Fandom - Ninjago

Summary - Fourth sequel to "Corruption." Four Months after Wu's death, Morro is now a fully-fledged ninja. However, a large part of him is still getting used to his new life. Just as things are starting to settle out, the police arrive on the doorstep with shocking news- Morro, as a former criminal, must pay for his crimes. Not knowing any other way, Morro allows himself to be arrested and taken to Kryptarium prison, where a whole new set of challenges face him.

Rating - T for violence, thematic material, and some torture. No sex, no swearing.

Characters - Morro, Lloyd Garmadon, Sensei Garmadon, the Ninja, OC

AUTHOR'S NOTE - Earlier than expected! Hope you guys enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed the last... the plot of this one isn't completely decided, but I'm expecting this story to be about the same length as Evolution. A few things that are going to happen in this installment: Morro will learn about his family. This will be the first of the "Morro's Path" series to include an OC as a major character. As for other things... well, we'll just have to wait and see.

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CHAPTER ONE

A NEW FAMILY

Five ninja sat on benches and various pieces of training equipment in the Spinjitzu Monastery courtyard. The entire place smelled of fresh cut wood and coats of paint. In the courtyard were set up quite a few obstacles in the form of a training course, however, none of those were in use right at that moment. Rather, two other ninja stood in the center of it all, facing one another. Both were semi-transparent, one dressed in black and the other in green and grey.

"Now, the first thing you've got to do is be comfortable in your form," the smaller one stated calmly. "Know your abilities, know your limitations. You barely know anything about being a ghost, do you?" he tilted his head, raising one eyebrow slightly.

The other scowled. "That's not true. I know I can possess things, that water will kill me, and that I can walk through walls," he responded.

The first rolled his eyes. "Sure... like I said," he muttered, then leapt forward, striking the other ghost in his chest and sending him flying back into a punching bag. He hit the punching bag and slumped to the ground, groaning a little.

"What... what was that for?" he asked, glaring up at the other.

He smirked. "Oh, that? Just a test. And I was right. You're not at all comfortable. You could've gone right through that, but you didn't because you tensed for impact. And since you tensed for impact, your body responded. You put your concentration there. So you hit your head."

There was a snort and a giggle from one of the other ninja, which earned a glare from the taller ghost.

"Yeah, sure, Morro," he muttered. "I guess I don't get anything."

"And that's why I'm trying to teach you," Morro responded. "So. First of all, we're naturally intangible. Our default is to let other things pass through us, except for water and Deepstone. Water kills or burns. Deepstone is just to us like all other solids are to humans." Once the explanation was finished, he made sure the other seemed to understand, then went on. "To touch, hold, or hit things, we need to have a concentration. A lot of that concentration is simply thinking that we're solid, like what happened to you. You expected to hit the punching bag. So you hit the punching bag. Concentration can be broke by panic, or by not thinking hard enough about it. The thoughts need to be strong, you need to feel absolutely sure you're going to make contact with something."

The ghosts stood up again, and then Morro circled around him. "Now, I'm going to throw you back again, Cole. Don't hit the training equipment. Hit the mattress behind it," he explained.

"So that's why you dragged that mattress out here," Cole muttered, and then he gave a cry as Morro hit him again and he flew backwards. He slowed as he passed through the training equipment, and Morro clenched his fists. But he got through, and then hit the mattress. The other ghost grinned.

"Yeah, exactly like that," he nodded.

Cole got back up. "I'm sort of tired of getting thrown around, though... is there anything else ghosts can do besides go through things?" he asked frowning a little bit.

Morro shrugged. "Yeah, there is. A lot of different things. But you should probably learn the basics first. Still, that's enough for today. I'm kind of tired."

"Good. It's lunchtime," came Sensei Garmadon's voice as he stepped out into the training area. "Misako cooked up enough food for all of you... though I hope you've worked up quite an appetite. There's a lot." The ninja all nodded, jumping off of the training equipment and started inside, but Morro paused. "Aren't you coming inside?" he heard Garmadon say, and he hesitated for a moment before answering.

"No," he responded, brushing his fingers along the tie of his belt. "I mean... maybe later. But right now I'm... I've got something I want to do." His gaze flickered toward the gates of the monastery. At Garmadon's nod, which seemed to signify that he understood, Morro turned and walked through the gate, looking around for a moment. The last of the cherry blossoms had since fallen from the tree, and now lay scattered on the ground to join with the earth beneath. The sky above was blue with wispy white clouds, and the wind rustled the leaves gently. Morro knelt down on the ground, brushing his hand on the thin grass that had begun to grow on the ground, and then ran his finger along the headstone.

