Heya guys! I tried to rewrite this scene from that one episode, but adding one of my favorite characters from Undertale and (attempting) to add a Harley Quinn/Joker flashback scene feel to this. I don't think it worked out. But I tried. :P
Inspired By These Amazing Songs-
Gangsta (Harley Quinn & Joker Flashback Version)-Kehlani
Dark Darker Yet Monster-SharaX
An eerily cold breeze fluttered through the dark confines of the cavern, which was enclosed in a grey bubble. Beneath Nya's bare and bruised feet, there was cold earth. A few feet in front of her, she could see the dark purple of the dark liquid in the pit. She stood on the edge of the cliff, hands restrained together. Her dark, black hair tangled in knots, encased in dirt. In the low-level light, her skin looked almost white if it weren't for the bits of dirt that stubbornly clung to her skin. She was covered in tattered red rags that had once been her dress.
Then, she felt it: the unmistakeable presence of Lord Garmadon beside her. His shadow swept over her like an icy blanket, sending shivers all over her skin. His aura was strange enough to make her skin crawl. The dark red eyes staring down on her, observing her with a solemn gaze. She curled her fists tighter, nails biting into her palm.
"Beautiful, is it not?" He asked her, stepping up next to her and placing one of his four hands on her shoulder. She bit her lip and willed herself to keep her mouth shut as rage in her veins swelled to a new level unfamiliar to her.
She didn't answer him. When he noticed this, he merely chuckled, and said: "You will see soon. Do you know what it is?"
For some reason, she refused to answer him. Or she couldn't, simply because she didn't know what it was.
"Dark matter in its purest form. Evil at the base of its roots. Evil itself. That is what this liquid is." He turned to her, his eyes zeroing in on her rather uncomfortably. "Surely you must be bursting with questions."
Once again, her mouth remained shut.
"Ah. I see." Garmadon turned back to the lake of darkness surrounding them. Nya's instincts wanted to run as far away as possible from this place as possible. But the logical side of her told her otherwise; after all, she was weak, hungry, and malnourished. There was no way she could fight against Garmadon like this.
As if she had a chance before. And yet her mouth still twitched with questions.
He noticed that, too.
"I know you have questions, dear. Please, ask away."
"What...what does it do?"
"It can be used for several purposes. One can use it to turn a man's heart and soul against every value it held close to it before. It's incredibly powerful in that way. The other uses do not even come close to that kind of power." He tilted his head a bit. "It can destroy anything considered good in the deepest parts of oneself. But, not only can it destroy, it can cleanse too, as ironic as that is. Used in the correct way, dark matter can be altered to work in the complete opposite way. Instead of turning a good man's heart dark, it can transform a dark man's heart good again."
Nya's brow furrowed in thought. What did he mean by 'again'? Was he talking about himself? Thinking about using the dark matter to cure him? Nya bit her lip harder, shoulders tensing.
"Not only can it be used to transform a soul completely, it can be used to trap a soul. Scatter it, even." Garmadon seemed completely lost in thought. "It is rare, but it has happened once or twice."
She closed her eyes. No matter how repulsed she felt, she was still completely intrigued. How powerful did something need to be to scatter a soul? The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
"Where does it send the scattered souls?" She asked, trying not sound very curious.
"Across a realm unknown to us. A place lost within time and space themselves. A place that's nowhere yet everywhere, all at once. We call it the Void."
"Then why is it called the Void? Earlier you hinted someone was scattered across it, which means that it's not completely empty."
"The people who drown in the Void become the Void. Their souls contribute to its emptiness." He sighed, somewhat dreamily. "The Void itself is...is a paradox, to best describe it."
She went silent for a minute. He turned around to her.
"I know you want to understand further."
"Dark matter is...er, can be a portal, then. To the Void."
"I suppose that's one way to put it. Now, Nya, let me ask you something. Did you know you could experience the Void firsthand, and without getting trapped in its emptiness?"
No. Hold on. Red flag. She needed to get her head on straight here. He was messing with her head, trying to get her to join him. She let out a small sigh, then forced her thoughts into a logical manner.
"I...didn't." She finally said.
"Well, today's your lucky day. You're going to be our guinea pig."
That statement alone was enough to make her hurl herself at him, trying to catch him off guard. Of course, he sidestepped her, and he grabbed her by the neck, then pushed her out just far enough to make her lean over the seemingly infinite pool of dark matter.
"Red isn't your color, dear. I think it's time to try a darker shade."
