One year after the events of Fragments
October 29th, 6:30 pm
The sound of motors blared across the arid desert, sand floating in the air from being thrown by tires. White plating on each assorted vehicle reflected the hot sun's rays, while its owners raced across the barren land, heading straight for the city. One vehicle in particular was a motorbike, its white plating dirtied by the sand and mud from previous adventures. Its owner wore a gi in shades of pink, her dark brown hair waving in the wind as she smiled in an excited manner.
"Oh, come on you guys! You're so slow!" she shouted back at her friends, the new magenta ribbon in her hair dancing in the dry wind.
"It's not a race, Karma!" the young man on another bike, Kai, shouted over his comm. Karma snickered.
"But only a few seconds ago you were bragging about how you were gonna be the first one to the museum!" she reminded him. Kai sighed.
"Sometimes I exaggerate! Don't take that seriously!" he replied. Jay snickered.
" 'Sometimes'," he repeated, flying over Kai with his jet. The master of fire grumbled something under his breath.
"Don't laugh, Jay. You're just as bad," Lilly interjected, swerving her bike around Nya's. The two masters of water snickered as Jay shouted "Hey!"
"Yeah, I can recall plenty of times were your exaggerating almost got us in trouble," Nya added, her short, pitch back hair waving in the wind. Jay huffed.
"Hey, how far is the museum again?" Cole asked, his buggy-like vehicle following Lloyd's.
"Approximately 10 miles. We are nearing the outskirts of Ninjago City," Zane informed us while sitting in the back of Jay's jet.
"Shoot, we're going to have to pick up speed. We're going to be late!" Lloyd exclaimed, his bullet-shaped vehicle picking up speed.
"Great! Gives me an opportunity to do this!" Cass shouted, before a wall of sand crashed into Karma. The master of darkness slowed down for a moment, shielding her eyes from the sand. Once it was gone, she uncovered her eyes and picked up speed.
"Hey! That wasn't fair!" she shouted as Cass sped ahead of her. The female master of wind stuck her tongue out.
"You never said there were any rules!" Cass reminded her, her wavy hair nearly blowing in her face.
"Yeah, you're right!" they both then heard Hunter shout, before his vehicle flew over them, the male master of wind himself flying beneath it and holding it up with his powers. "There are no rules!"
He then flew out from beneath his vehicle and blew himself back into his vehicle with his powers. Cass and Karma both blinked. "What the hell!? How did you do that without crushing yourself!?" Cass exclaimed.
"Category 5 hurricane force winds!" Hunter told her, audibly smiling.
"I believe it may have been more than that," Nathan added over the comm.
"Whatever, I'm taking first place back!" Cass shouted, before accelerating her bike. Karma then followed close behind her, trying not to inhale sand. The three then raced along, trading places every now and then until Karma was in first yet again. Though, the sound of Cole panicking on the comm suddenly made the trio slow down.
"Cole, are you alright!?" Cass asked over the comm, sounding concerned. The master of earth ceased to respond, and his vehicle started to sway, causing a look of worry to grow on the purple ninja's face.
"Crap! He's drifting off again!" Sammie shouted, before both her vehicle and Jay's jet went after her brother. Karma sighed as she recalled the fact that Cole had reverted back to ghost form the night after he regained his human form. It was odd, but Zane had speculated that some sort of natural event that night could have caused both Cole and Clouse to become humans for a temporary period of time.
Karma watched as they chased after Cole's vehicle, the vehicle nearly colliding with Jay's jet during one jump. Though, the vehicle landed and stopped swaying, with Cole's sounds of panic ceasing. "Everything okay?" Cass asked over the comm.
"Yeah...sorry. I was starting to drift off again. I honestly have no idea why this keeps happening," Cole apologized. It had become common lately for Cole to begin to randomly drift from this world, a phenomenon that had left his friends quite worried for his safety and wellbeing.
"It's okay. You're safe now," Sammie said, her vehicle now remaining by her brother's.
"Yeah, hopefully we can get that issue of yours under control. I can't count the number of times it almost killed me," Jay sighed, flying above them.
