A/N: Trolololol *dodges thrown frying pan*whoopsie! Anddd one year later, we have the first proper chapter of A.W.W… Featuring; Morro, Cole & Wu et al. (2015), plus some additional Kai epic-ness, because I am Kai trash.
Seriously. Trash.
Reviews are much loved and appreciated, but not anticipated, because damnnn this author has gotta work on her updating frequency and stop letting the readers down before she can be asking for anything ;-)
As always, please observe the T rating, kindly brought to you by Morro's potty-mouth.
All is still for a minute as Morro floats within the water, staring at this new world, aware of nothing other than the cool wind air within his lungs and the warm, bright sunlight on his skin.
Water runs over his outspread hands; glassy and soft and cleansing, yet startling in clarity. Almost as if it were accepting him; cementing him in this new world. Not burningchokingbleedingkilling like it should.
Yesterday has ended.
"How?" he breathes, and that is when the first image hits.
Smoke and ash and cries and tears stain the air. Somewhere, village houses still burn. Somewhere else, it is starting to rain. Here, at the summit of a hill overlooking the broken village, the air is cold and damp and the cries of dying men still ring.
In the wake of destruction created by his Fallen student, Sensei Wu crumbles to his knees, then yells to a God no one believes in anymore. "You make sure he gets his mind BACK and STOPS this SLAUGHTER! That he becomes the PROTECTOR he was always meant to be!"
The wind screams back wordlessly.
Upon the summit grasses, Wu sobs. Breaks. Bleeds. Shivers. Says quietly; "Please, bring back my child." (Because Garmadon Fell ten years ago, and all Morro has proven today is that the pain of betrayal never lessens.)
But the smoke keeps rising and the sounds of battle continue to ring even when the rain finally begins to fall.
And then it stops, as abruptly as it had all started, leaving Morro staring at the endless horizon in horror.
Silence stares back.
"What?" he whispers, feeling oddly vulnerable and exposed, while wondering if this is how it feels to be possessed… or if that is something else entirely. "Sensei?"
(PleaseWHEREareyouINEEDyo-)
The world leaves again.
Lloyd looks down at his necrosed fingertips - the dead pieces of a body which is no longer truly his- and tries so hard to stop crying. The wind-demon within him laughs, because that's right boy, nobody is coming for you anyway and you're MINE NOW, so just givegivegive in and let me USE you to destroy all you once protected!
Over and over and over and over again.
There are moments when Lloyd can almost see him; whatever he truly is. Sometimes, he looks like a tumour, a spider, a cancer with roots and roots and legs and legs and claws everywhere in Lloyd's mind and he is not (CAN not be) human. The urge to expel the parasite leaves Lloyd constantly on the verge of vomiting and screaming, but somehow never close enough to ever get release.
But it's more than a parasite. So, so, so much more.
It is a deep, deep greed for power and a raw, desperate ache for revenge.
But beneath that, it is grief. It is fear and vulnerability and the shame of exposure and griefgriefgrief (so much grief; Lloyd doesn't understand how one creature can hold such pain).
(Raw throat and bloodshot-bruised eyes and fingernails-in-skin and GODS IF I COULD STOP.)
Who are you mourning for? Lloyd asks it one night.
There is no answer, so he goes back to staring at his necrosed fingertips and wondering if Kai is still looking for him somewhere.
… And it ends.
Don't you see? Yesterday will never end.
In the water, Morro feels the hairs on the back of his neck rise, and the foreign sensation of physical fear in a physical body only increases the sense of exposure, of vulnerability, of shame and [traitor] which suddenly claws into him… but he can't feel that, can't be that, not then, not now, not EVER. "The FUCK do you want with me?"
Silence follows his words, and the ocean gently laps at his fingertips.
The strangeness of the scene is dizzying.
"Show YOURSELF!" he screams again, voice rasping and hands swiping (piercing, ripping) the water. "LLOYD! I know you're doing this. Your tricks are SHIT, brat!"
The blade or the boy?
The blade or the boy?
Later, Kai will look back on this moment, and remember (with disappointment, with anger, with regret) how close he had been to seizing the blade and leaving Lloyd behind to burn.
But now, trapped in a volcano which could qualify as the earthly variant of hell, Kai abandons the blade and spins across the lava to reach Lloyd.
"What about the Fang-Blade? You won't ever become the Green Ninja!" Lloyd cries uncertainly, eyes wide and pupils darkened with fear.
"To hell with that," Kai mutters. The title would be worthless if he had to murder someone to obtain it, and right now, Honour and Survival are calling for a true Master of Fire, not some overgrown Green Ninja wannabe. Distractedly looking for an escape route, Kai affirms, "You're more important!"
Lava immediately erupts around their precarious island, causing waves and waves of heat and smoke to implode throughout the volcanic chamber. Kai grabs Lloyd's shoulders, desperately trying to shield the small boy from the brute of the blast, but the next explosion makes the air impossible to breathe and the remaining space becomes too small to initiate Spinjitzu. Gods, it is all his fault. Lloyd shouldn't be caught in this nightmare.