And with that, he pushed her in. Her hands still bound together, all she could do was take a breath of air and hold it while she plunged into the icy depths of the darkness.
...
It was too warm when she hit the surface. The plunge reminded her of when she dipped her head underneath the water in a hot tub, only fifty times hotter. Her skin crawled with discomfort as she flailed uselessly in the overwhelming darkness. Then, she felt as if someone were ripping her entire being in half. Despite the darkness of the dark matter, yellow spots began to take over her vision.
After that, there was a sensation of white. White everywhere. It was growing brighter, and brighter, until-
-it was replaced by total black. Then, there was grey.
She was floating amidst the grey. She felt completely weightless as she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.
No. She couldn't be dead. Right...?
"Breathe."
It came so suddenly that it scared her out of her wits. She whirled around with a small yelp to see a taller man behind her.
But he...wasn't a...man. If her were a man, he would have too bright a shade of white for skin.
Nope, not a man. This was...a skeleton man?
"Do not fear, miss. I know my appearance is rather intimidating, but I have no intention of harming you." He smiled. Nya noticed that there were two cracks on his..skull...that began from each of his...eye sockets..one trailed up to his cranium, and the other went down to his jaw, which seemed to be twisted into a smile of sorts. He was wearing black pants, smooth black shoes, a dark grey turtleneck sweater, and wore glasses on his...bone nose? What the actual fuck?
"Who...are you?" She managed to spit out.
"I am WingDings Gaster, W.D. Gaster for short. You may call me Gaster. I'm a skeleton. It's nice to meet you. What's your name?" He offered his hand, which Nya noticed had a large, perfect hole in it. She hesitantly held out her hand, then shook his.
"I'm Nya Smith." She replied. "What...is this place?"
"We're in the Void, currently. The place you and that...man were discussing on the surface."
"Really?" She asked.
He nodded. "Yes."
Her brow furrowed in concentration. The Void? Did that mean Garmadon had...scattered her soul? Was Gaster the man who was scattered that garmadon had mentioned before.
"What did he do? What happened?" She asked.
Patiently, he explained: "He pushed you into the pool of 'dark matter', er, I think that's what humans called it. Anyway, you fell, and the dark matter pushed your soul into the Void while your physical form remained on the surface."
"So what does that mean?"
"You and I are lost in the Void. Our physical bodies are mindless beings wandering out in the world."
What?! No, that couldn't be it. But it would explain a lot. So she went with it.
"Okay. So, um...how...how could we escape?"
"If someone rids your physical being of the dark matter and cleanses you completely of it, then you can return to your physical form."
Okay. How would she do that? If she couldn't escape here, then that meant she'd have to depend on the ninja to return her back to normal. What if they never found out what happened? Or if they couldn't defeat Garmadon? She violently shook those thoughts to the side. Right now, she needed to focus on the present. Mr. Gaster.
"What about you?" She asked, not even bothering to hide the curiosity leaking into her voice.
"I have no hope. Not only was my soul scattered, it was shattered as well. There is no more hope for me."
"There's always hope!" Nya retorted, giving him a sad look. Surely, there has to be some way to get you back to your physical form-"
"There is not. Trust me when I say that I and my family have tried. Several hundred times, but all to no avail."
A pang of sorrow stabbed her heart. Well, at least the metaphorical one. "I'm sorry about that."
He waved it off. "It is fine. I've grown quite used to it."
She frowned. "Wait. How long have you been lost in here?"
"I've lost count, tibia honest, but...a few years, at least."
Nya chuckled lightly at the bone pun, at the same time a little surprised. At least the guy could still pun after being stuck down here for such a long time.
"Are there any others down here?" She asked.
"Not usually. Occasionally, a lost soul will enter, but they always manage to get back to their physical form somehow. You're the first in a very long time."
She bit her lip, but couldn't think of anything to say.
"Come, Miss Nya. I feel your stay will be a bit longer than the others. I'll show you how the Void is."
It was a long time, it felt like.
...
Sleep was not a thing in the Void, apparently. Nya didn't feel tired, or...anything physical, really. She could still feel emotions, but her being was...numb. She learned about souls and how they worked from Gaster, and Nya had a hard time wrapping her head around it, but eventually, everything finally fell into place. Why Kai could control fire, for example. When Nya told Gaster a bit about her brother, he said his soul's primary trait is most likely bravery, which would result in Kai having an orange soul. Gaster also told her that there were other traits, too. Dark blue for integrity, light blue for patience, red for determination, purple for perseverance, yellow for justice, green for kindness, and orange for bravery. Nya eventually began wondering what her soul's main trait would be.