"Well your pranks almost kill everyone in this group so I guess that's fair, huh?" Kai replied. The master of lightning made an offended noise. The others laughed as they progressed into the city, taking shortcuts to ensure that they wouldn't run into the usual traffic. They passed buildings decorated with poppy red lanterns lit for visitors. Children were dressed in costumes resembling ancient legends and demons, as well as a few modern monsters from television shows. Some people cheered as they sped past businesses and apartment buildings, their fame not forgotten by the city they called home.
They soon arrived at their destination, the Ninjago City Museum. Ignoring a banner hanging overhead, Cass and Karma sprinted inside before everyone else, bursting through the wooden museum doors. "We're gonna be late! We'll have to resort to plan B!" Karma shouted. Cass gave a surprised look.
"Are you sure!?" she questioned.
"Look! If you're hesitant, just think of that Snickers I never ate when I was evil!" Karma replied, before Cass nodded and picked her up. She then spun, forming a purple tornado before tossing Karma as if she were a football and stopping on one foot. The pink-clad ninja flew through the door to the gift shop, her back hitting a shelf in the back that held several of the festival lanterns they had seen before. Karma then landed on the floor, with a few of the lanterns falling on her. She was silent for a moment before flashing a double thumbs-up, her expression covered by a lantern. Cass cheered.
"We made it!"
"Thank god we got here on time. I was afraid we'd never be able to get the lanterns," Lloyd gave a sigh of relief as he held his lantern. Karma smiled.
"Yeah. Next time we shouldn't leave so late though," she said. Lloyd nodded.
"Agreed."
Nya looked admiringly at her lantern before watching a group of children walk by, wearing monster costumes and chattering about one of the museum exhibits. A gentle smile grew on her face. "Oh, I just love this holiday," she commented cheerily, "I love seeing the little costumes the kids put together and just the overall happy spirit! It makes me wish things were like this more often."
Sammie nodded. "It's fantastic to see everyone working together to make the city look pretty in honor of our ancestors. It almost reminds me of Dia de los Muertos, but I suppose you guys don't decorate your ancestors graves."
"Well, some people do, but it's often the city instead of the graves," Kai informed her.
"Ah, that's cool," she commented, before an older man approached the group, his mustache almost as long as their deceased sensei's beard. His wire-rimmed spectacles sat on the end of his pointy nose, and the green eyes behind them were filled with enthusiasm. His mustache and slicked-back hair was the same color as the silver necklace that complimented his crimson uniform.
"Hello, ninja!" he greeted the group, his voice squeaky but humorously similar to that of popular children's cartoon characters. "Have you come to check out the new exhibit?"
"There's a new exhibit?" Jay questioned, his single eye blinking. The old man nodded.
"Oh, yes yes! I have a feeling you all would love it very much!" he told them excitedly, "Besides, I won't charge you kids for it either."
The group looked at each other and shrugged. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Lloyd said, "We've got time to kill before the Royal Blacksmiths take the stage at the park."
The old man grinned in an ecstatic manner. "Glorious!" he cheered, before turning to a set of doors, "Oh, by the way, you all can call me Dr. Saunders, or Sanders Saunders if you'd like!"
" 'Sanders Saunders'?" Kai repeated in a whisper to his sister, "Like that won't become confusing."
They followed Saunders through a blank hall before he stopped at another set of doors, looking excited. "Now, if some of you looked at the banner outside, you'd know what's in this hall, but it's something that continues to tell the story of you oh-so brave men and women!"
He then pushed the door open, revealing a hall full of mannequins shown to be similar to their past enemies. Karma's stomach suddenly started to ache. "Welcome to the first hall, the hall of villains, or evildoers if you prefer!" Saunders said, walking in, "This is for the citizens to see what fearsome enemies you've met and conquered! Ah, how spooky!"
Karma heard Zane laugh nervously, though monotonously. "Yes...very spooky indeed."
The master of darkness stared at a few past enemies she had never seen before, one being a four-armed skeleton while the other being a large, humanoid snake creature with bleached skin. She then came across a tattooed humanoid figure with four arms dressed like a samurai. She could remember creatures similar to this one clearly from a particular day in her teen years she can barely remember.
She then came across a couple she could definitely remember. She could never forget the lavender color of the woman's hair. "Misaki and Sebastian..." she whispered, gripping the gold railing next to their statues, memories of Luo's death and the death of Misaki flashing through her mind, along with the sound of gunshots and Sebastian's cold stare. She sighed, squeezing the railing before moving on.
