The Chroma's Clutches

Official description[]

LEGO.com

Ninja fans join Wu and Garmadon as they start their journey to become Spinjitzu masters in Spinjitzu Brothers: The Chroma's Clutches. In this 144-page, illustrated hardcover book, the young pair must confront the obstacles that stand in their way – including each other! As they travel the land, they face epic tests to see if they have what it takes to become a legendary ninja. This book is a great gift for a passionate NINJAGO® fan who wants to enjoy a gripping tale featuring their ninja heroes.

• LEGO® NINJAGO® book – An illustrated, 144-page hardcover book that lets passionate ninja fans learn about the early adventures of Wu and Garmadon
• A gift for ninja fans – This action-packed book makes a birthday present or an unexpected treat for kids who love escaping to the NINJAGO® fantasy world
• Dimensions – Measures over 8.5 in. (21 cm) long and 6 in. (15 cm) wide^[2]

AMEET Studio

In this suspenseful story, the brothers are transported inside life-like paintings that have been sealed off from the real world by powerful magic to prevent the evil Chroma from escaping. Can they return to their temple without releasing the Chroma?^[3]

Extended: At the top of a mountain, hidden in clouds, Wu and Garmadon meet a mysterious girl named Ayla. They gratefully accept her invitation to stay and rest in her beautiful villa filled with fascinating paintings of her own making. Little do the brothers know that soon they will be trapped inside the painted world and will have to fight a villain they have never faced before...^[4][5]

Plot[]

Prologue[]

The ninja were investigating a jewel robbery in the Ninjago Museum of History when they passed by a gallery of art pieces inspired by nature. Jay pointed out a bird on a pedestal, believing it to be an art piece. The bird suddenly flew off, causing Kai to note it was actually a real bird. Wu, however, was startled for a moment, mentioning that it reminded him of when he and Garmadon encountered paintings that came to life. Agreeing to tell the story at the Nya's request, Wu began his tale as they all followed the bird through the museum in search of the missing jewels.

Chapter 1: The Misty Mountain[]

After leaving the Valley of the Sphinx, the Sons of the First Spinjitzu Master continued their long journey to the Northern Ocean, following the stars as they continued on their way. Today, the brothers found themselves climbing atop a steep, yet lush mountain covered in swirling mist as far as the eye could see. Although Garmadon expressed delight in their beautiful surroundings, Wu was more skeptical. Their experiences on this journey so far had been fraught with untold peril and Wu suspected that danger was lurking somewhere in this picturesque mountain. While Garmadon teased his brother, the two caught a glimpse of a strange creature, one that appeared to have the ears of dog yet the body of a monkey. Intrigued by the oddity, Wu jogged on ahead deeper into the fog, nearly loosing his footing as he fell down a ledge, screaming for his brother's help.

Chapter 2: A House in the Clouds[]

Following the sound of his brother's voice, Garmadon found and rescued Wu from the ledge of the cliff. Moments later, the monkey-dog returned and beckoned for the brothers to follow it. Following the strange creature, the brothers eventually reached the top of the mountain where the sun shined above the clouds and fog down below. Here, rested a large villa and estate with a purple haired young woman painting out in the yard. The monkey-dog approached the young woman, who then addressed the creature as "Balee" before turning to see the brothers Balee had led here. Introducing herself as Peri to the brothers, the young woman invited the boys into her home for a meal and to stay the night, noting that they must have been exhausted after climbing up the entire side of the mountain. Inside her home, Peri and her guests walked past several canvases full of bright colors and depicting all manner of beautiful sights and creatures. Peri explained that most of these works had been made by her father and that she was trying to follow in his footsteps, though her demeanor suddenly changed whenever the brothers asked for more information about her family.

Over dinner, Peri asked the brothers more about themselves, learning more about their journey before abruptly excusing herself from the table when Wu once again asked Peri about her father. Peri then showed the brothers to their rooms and mentioned that the two were welcome to stay here with her as long as they would like. Although both brothers thanked her for her hospitality, Wu confided in Garmadon that something seemed off about their host, though Garmadon dismissed his younger brother's misgivings. Later that night, Garmadon would be awoken by the sound of howling, hearing it once again after he confirmed he was no longer dreaming. Fearing that his brother may have been right, Garmadon quietly made his way through the Villa's halls, catching another bit of the howling from behind a room. As he approached the door, Peri stepped out of the room and closed it behind her, insisting that the sound Garmadon had heard was merely the wind. Although unconvinced by her body language, Garmadon acknowledged his host's insistence and returned to his room.