She asked Gaster about it one day.
"I can show you, if you like. But be warned, because showing your soul to another person can be...invasive. Souls are private things. Think of it like...hm...wearing an outfit you don't feel comfortable in front of a crowd. That's what it would feel like if you showed your soul to the wrong person. I won't look at it. But, be warned, because everything that you're about to experience is normal for a monster battle. They're called encounters. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
Suddenly, the entire Void went black, and Nya's red t-shirt and dark leggings turned to black and white, and everything around them turned black. Gaster turned, and then a small, cartoony looking heart sprung out from Nya's chest.
It was...strange, to say the least.
"Everyone's soul has a primary trait, which shows in the form of its specified color, which appears on the soul as a color. That trait is one of the seven that I told you about. Determination, perseverance, justice, bravery, integrity, kindness, and patience."
Nya smiled at the little heart. It was a deep red. What would that be? Determination? Well, it would make sense, considering how...determined she could get at times.
"Do you see it?" Gaster asked, his voice shaking her out of her thoughts.
"Yes. I do." She laughed a little bit. "This is so cool!"
She heard him chuckle, and she gently poked the soul. It didn't respond to her touch, but it didn't feel like anything Nya could think of. Maybe glass? Even that was a bit of a stretch. The soul in front of her-her soul, the culmination of her-gently bobbed up and down, as if it were anticipating something. Nya giggled, and poked it again, but this time, it fluttered back to her chest, and the color of the Void returned.
"I'm sorry that was so abrupt, but I feel a...disturbance." Gaster frowned, then closed his eye sockets. Nya felt it, too. It was tugging at her soul, pulling her seemingly deeper into the Void. Gaster opened his eyes, then glanced at her sadly. "It appears that your time in the Void is over. Your physical form has been cleansed."
"W-what?! How?!" She sputtered.
"I'm not sure, but you will find out. Go, Miss Nya. Let go. If you ever need help, or an extra hand," he summoned a few hands, and they waved at Nya, "then you know where to find me."
There were hundreds of things she wanted to spit out, but her mouth was shut tight in shocked silence. She felt herself scatter again, then she was sucked out of the greyness of the Void, and jerked back into the real world, where her physical was lying, unconscious. The entire city of Ninjago was in ruins, and the ninja were scattered about on the ground. She was pushed into her physical being, and then...
...there was black for what seemed like an eternity.
Then, her eyes slowly opened, and her surroundings slowly came into focus. She was sprawled out on the ground, numb all over. Slowly, she sat up, propping herself on her hands. Confusion settled in. What happened? Was Gaster real? What did her physical form do while her soul was gone?
Her thoughts were interrupted by her name being yelled from two blurs racing towards her, one blue and the other red. A small smile crossed her face as she realized the blurs were two of her beloved ninja. They both embraced her before she could utter a word to them.
"Nya!" They cried. She laughed and hugged them back. Why were they so relieved? Her brow furrowed in thought, trying to remember what the hell that dark matter did to her physical form. What did Gaster say about it? Her physical form would be a thoughtless being without her soul? It was something along the lines of that.
"Kai?" She asked, her voice soft.
"Yeah, sis? Are you okay now?" His voice reflected worry and concern, his brown eyes scanning her for any sign of injury or damage.
"Now? What...what happened?" She stuttered, hand on her forehead. Jay took her hand in his, rubbing her knuckles.
"Garmadon and the Stone Army kidnapped you, and then you went missing for a while, and when we found you again, you..." he bit his lip, unsure of how to tell her, "you...weren't yourself."
"What? How do you mean?" She asked, terror building up in her chest.
"You were...against us." Jay said quietly, pulling her into his lap, where he pressed gentle, chaste kisses on her cheek, tightening his hand around hers. "It wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. Okay?"
"Did I hurt you guys?" She whispered as Jay tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.
"No." Kai said. "C'mon sis, let's go find the others. Don't worry about any of that, okay?"
She nodded, then stood with Jay to find Lloyd rushing over to something. Cole and Zane were standing a few feet away, talking amongst themselves when they spotted her.
"Nya! You're back!" Cole said, hugging her. She returned the hug, and gave Zane a hug back.
"Yep. I'm back." She smiled, remembering that a certain lost soul would see to it that she would stay. And she would try to find a way to help him.
So what do you think? Let me know! Have a great day/night! :) Thanks for dropping by!