Karma then came across a mannequin with translucent green skin, his prideful eyes staring right at her. She then began to tremble slightly as the memories of her temporary possession came into mind, and how he almost made her kill Lloyd. Squeezing the railing again, she moved on, slowly zoning out from the conversations behind her.
She then came across an all too familiar figure, the bright color of his hair being enough of a giveaway as to who it was. The fact that Alex was put in the hall of evildoers wasn't much of a surprise to her, especially since only her and Lloyd knew what happened, but nonetheless the memories still hit her like a speeding truck at full force. The sound of a bone snapping and gunshots. Crimson blood staining a clean, white floor. Dead, dull eyes staring back at her. She was shaking now, the force of memories from three different people weighing down upon her. She slowly moved on.
Karma now passed the statue of the chubby man she knew as her uncle's superior, but she didn't acknowledge it. Instead, she kept moving on, passing an orange genie whose memory continued to hurt her. She then froze before the statue of a man she had known forever, whose deep purple eyes stared down upon her like they always had. Karma shook as she looked up at her uncle's mannequin, a twisted smile on his face with fake snake lines jutting out of the stand beneath him.
The master of darkness froze for a minute before dropping to her knees and trembling as the memories hit her at full force. His derogatory words. His cold, strict stare. Wu's death. The lines that had wrapped so tightly around her throat. The deaths he had caused. The searing pain of her powers being ripped from her body. The blood that leaked from the blade she had impaled him with.
Karma shook, feeling as though she were about to break out into a sob until she felt a hand on her back, causing her to freeze. "Do you need to step out?" she heard Lloyd ask gently, to which she nodded and immediately hung onto his shoulders. She walked with him to benches outside the museum.
"I know how you're feeling," Lloyd told her after a few seconds, looking down at his boots, "Seeing that statue of Morro and the Overlord nearly broke me down."
Karma nodded without a word, her mind still overloading. "It's just...hard to look at them. To look at all of them without breaking down. Everything just comes back so quickly...and my heart starts to beat so fast...And it all feels like they're coming back after me. That he's coming back for me," she started to say before Lloyd patted her shoulder.
"It's okay. I know that feeling. It's normal after everything you've been through," he told her, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and resting his head on hers, "But you're safe now, okay? I'm here, and I'm not going to let him get you. Not ever. I'll shave off his mustache first chance I get."
Karma giggled now, a slightly sad smile coming to her face. "Maybe I could assist you with that."
Lloyd laughed now. "The more the merrier," he said before they both began to laugh, the master of darkness now resting her head on her best friend's shoulder, the memories slowing down and ceasing to hurt her for now.
Meanwhile, Cole began to approach a distinct painting with a weapon resting in a case beneath it, the case being made of the most industructable clear material in the world. He could somewhat hear someone whispering something to him, but he could not tell what it was nor figuring out where it was coming from. He now noticed that the painting was of an old man with a pitch black beard that beared an odd resemblance to his old Sensei. He recognized this face as Sensei Yang, the mysterious man who had created Airjitzu and possibly murdered his own students.
The young man now looked down at the oddly-shaped weapon in the case, the weapon looking like a cross between a morning star, shuriken, and kusarigama. Cole started to wonder how much more ridiculous-looking important weapons were going to become, judging from his past experience. Though, he started to listen to the whispering again as he thought he saw the painting move.
"Close the circle..." something whispered much more audibly this time. Cole blinked in confusion.
" 'Close the circle'?" he repeated, giving a look of bewilderment at the painting of Sensei Yang. He now saw the painting's lips move, nearly making him stumble back.
"Close the circle, Cole. Close the circle..." the painting whispered to him, as if it were actually the old man himself. Cole stared at the painting for a minute, confused as to what he meant, before he started to move as if in a mindless trance. Whilst staring at the painted face of Sensei Yang, his hand phased through the supposedly impenetrable case, reaching through until his hand solidified around the handle of the blade. He then hesitantly pulled it from the case, the supposedly industructible glass only cracking when he pulled the weapon from the case.
The master of earth then turned around to look for his friends and younger sister, but they were nowhere in sight. Sighing, he only walked out of the exhibit hall, leaving behind his lantern. "I must have disconnected from this world again," he mumbled to himself, "That's fine I guess. I should probably just go see Yang himself about this whispering thing anyway."