Chapter 3: Sights and Sounds[]

The next morning, the brothers awoke, relaxed and refreshed. Although Garmadon thought about telling Wu about the strangeness he felt about this place and their host, he chose to keep it to himself, as he was curious to uncover the truth and also because he did not want to admit his brother was right. The boys then headed out to the villa's balcony, where Peri had already prepared breakfast for them. As they ate, Wu once again pressed Peri about her family and after some hesitation, their host finally gave in, explaining that her mother had passed three years prior and since then, her father and sister were "not around" but would be back "soon." In response to Peri's evident sadness, Garmadon suggested that he and Wu could stay for a few days to keep Peri company, much to her delight.

After breakfast, the brothers began to assist Peri in some of the chores while regaling her with tales of their adventures so far in their journey, even showing her Spinjitzu. Delighted, Peri expressed a wish that the brothers could stay here forever, the last word sending a sudden chill up Garmadon's spine as he felt something was off about their host.

Chapter 4: Trapped![]

For the rest of the morning, the brothers helped their host take care of the villa's garden. After lunch together, Peri asked the brothers if the two could pose for a painting for her, as she was running out of things to paint at the top of the mountain and Balee seldom sat still. The brothers agreed and let Peri begin her work. As she worked however, Garmadon whispered to Wu about his discovery last night, admitting that he too suspected something was strange about their host. Both brothers agreed to investigate further once Peri had finished their portrait, only to fall asleep during the process. When they awoke, the brothers found themselves in a familiar, lush environment, but there was no sign of Peri or the mountain scenery anywhere. At that moment, Peri appeared before the brothers, now seemingly gigantic as she apologetically told them that she had to be sure the brothers would help her with an unspecified matter. Wu now realized that somehow, Peri had transported the brothers into one of the paintings in her villa. After several failed attempts to escape from the painting, the brothers heard a voice call out to them from behind, encountering a large white deer that introduced herself as Jelena and informed the brothers that Peri had transported them into the painting to fight a monster.

Chapter 5: Jelena's Tale[]

Jelena regaled the brothers with a story about her origins and those of this place the brothers now found themselves in. Long ago, a magician named Mindaro discovered that he had the ability to infuse his magic into paintings, bringing them to life as he created scenes of great beauty. At one point in time, Mindaro married a woman named Violet, and together they had two daughters: Periwinkle and Indigo, or Peri and Indi for short. The family then moved to this mountain where Mindaro continued to paint, creating many wondrous creatures to delight his family, including Jelena. Knowing of Jelena's desire to enter the physical world, Mindaro began to experiment more with his magic, starting by creating Balee and bringing him into the real world. Unfortunately, three years ago, Violet passed away after a sudden illness, and Mindaro was hit particularly hard by her death, becoming despondent with grief. Although his daughters encouraged him to paint again, hoping that doing so would restore their father's joy, Mindaro now only painted in dark colors to express his pain and sadness. To make matters worse, Mindaro's pain, mixed in with his magic, manifested itself into a living paint monster - The Chroma. Seeking to enter the real world, the Chroma entrapped Mindaro and Indi within its paintings, forcing Mindaro to use his magic to cast a spell over his works, preventing anything inside from ever leaving. Guilty and alone, Peri would slowly grow ever more desperate as she sought a way to free her father and sister from the paintings and the Chroma's clutches, at first creating warriors to combat the Chroma, and when that failed, she began to trick travelers into staying at the villa so she could use magic to transport them into the painting to fight the beast. Unfortunately, up until now, all who had challenged the Chroma had failed.

At the end of her story, Jelena apologized to the brothers for her part in entrapping them within the painting, but she expressed that Peri was not a bad person in her heart and that she believed the brothers might be able to defeat the Chroma with their knowledge over Spinjitzu. Agreeing to face the Chroma, the brothers then followed Jelena through a portal across another of Mindaro's paintings.

Chapter 6: From Painting to Painting[]

Following Jelena, Wu and Garmadon traversed their way across the many paintings that hung in the villa. From across these paintings, the brothers found themselves traveling across lush forests, stormy seas, and even across an endless abyss atop the backs of giant butterflies! Eventually, they were able to reach the Chroma painting, journeying onward as Jelena wished the brothers good luck and vanished into another painting.