It had been nearly four months since Wu's death, and there was still a large part of Morro that could barely believe that it had actually happened. Every day, though, he was reminded of it. Now that the rebuilding of the monastery had been complete, Morro had more time on his hands to think about it. And to realize just how much he actually missed his mentor. Training Cole helped. But at the end of the day, Morro still felt an empty space inside of him that he didn't think would ever be filled. He sat down, bringing his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them, quietly.

"So you're missing lunch to sit out here, huh?"

Lloyd's voice startled Morro out of his reverie and the ghost jumped up, quickly turning around to see the green ninja standing just outside the gate of the monastery. At Morro's startled reaction, Lloyd lifted both hands in the air, taking a step back—despite everything, the two still had an awkward relationship. It had barely even been a year since Morro had first escaped the Cursed Realm. Both knew that the wariness they still occasionally felt would fade in time, but for now, it still flared up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Lloyd told him.

Morro quickly shook his head. "No... don't apologize. I'm just a little jumpy. I don't think I'll ever not be... You didn't do anything wrong," he tried, though his words didn't sound the best to his own ears. Lloyd nodded in understanding, however, so they clearly got the point across.

"Yeah, I get it," the ninja nodded, now stepping toward him. "I just wanted to come out and check on you. I mean, we can't help but notice you're still really upset, all of us... and you kind of just seem a little lost. You know, we are your family, Morro. As weird as it might be... you've paid off your debts."

Morro sighed. "Yeah, but no amount of good I do will undo what I did... and it won't bring Sensei back either."

Lloyd touched his shoulder. "I know. Come on, just... come on inside. You know he'd want you to just keep going on without him. You're a ninja now... you're one of us. And that means you eat with us, okay?"

The ghost hesitated, but then nodded. Lloyd smiled gently and turned to go inside. Morro stepped up and walked beside him back through the gates, across the training yard, and into the building and the dining room. The others were already sitting down, and Cole was on his second helping of tempura. They all looked up when the two entered, but they didn't say anything. When Morro sat down, Cole pushed a steaming cup across the table to him. Morro leaned over, looking at the liquid inside.

"Here, I kind of... made some tea for us," Cole told him, "We've still got some of our kind left, even though it's running out."

Morro nodded, and a tiny smile crept across his face. "Thanks," he muttered, sipping the tea. Before he'd died, Wu had gone through the trouble of procuring a ghost-safe tea, one that didn't burn him or Cole when they drank it. Morro didn't know how or why that happened, but it was nice—one of the things he'd missed the most about being human was tea. Ever since Wu had taken him in it was basically all he'd ever drank. Even if he could drink it, he wasn't going to drink water again after that incident back in his childhood... he still felt a bit sick just thinking about it.

He quietly sipped his tea for a bit as the others conversed around him. Despite having been accepted among them, and officially one of the team, he felt distant. It was like there was just... something... keeping him from really connecting with them. He'd let his regrets go when he'd found his true potential back in the now-destroyed Anacondrai tomb and saved Lloyd's life and his own. But maybe there were still some? Hiding deep within him that he himself didn't know? Or maybe it was the fact that the ninja were so close-knit that he felt like he was intruding. And it wasn't for any exclusion on their part. They made sure to invite him to train with them, or to go flying—since Morro couldn't make a dragon of his own, he'd usually ride Lloyd's. They didn't include him in conversation so much, but that was probably because Morro spent most meals silently eating his food.

Maybe it was because he was from a completely different time. Maybe he didn't really belong in this world. Thoughts like those that had followed him in the streets of New Ninjago City began to return. What if Lloyd had been right and it wasn't his world? What if the sense of not belonging was... because he didn't really belong? Morro quickly tried his best to snap out of the depression he was slowly falling into, but it was hard. Finally, he sighed and sat up straight. He'd only drunk half of his cup of tea, and barely touched the tempura vegetables and shrimp—one of his favourite things to eat.