Cole went out and shifted his vehicle into jet mode before flying out of the city, his dirt brown eyes locked on a floating island above the sand populated by dead trees and a haunting temple. Once he reached the island, he first looked out in the distance, spotting his friends' vehicles leaving the city. Sighing, he immediately jumped out of the jet and ran inside with the blade, pulling on his mask. "Yang! Where are you hiding!?" he shouted once inside, past frustration beginning build at the sound of that name. The old man walked out from behind a bookshelf, looking slightly annoyed.
"What are you doing, coming into my temple and shouting like a madman?" he questioned, before his eyes fell on the uniquely-shaped blade in Cole's hand. "...That's...the Yin Blade."
Cole acted like he knew what this blade was. "Yeah, but I got that weird message of yours, so what do you want!? You've already turned me into a damn ghost and refuse to let me be human for more than 12 hours, so what more do you want!?"
"That's not important right now. What I want to know is how you got the Yin Blade! It's supposed to be in an impenetrable case!" Yang told him, staring at the blade.
"Well, apparently ghosts can just reach through and pull it out!" Cole replied, "Now, I want to be human again! I'm tired of being in the endless cycle of being a ghost! I want to be able to do human things again, and at least be tangible to those I love!"
Yang's eyes widened as Cole pointed the blade at him, the master of earth glaring at him. "Now, hold on, there's no need to be harsh," Yang held his hands up, backing away. Cole only continued to approach him. "Where's your holiday spirit!?" Yang questioned nervously.
"Dead, along with any feelings of forgiveness I had for you," Cole told him, "One of the themes of this holiday is finishing what was started, correct!? Then how about I settle my debt now!?"
Cole lunged for Yang now, swinging the blade only to miss him, as the old man had dodged. Instead, Cole smashed a blue pot with patterns of dragons on it. Yang immediately started laughing as a mysterious green fog began to leak out of the building. The master of earth looked around in both panic and confusion. "What the hell!?"
Yang grinned beneath his scraggly, black beard. "Even ancient ghosts like me have debts to settle, boy," he said, before making one loud clap. Suddenly, Cole was flanked by the spirits Yang called his students, the ghosts holding the black-clad ninja still as he shouted and tried to squirm free. Yang only chuckled as he plucked the Yin Blade from Cole's hand.
"Ah, all a part of my plan," he said, caressing the blade. Cole gave a look of surprise and confusion.
"What plan?" he asked, almost too afraid to find out. Yang chuckled once again.
"We're in an eclipse, Cole. What do you think happens to the magic that comes out of an eclipse?" he asked.
"I dunno. People use it for healing instead of being total dinguses!?" Cole shouted in a response. The old man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You'll see. Just give it time."
8:30pm
The museum was silent as the fog leaked into its halls before engulfing only the statues in the hall of evildoers and minions. Soon, the assorted group of enemies started to regain consciousness and begin to look around...all but one at least.
When Alex regained consciousness, he gasped and fell off the stand he was once frozen on. He cringed as his head hit the floor, before patting his chest to feel for the wounds he knew he had, but they were no longer there. The young man instantly looked at the hand he knew had been broken, only to find that it worked just fine. Now he was entirely confused, especially because of the fact that he felt more energized than before.
Am I dead? Am I alive? What dimension am I in? What the heck is going on? he thought to himself as he sat up, rubbing his head. Upon spotting the ceiling of the museum, he asked himself Is this Hell!? If so, Hell is classy as heck.
Alex went to stand up, but instantly sat back down when he heard a familiar voice ask "Who are all of you!?"
Shit. Clouse is here. I'm so dead. he though to himself before flattening himself on the floor and attempting to crawl away from what sounded like Clouse's voice as all the individuals in the room questioned who was who. Alex crawled past what seemed like a huge, wooden chair before refraining to look at who he was passing, but he wasn't as stealthy as he thought.
As soon as he thought he was free, a bony hand grabbed the back of his head and pulled him off the floor by his hair, causing the master of psion to yelp from the pain. "Well, leaving so soon?" Clouse questioned with vile intent in his eyes. Alex only tried to pry Clouse's hand from his hair, his eyes watering from the pain. He already had an idea of what Clouse intended to do, especially since he had assisted Karma with his death.