Chapter 7: The Grays[]

Finding themselves in a desolate and barren landscape, one devoid of even the slightest trace of color, Wu and Garmadon began to journey onwards in search of the Chroma. Not long after their arrival, the ground beneath them began to crack as gray, humanoid shapes emerged from the ground. Entirely featureless save for two cracked holes where the eyes should have been, these gray creatures began to slowly shamble towards to the brothers. After realizing the creatures were solid, both brothers began to attack the gray humanoids, only to discover to their horror that for each one they struck down, two more rose from the ground in its place. Thinking quickly, the brothers used a long rope they had taken from the previous painting and through using Spinjitzu to whirl around the grays, the brothers began to tie up the featureless creatures, trapping them into a large ball. The brothers' victory however, would be interrupted by a massive roar emanating from beyond the horizon. Turning towards the direction of the sound, the brothers watched as a massive cloud of gray fog appeared from the barren landscape. As the cloud grew ever closer, the details became increasingly clearer, revealing arms, black eyes, and a massive mouth filled with long teeth. The Chroma had arrived.

Turning first to his brother, Garmadon prepared to attack the massive beast, but before he could, he heard the monster's voice inside of his head. "There is no hope," it said, "All is lost. There is no point in continuing your journey, because nothing will change, Nothing will change. You are who you are, Garmadon." At that moment, Garmadon felt weak, almost as if all hope had left him.

Chapter 8: The Magician's Cave[]

Wu snapped his brother out of his trance as the Chroma bore ever closer to the brothers. Without any choice, the two were forced to flee from the beast. As they ran, Wu spotted a dim light glowing through the dense gray fog and began running towards it, Garmadon following closely from behind. As they drew closer, they discovered that the light was shining through a cave and at the entrance stood a lavender haired woman who called out for the brothers to hurry. As the brothers entered the cave, the woman called out deeper into the cave for her father, stating that Peri had brought more warriors.

Realizing the two to be Indi and Mindaro, Peri's sister and father respectively, Wu introduced himself and his brother. Indi attempted to apologize on Peri's behalf, noting that they were aware of Peri's use of deception to lure in new warriors, but insisted that she was not cruel at heart. Indi then urged the brothers to stay in the cave, which had been enchanted by Mindaro's magic, as the Chroma could not enter here as long as Mindaro maintained the protection spell. After a brief discussion on defeating the Chroma, Wu and Garmadon realized that the creature's weakness, being an embodiment of despair and anger, was joy and happiness. Correlating those emotions with the aspects of the Chroma's painting and the paintings from before, the brothers further concluded that they could fight the Chroma with color! Unfortunately, Mindaro finally spoke at this moment, revealing that the only color in this word of gray was whatever he and Indi had brought with them three years prior, and there was so little of it left.

Chapter 9: The Color of Magic[]

Mindaro explained that he had used the last bits of color he and Indi had brought into this desolate landscape to create the flickering orange and yellow torches that lit up the walls of their cave, but now there was none left. Refusing to accept defeat, Wu asked Mindaro if Peri could add more color to the painting, to which Mindaro acknowledged was a possibility, but to do so they would have to lower the painting's protective barrier and reach the front of the painting in order to speak with her. However, Mindaro refused to carry out such a risky plan, noting that by lowering the protective barrier, they all would run the risk of allowing the Chroma to escape into the real world. Indi however, pressured her father, noting that this was the first bit of real hope they have had in three years, and since Mindaro's magic was fading anyway, it was only a matter of time before the Chroma would escape. Reluctantly, Mindaro agreed to lower the protective barrier, requesting for Wu and Garmadon to hold back the Grays while he and Indi spoke with Peri.

The group then put their plan into action, fighting their way through the endless army of Grays to reach the front of the painting. While Mindaro and Indi spoke with Peri, Wu and Garmadon defended them against the Grays. Indi ordered her sister to begin adding splashes of rainbow colors to the Chroma's paintings, emphasizing that while there was no time to explain, their father needed the colors to defeat the Chroma. Peri immediately got to work, creating a yellow and orange flower in the desolate landscape as the howling of the Chroma drew nearer, having sensed its opportunity for freedom. With the vibrant flower painted into existence, Mindaro attempt to channel his magic into its colors, but failed. "I can't do it!" he exclaimed as the Chroma drew ever closer.

As the monstrous cloud of gray approached the barrier, Peri encouraged her father to keep trying, painting a small flower in front of him. Mindaro's eyes widened as he picked up his daughter's gift, his heart swelling as hope returned to him for the first time in three years. Peri had painted a violet, the flower that bore the name of her mother and Mindaro's late wife. With hope restored, Mindaro rose once again to his feet, channeling all of his magic and using every ounce of strength he had to collect together all of the colors that Peri had added to the painting. As the Chroma now loomed directly above them all, Wu and Garmadon used their Spinjitzu to coat themselves with the vibrant colors, hurling them all at the gray monster.