"Guys... I'm going to go take a nap, alright? I'm not... feeling that great." He stood up, not really waiting for an answer, and walked out of the dining room. As he left, he winced a bit—he had a bad habit of doing that, just walking out. He had to remember to try not to, but that was easier said than done. The noon sun had begun to cross the sky toward the west, and the breeze from earlier had died down so that the air was still. Morro's incorporeal feet made no sound as he crossed the courtyard to the last bit of the Monastery's original structure that was still standing. It was the part that held his bedroom, the same one he'd had for so long. Sure, the place had been repaired, but it was still the same building, complete with the burn marks on the walls and floor and supports. Morro pushed open the old door, walked down a short hallway, and then opened his bedroom door. He made to move to his bed, but then he stopped short.

His bed was gone. So were his sheets, his clothes—he'd gotten several other outfits since coming to live with the ninja—and even the small portrait of him as a young boy standing next to a much younger and very much living Wu and holding his first wooden katana. Morro looked around the room, peering into the wardrobe and the small set of drawers, but his search yielded nothing. Where were his things? What was going on?

He left the room, just walking through the wall and breaking into a jog. He didn't even think of it being awkward when he simply ran back into the dining room without even bothering to use the door. "What happened to my room?" he blurted, eyes wide as the six other ninja, Garmadon, and Misako all looked up at him simultaneously. He didn't get a reply at first, but then, Nya stood up.

"Well... we decided to... I mean, you were all the way on the other side of the monastery, all by yourself," she shrugged. "So we decided we'd change that... come on. We'll show you." They all stood up, leaving the room. Morro frowned, following. He wasn't sure how much he was going to like this idea of theirs. They walked to the second floor, where the ninja's rooms were. In the new monastery, they all sort of had their own room—it was more a cubicle, and they still shared a common area, but there was more space, and Nya's cubicle was partitioned off with a curtain.

She gestured to the far corner. There, Morro saw his own bed. A curtain hung between his bed and side-table and another, one he guessed was Lloyd's by the green comforter. Morro's face showed no real expression as he walked over and sat down on his bed. It felt the same—or, as much as it could feel the same when he was numbed to the world. He looked up at the ninja, a frown on his face. "You... moved me to your room..."

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. None of us should be alone or separate from the others. We're a team, we're all a family... we all decided this together. But we should have asked you, and... we'll move your stuff back over if you want." He looked apologetic, but Morro shook his head.

"No-No it's alright," he stammered. "I-I'll stay here... I-It'll take some getting used to, but... you... you don't have to move my things back where they were..." He sat back on his bed, leaning against the wall. "I mean, this is sort of nice."

Morro wasn't completely sure how to feel about this. But for the most part, he felt happy—clearly, they cared enough about him to go through the trouble of moving his possessions over to where they all were, just so he could stay with the rest of them. Then he glanced over at Nya. "Well... Just as long as you don't decide to prank me by spraying me with water, because we know how that'll end..." he tried to chuckle, but the joke was pathetic and nobody laughed—he only earned an uncomfortable smile from Nya, and Jay briefly leaned over to whisper something in Cole's ear. The other ghost rolled his eyes, and Morro glanced away.

"Hey, Morro..." Kai cut into his thoughts. "Let's go out and do a little more training. It was fun watching you beat up Cole earlier, but I doubt you could beat me up like that."

Morro raised one eyebrow, turning to look at that. "Come on... at least make it sound like it'll be a challenge. But sure. I'll go easy on you, though. After all, you don't have the added bonus of being numb to the world, and you'll actually hit all the training equipment if I throw you back." He stood up.

"Yeah, but you won't even get that far." Kai started off at a jog down the stairs, and Morro went to take the window, but Zane suddenly stopped.

"Wait!" he called. "The falcon has just picked up something on patrol... a group of Serpentine are attacking Jamanakai Village."

Jay groaned. "Aw man! What is it with those snakes and that town?" he asked, sighing. Zane shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but we'd better go find out." He turned and went down the stairs. The rest of the ninja followed him. They stopped briefly in the dining room to let Misako and Garmadon know where they were going. Lloyd lingered back, giving each of his parents a tight hug, and then waved farewell, coming to stand next to Morro. He quickly summoned his energy dragon and turned to the ghost.

"Come on, Morro," he jumped on, and Morro gave a sigh and climbed on behind him. "Don't worry, you'll figure out how to unlock your own dragon someday," Lloyd assured him. Morro wasn't so certain. After all, wasn't a dragon unlocked by facing your fears and accepting them? And Morro wasn't afraid of anything. So how could he accept his fears? He wasn't sure he'd ever find out how to do it. Of course, for right now there were more important things.

Like the Serpentine. Serpentine that Morro was pretty sure he and Lloyd had seen before, if he had to guess.