Though, suddenly, a foot connected with Clouse's face and kicked him away, leaving the master of psion to faceplant on the floor. He didn't remain on the floor for long though, as the person who had kicked Clouse away lifted him right back up to his feet. "Oh my god, it is you!" his somewhat savior, the woman he recognized as Misaki cheered before she crushed him in a tight hug. "Ah! One of my babies has grown up so well!"
"I...can't...breathe!" the master of psion croaked, feeling as if his ribs were being crushed. Misaki released him immediately, apologizing. "Besides, why are you still calling me a baby!? I'm in my twenties!" Alex replied, feeling embarrassed, "Why did you even call anyone in our group 'babies'!?"
"Aww, you may be twenty-something but you'll always be the same little teenage edgelord I met!" Misaki smiled, to which Alex's face became red.
"Hey! Don't bring up my past right now!" he shouted, embarrassed by his own teenage self. Misaki giggled.
"Ah, if only I could find Seok and Estera...and whoever shot me," she said, to which Alex froze in place. The sudden memory of Sebastian encouraging him to shoot bursting into his mind, and watching the bullet pierce her. Misaki was the first person he had ever killed. She wouldn't know that Seok and Estera had died.
"I do too. It's too unfortunate that neither of us could catch a glimpse of that bastard," Sebastian's voice startled Alex as he walked out from behind Misaki, his dark red hair still styled in the same way it was on the day of his death. Alex was the only one who knew that Sebastian had planned her death. He now couldn't understand why he ever looked up to this man, but then again he doesn't understand his own decisions to look up to people younger than him.
"Hmmm. You! My fine lady!" a thickly-accented voice called, to which Alex froze up again, knowing exactly who this voice belonged to. "Would you like me to grant you a wish? I'm in such a dire need to assist such a beautiful woman like you."
Misaki turned to look at Nadakhan as he floated past Sebastian and Alex, ignoring them. The master of illusion narrowed her eyes. "No thanks. I'd rather not take wishes from some creep who looks like a circus peanut who was left on a hot sidewalk for too long."
"Uh..." Nadakhan was at a loss for words, "...Are you complimenting me or...?"
"No, I'm saying you look like utter shit and better get out of my line of sight in the next five seconds if you don't want me to rip that tacky-ass mustache off your face!" Misaki snapped, to which Nadakhan hurried away from her. Then, Morro floated past them, grumbling something under his breath as he passed, but he then turned around as an inhuman shriek broke out.
Everyone turned around to see that the bleached snake creature known as Pythor had torn apart the half-alive statue of the Overlord, black smoke billowing from the torso and hips of the statue as the python man smirked to himself. Everyone then turned back to their own conversations, passing it off as enemies settling their debts and grudges. Though, as everything started to get quieter and the sounds of Clouse greeting his old superior, Chen, grew louder, Misaki wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulder, smiling.
"So, tell me, how'd you get stuck in here? Most of these guys look like those baddies who used to plague the city. Did you do something big?" she inquired. Alex refrained from laughing nervously. Oh, I've done many things I really regret. Terrorized a city, killed an innocent man just to impress some old teammate who could give less of a damn, accidentally killed a girl's mom because my mind got pushed too far, brought an asshole out of an eternal prison he should have stayed in, and was forced to shoot my estranged father aka the President. I'm feeling absolutely fan-freaking-tastic.
Before he could answer her though, they all were called to a painting at the center of the exhibit, a painting of an old man with a beard as black as the night sky. The painting then began to move as if it were human, making Alex question further how sane he really was. He wondered if his brain damage had gotten more severe.
"Good evening, I'm sure you all are confused, but do not worry, I will soon explain," the painting explained before introducing himself, "My name is Sensei Yang, and I'm the one who brought you all back to life. You all are currently standing in the Ninjago Museum of History, which is near the center of the city."
"Pardon me for asking, but why did you bring us back to life? Is there some catch to this?" Sebastian asked.
"Uh, yeah, and isn't this Djinn supposed to be alive and trapped in a sword!?" Clouse questioned. Nadakhan glared at him.
