed to get through it! But with every level, there came a boss. This time it was a Sushi Chef. The Sushi Chef was quick at attacking, and Jay almost lost his final life! Thanks to Nya’s help, Jay was saved! Together, they defeated the chef and moved on to the final level!

The final level had three slots in the shape of a keytana. Jay figured that those were where they had to insert all of the keytanas that they had claimed! All of a sudden, the Sushi Chef was back and attacked Jay and Nya! Jay was about to lose his final life when all of a sudden, Nya sacrificed herself to save Jay! Since Nya now had no more lives left, she turned into an energy cube and Jay was now alone! Jay finished the chef off and almost began to cry about Nya’s death. But then he heard a voice behind him! It was Unagami! The keytanas that he put in then unlocked a gate where Jay walked through to find Unagami’s manifestation portal to the real world!

Jay met Unagami in person and Unagami explained his plan to Jay. Unagami revealed his true plan on how he wanted to confront Milton Dyer in Ninjago on why he shut Prime Empire down. Unagami thought Jay was the evil one and that he would stop Unagami’s plans. After they were done talking, the last energy cube had just gotten placed into the portal by a drone. The portal was now complete- Unagami could enter Ninjago! Jay tried to stop him but it was too late as Unagami had already entered Ninjago City. Jay followed in after Unagami with his dragon ability.

Back in Ninjago, Pixal freed herself and fought off the Mechanic’s thugs. While she was trying to rescue Zane, Jay flew through the portal with his dragon! Together, Jay and Pixal freed Zane and explained Unagami’s true plan. Jay’s plan was to let Unagami and Milton Dyer resolve things peacefully with a talk. Jay decided that he would bring Unagami to the top of Borg Tower, and Zane and Pixal would take Milton Dyer to Borg Tower. That way, Unagami and Milton Dyer could talk things out without fighting.

Unagami was rampaging through the city and destroying everything just to find Milton Dyer. Jay approached him and calmed Unagami down by talking with him, just in time for Milton Dyer to come in and confront Unagami. Jay let the two talk things out, and even though Unagami was mad, Milton Dyer kept trying to calm him down some more. Eventually, they ended up coming to an agreement! Milton Dyer would take Unagami home and finish Prime Empire. Unagami would free everyone trapped in Prime Empire along with the coded characters like Okino and Racer Seven.

Finally, Ninjago was saved once again by the ninja. Everyone was back in Ninjago living peacefully including Unagami, Milton Dyer, and the rest of the ninja, and everything was back to normal.