Chapter 10: Rainbow's End[]

Doused with vibrant colors, the gray mass known as the Chroma shrieked and wailed as something about it began to change. Moments later, the gray creature exploded into rainbow light, transforming and filling the once gray and bleak landscape into a beautiful world of color. Following the destruction of the Chroma, all those who had previously fallen victim to it were restored, landing to the ground, confused but alive. With the threat gone, Mindaro was now able to finally open the way home as he, Indi, and all those trapped within the painting were able to step foot into the real world for the first time in many years.

As the brothers left the painting, Peri greeted them, though she could not bear to look at them in the eyes. Apologizing to the brothers, Peri begged for their forgiveness, expressing regret that she had let her fear and despair control her for so long. Fortunately, both brothers were quick to forgive the young painter, with Wu adding that their father always told them that lessons learned the hard way are lessons learned. The rest of the freed warriors however, were not quite as forgiving, demanding to be shown the way out, which Peri obliged, sending Balee to help them go their separate ways. Jelena then congratulated Wu and Garmadon through the transformed Chroma Painting, remarking that she now looked forward to exploring this vibrant new world. Mindaro thanked the brothers again for their help, adding that he owned them a great debt for saving him and reuniting his family, though Wu kindly informed him that Mindaro did not have to owe them anything; after all, that is what ninja do.

After a short stay, Wu and Garmadon said their goodbyes to Mindaro, Peri, Indi, and Balee before continuing their journey onward to the Northern Ocean. Surely their trip would soon come to an end. As they walked however, Wu wondered privately to himself how it was that Garmadon could hear the Chroma in his head while he couldn't. Nevertheless, Wu felt that because of this journey, his bond with his brother grew stronger every day and he knew he would remember these adventures forever.

Epilogue[]

After Wu finished his story, Nya implored him to continue, asking what lay on the other side of the mountain. Wu answered that he would tell that story another day, but for now, it seemed they have caught their jewel thief: the magpie from earlier was now carrying a necklace in its beak. Following the bird, the ninja discovered where it had been stashing the missing jewels, recovering them while Lloyd opened a nearby window, allowing the bird to fly free from the museum. While Kai grumbled about the lack of excitement in the identity of the jewel thief, Cole called everyone's attention to a particularly vibrant painting that hung in the wall, one featuring lush, rolling hills dotted with colorful flowers and completed by the presence of a white deer and a large rainbow stretching across a clear blue sky. As for the artist's signature? It bore the name Mindaro. While Nya was excited to be viewing the painting from Wu's story, Wu himself seemed more hesitant, carefully studying the painting as the rest of the Ninja left to return the stolen jewels. Finally, Wu turned away, muttering to himself that there was probably nothing to worry about, unaware that a dark cloud had suddenly manifested against the painting's sunny blue backdrop...

Appearances[]

Characters[]

• Cole
• Garmadon (flashback)
• Kai
• Indi (flashback)
• Jay
• Lloyd
• Mindaro (flashback)
• Nya
• Peri (flashback)
• The Grays (flashback)
• Wu
• Zane

Mentioned[]

• Acronix
• Krux
• Pyro Vipers
  • Aspheera
• Falcon
• First Spinjitzu Master
• Nineko
• Tanabrax

Creatures[]

• Balee (flashback)
• Jelena (flashback)
• The Chroma (flashback)

Items[]

• Paintings
• Bo staff

Locations[]

• Ninjago
  • Ninjago City
    • Ninjago Museum of History
      • Acronix and Krux's lab (mentioned)
  • Peri's villa (flashback)
• Northern Ocean (mentioned)
• Mindaro's paintings
  • Chroma painting (flashback)

Species[]

• Magpie
• Humans
• Nindroids
• Oni/Dragon/Human hybrids
• Ghouls (mentioned)
• Puppets (mentioned)
• Ghouls (mentioned)
• Hypnobrai (mentioned)
• Scorpions (mentioned)
• Butterflies (statue)
• Deers (statue)
• Rabbits (statue)

Trivia[]

Errors[]

• In the extended description of the book, Peri is named Ayla instead.
• For some books, the description on the back misspelled Garmadon's name as "Gramadon"

Gallery[]

Translations[]

Language	Name
German	Das Geheimnis der Farbenwelt

References[]