"Well, first, Mr. Nadakhan died of starvation in his sword. A Djinn can only go 12 hours without food, unlike a human," Yang explained, "And second, there is a little bit of a catch. You see, I have a little plan."
"What exactly it it!?" Samukai, the four-armed skeleton asked, pushing Cryptor aside for a moment. Yang smiled.
"Well, tonight's a lunar eclipse, and a night famous for settling debts. So, I thought, why not give you all a chance to get revenge on those pesky ninja that killed you!?" Yang told them, to which a few of the people cheered. Alex already had a bad feeling about this. "Yes? Sounds fantastic? Good. Though, I should warn you all that their numbers have now increased to twelve."
The crowd booed at this news. Though, Yang didn't stop. "That shouldn't stop you from getting revenge, so I'll allow you all to choose a ninja you'd like to go after, because I know you all have grudges."
The crowd then cheered furiously, to which Alex dropped to his hands and knees and attempted to crawl out of the crowd. He managed to avoid being spotted by Misaki and Sebastian, but it was Clouse who noticed him, due to the master of psion accidentally bumping into his leg. The man instantly lunged for him, but Alex teleported away immediately, landing on one of the beams on the ceiling in a split second.
The master of psion snickered inside his head as he watched Clouse search for him as Yang spoke, before the man gave up and returned his attention to the painting. Alex then started to listen in on Yang's closing details.
"Now, remember, you will return back to the world of the dead once the eclipse is over, so I recommend you hurry! You do not have much time!"
The crowd below nodded and cheered, splitting up and running out of the hall. Though, Clouse and Chen were the slowest of the bunch. "Sir, could I recommend we go for something else before we go chasing after that boy with ridiculous hair?" Clouse asked, his permanent scowl making it hard to interpret his meaning. Alex narrowed his eyes and listened in.
"I'm sure it can wait, Clouse. I want back at this boy for seducing my daughter!" Chen growled, mechanical legs growing out from the bottom of his wooden throne. Clouse sighed.
"I hope you know she's now seduced by a woman and basically dumped him," he informed his boss, "Now can we do my task first!? I have unfinished business that could benefit our cause greatl-!"
"No Clouse, I still want revenge on that boy!" Chen shouted, before he and his chair scurried out of the hall. Clouse followed, grumbling under his breath and leaving Alex hanging from one of the beams on the ceiling. 'Something else', huh? the master of psion thought, You're not going after Karma, are you? Oh, what am I doing questioning your logic!? Of course you are! You were hung up on getting your family to think like you, Clouse!
Alex dropped from the ceiling and teleported to the floor, still surprised by the fact that it didn't feel like his energy was being sapped at all. He started to wonder if he had gained his full power back. In order to truly figure find out, he crouched down and placed both hands on the smooth, cold floor and focused. Soon enough, the whole building began to rumble as if it were being moved. After discovering the rumbling, Alex removed his hands from his floor and grinned like a child who had just gotten a new toy.
"Oh god, I forgot how much more I could lift when at full power," he whispered, his voice shaking with excitement. He looked at his hands, which were surrounded by a light pink aura. Though, he let the aura disappear, and sighed. "Keep a hold of yourself, Alex. Let's not go power crazy," he mumbled to himself before rising to a stand. He then looked around for a moment before walking out of the exhibit and out into the front lobby, which seemed to be empty.
"Must be closed," he mumbled to himself before walking over to the attendant's desk and searching for any kind of info. He pushed pens and assorted papers off the desk before he found a calendar that was obviously in use. Curious as to what day this is, he followed the lines of X's before he came across an unmarked date, October 29th. A surprised look came to his face.
"Holy crap, I came back on my birthday," he blinked, before snickering. "Some birthday present. Let's see how old I am."
He moved a paper off the side of the desk calendar and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh. I'm 25. Guess we skipped my 24th, unless my death was my early present for that year...God, now I feel old and I really shouldn't."
Alex then pushed away from the desk and hummed, deciding to walk back into the exhibit. He figured that he'd wait a little bit before he dropped in and crashed Clouse's plans, but he couldn't help but worry that he'd be too late. Though, he had great faith in Karma and her friends. He knew they'd be able to hold off this horde of jerks. They'd easily be able to hold off Clouse.
Once he reentered the exhibit, he stared at the painting of Sensei Yang for a moment, questioning how exactly it had moved and talked earlier. Was it haunted? Was it an automaton? He couldn't tell, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. The master of psion's eyes then fell on the empty case below it, a golden tag reading The Yin Blade. Alex could almost bet it probably looked weird. It was how all of Ninjago's historic weapons looked.
Why do you want back at the ninja so bad? he asked the painting in his head, glaring at it. Did someone do something to you? Are you just jealous of something? Is one of them a relative? What would make you willingly bring all of us vile people back to life just for a few hours!? Perhaps you feed off of chaos?
Alex stared at it for a few moments before sighing and turning away from it. Perhaps I may never have an answer, but I hope they kick your ass, he thought to himself before looking up and freezing in place.
There at the opposite end of the exhibit stood Karma and Lilly, clad in their gi and giving the same exact shocked look Alex was giving. It was silent for several seconds as the duo stared back at him, shocked by the fact that he was actually standing here before them and breathing once again. Though, Karma broke the silence by shouting "You ass!"
She darted over to him immediately and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him and yelling, "You either fake your death or come back to life and don't tell me!? Had I known you did this I would have come here and kicked your ass sooner! What the hell are you doing here!?"
"Ah...well...it's a long story...but I promise I didn't fake my death! I'm not crappy like that!" Alex held up his hands, to which she stopped shaking him. Karma's expression remained angered for a moment before it softened and she sighed. Then, unexpectedly, she hugged him, causing the master of psion to freeze up.
"Whatever. It's just good to see you, especially after all I witnessed that day," Karma said, before releasing him. Alex nodded, though his face was becoming warm.
"Yeah...it's uh...nice not to be near-death right now," he replied, not really knowing what to say in the first place. Though they were soon interrupted by Lilly's glare.
"Wait, what's going on here!? I don't understand," she squinted, her hand hovering over the hilt of her katana. Karma immediately put her hands up.
"Woah, hold on! I understand I forgot to tell a piece of what happened at the Government Palace but chill for a moment!" the master of darkness pleaded her friend, before proceeding to tell her, "Look, Alex helped us defeat Clouse, and he's the one who kept Lloyd alive through the fight. Not to mention, he's the one who snapped me out of my destructive trance, and sort of helped me realize my uncle was a huge dingus."
"But I don't understand. He killed your mother, Karma. He killed Xavier! Why the hell would you suddenly ally with him!?" Lilly questioned. Alex cringed at the mention of Mrs. Lee's and Xavier's deaths.
"Yes, I did kill them, but that doesn't mean I don't regret it deeply," Alex spoke up, "Look...you can continue to hate me and everything if you'd like, if you'd think that'd help you, but just know I'm trying to better myself. You don't even have to acknowledge me, okay? You can act like I've never existed, but I'm still going to exist for others, alright? I'm going to be honest, I'm not going to sit here and blame my brain damage for this, because I know I was flawed at the same time, and if I'm going to say anything about the past...all I'm going to say is that I'm sorry."
Lilly blinked and was silent for a moment before removing her hand from the katana's hilt but continuing to glare. "Fine. I'll give you a chance, but if you even do so much as make one misstep I will NOT hesitate to cut you down, you hear me!?" she told him, to which Alex nodded.
"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied. Lilly then nodded.
"Good. Now...can you tell me what the hell brought you back and what happened to the other statues!?" she asked. Alex then looked back at the painting of Sensei Yang.
"I believe it was that guy," he said, pointing at the painting, "He's the one who told us what's all happening and what his plan is."
"Sensei Yang?" Karma and Lilly asked in unison. Alex nodded.
"Yeah, he was telling us that tonight we could settle our debts against you guys and basically kill all of you," he went on, "I think he even named off all of you to them so they'd know who to go after...but oddly enough I didn't hear him mention that ghostly guy with you guys, Cole. He...uh...he didn't die at the Palace..did he?"
Karma shook her head. "No, but he disappeared for some odd reason earlier and none of us have been able to find him. His sister's worried sick," she told him, "I came back here to both retrieve my phone and try to find Cole, but instead we ran into you and found out about this."
"Oh...well...I'm sorry if I'm interrupting that," Alex apologized, to which Karma gave a confused look.
"Dude, what are you apologizing for? You're not interrupting anything. In fact, you're pretty helpful for filling us in on the crap Yang's pulling," she replied.
"Hey, I don't mean to butt in, but I have a sort of theory," Lilly broke in, "Considering he said that Yang never mentioned Cole...you don't think Cole's with him, don't you? Like, maybe he's trapped him."
"That's possible, and Yang could have lead him here, considering that Cole's vehicle is gone," Karma added, before smiling, "God, I feel smart. We figured that out pretty quickly, huh? Maybe all this intelligence is coming from the fact that I'm trilingual."
"I don't think now's the time to brag about your-" Lilly began to say, but Alex interrupted her.
"Sou desu ka?" he replied, to which Karma froze for a moment.
"What the hell!? You told me you couldn't speak Japanese!" she said in a shout, turning around to face him. Alex only snickered.
"Ty simpatichnaya, isklyuchitel'no kak tol'ko vy tam yest' obezumevshiy," he went on, now speaking in his native language.
"What are you saying!?" Karma questioned, looking a bit frustrated. The master of psion only went on.
"Je pense que tu es intelligent dans tous les cas de comment de nombreux tu parles," he said, to which the master of darkness huffed.
"Okay, I get it, you're quadlingual...show off," she mumbled, though Lilly gave a surprised look.
"Actually that last sentence was a compliment...and that's the first compliment I've ever heard come out of his mouth," she told Karma. The master of darkness raised an eyebrow. She had to admit, she had forgotten that her best friend could speak French.
"Basically, he said 'I think you're smart regardless of how many languages you speak'," Lilly translated. The master of psion scratched his head nervously.
"I'm sorry if I conjugated anything wrong or whatever. I never did really finish my French class in my high school days," he apologized.
"It's alright. I could understand what you were trying to say," Lilly nodded, before Karma punched Alex in the arm.
"If you were gonna compliment me you didn't need to say it in another language," she mumbled, before Lilly sighed.
"Well, anyways, we should go look for Cole and warn the others about this as soon as we can," she said, before giving a sympathetic look at Karma, "I'm sorry we're putting off the time you wanted to spend with your father and uncle."
"It's alright...I'd rather get this over with first to be honest, especially since it looks like Clouse is running about out there too," Karma replied, placing her phone in a pouch connected to a second belt beneath her first cloth one. She didn't look thrilled about the idea that she'd have to fight her uncle again, but she maintained a sort of melancholic smile. "But anyways, do you want to come along with us, Alex? You can help out."
The master of psion wanted to say yes, but he knew that if he even dared to look at her friends he would end up with a blade in his face and recollections of things he will forever be guilty for. Not to mention, he had an idea of Clouse's plans, and something was telling him to stop it in its tracks. He decided to shake his head, declining her offer. "I'm sorry, but maybe later. There's...something I need to do first. I forgot to say thank you to someone for something they did for me."
Karma nodded in understanding. "That's alright. Go ahead. Maybe we can group up later," she smiled, "See you later then."
"Right," Alex said, before the duo began to walk out of the room. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Oh, and Karma?"
"Yeah?" she replied, turning around.
"You two be careful out there, alright? I have a feeling the magic the eclipse emits may be strengthening those who are coming for you...a-and I don't want to see you guys get hurt, alright?" Alex told her, "Just don't do anything stupid!"
The master of darkness smiled and nodded. "Same to you. But as for those baddies? They're nothing we can't handle. There's a reason why they're defeated after all!"
Alex smiled and watched them walk out of the exhibit. Though, he couldn't help but feel nervous about what could happen in the next couple hours. He was afraid of what the enemies were scheming, and what the magic-users would do. He was mostly afraid of what Nadakhan and Clouse were going to do.
"Well...I may have a few hours...but that doesn't mean I can't assist the ninja," he mumbled to himself before tightening the bandages around his arms and hands. He then turned towards the painting of Yang, glaring at it. "You told me to settle my debts tonight, right?" he asked it, knowing he would never get an answer. He then formed his hands into the sign that would allow him to teleport.
"Well, lucky for you, I have many."
A/N: Remember when I said I'd end this at five volumes?
I lied...but count this as a short, okay? Or a special. Kinda like the actual episode.
I am, for sure, not making another volume after this though...just sayin.