Kai wonders how fire-proof trainee Fire-Masters are.
Probably not very.
Still, if he jumps backward through the wall of lava, Lloyd will be protected from the fire and Kai should have enough time to flip the kid to safety before all else goes up in flames.
("I knew when I had to make a choice…")
Wrapping himself tighter around Lloyd, Kai backs up to the edge of the island. "Close your eyes!" he instructs, staring at the flames while his heart flutters. Don't-think-don't-THINK-about-the-PAINthiswillbring…"We'll use Spinjitzu to get through the fire. The exit is right behind us, so run for it as soon as you land! Don't look back until you've found your dad!"…there-is-no-time.
No other way.
"Okay!" Lloyd calls back, and Kai double-checks that the kid's eyes are actually closed; distractedly relieved that Lloyd has not yet outgrown the naïve trust which comes with childhood.
"Now!" not giving himself time to back out in fear, Kai leaps for the fire, praying that he will be enough to get Lloyd to safety before the flames claim him.
Just before he hits the fire, everything is abruptly overtaken by darkness-
- and an image of the child in his arms growing up to wield all four elements and face armies of evil.
[Lloyd will become the Green Ninja]
Kai does not see the molten flames which spread from his fingers and shield them from the fire; he does not hear Lloyd's excited cheer as they launch through layers of volcanic ash and smoke, and he will never know that Wu smiled and Garmadon cried and Cole rushed forward to steady him as they landed on the Bounty.
Instead, on the verge of consciousness, Kai silently promises that Ninjago's Saviour will never face the fight alone.
The world rights itself again, and Morro shakes with fury at the perceived mockery. "Is it YOU, Kai? Playing games with me?" a small wavelet laps over his head, causing Morro to splutter and curse before spitting seawater and sarcasm. "Oh, look at you, huh? The brave Master of Fire achieved what Morro-the-Failure could not! Acceptance that another was destined to become the Green Ninja!" Another wave. More spitting. "Scum! I am more powerful than you could EVER be! I POSSESSED your Green Ninja!"
Again, the ocean is oddly quiet and peaceful after his words.
"That's right; YOURGreen Ninja- and that detail did NOT escape my notice, I may add- belonged TO ME! How does THAT make you feel, Kai?"
(Is there something wrong with someone who can't stand the silence anymore?)
"He spent a lot of time thinking about you. Waiting for you to rescue him. But you fucking COULDN'T. YOU WERE NOT ENOUGH, KAI. So, STOP with this shitty CHARADE!"
…The judgment of this world will drive him into insanity.
Silence rings, and the ocean drags reality away again.
By the time they've figured it out, the echoes of the bell have faded and it's already too late.
"Cole…"
The world has gone strangely cold, and even without Jay's warning tone, Cole would have identified the problem instinctively. They were sprinting just seconds ago, yet he has no sweat or heat from the exertion.
"You're a… a..."
Also, his body is strangely silent. No sounds come from his feet on the grass, his weapons placed loosely at his belt, or even his hair as it gently scrapes the collar of his gi.
He can't even hear himself breathe. Can't hear his heart race like it should.
"…You didn't make it out of the Temple in time…"
He feels weightless.
"Yeah… Cole… you're a … a ghost!"
Not trusting himself to look at his brothers, Cole glances to the Temple steps. A body (his body-) lies sprawled in the doorway at the top; black hair and gi contrasting painfully with the cold white of the tiles. Its expression is determined, but the eyes are chillingly vacant.
He can actually see the words in their dark finality.
Cole Brookstone is dead.
"No," he mumbles in disbelief. For a second, no sound comes out, and he panics. "No!" The second cry is choked and too loud. Beside him, Jay jumps, before placing a hand on Cole's shoulder in an expression of support.
It slips through.
Dead.
What happens next? How can he lead or protect when he can't feel anything? How can this not burden the team? Their goal? Their security?
(Never feel the sun again, never touch again, never breathe again).
He's dead weight; in more ways than one.
"Take the scroll," he murmurs quietly to no-one in particular, still struggling to believe this is real.
Jay immediately reaches forward, but Kai's clearly caught his train of thought, and stops the Master of Lightening with a growl. "No. He's not getting out that easily,"
So even in death, the Master of Contrary is intent on negating every little detail. Cole hopes the glare is evident on his face as he intones; "Have a little respect for the dead. Don't argue,"
He isn't at all surprised when Kai interprets the warning tone as permission to escalate matters. "Stop being a big damn hero, and open the scroll already!"
Cole wonders somewhat sardonically if that counts as desecration. "Shut up, Kai."
"You shut up with the martyred melodrama!"
"Martyred melodrama?!" Cole echoes in disbelief. "Firstly, that doesn't even make sense, and secondly, Kai, I'm DEAD!"
An accusatory red-gloved finger stabs in his direction. It's probably meant to look dominant, but you can't really threaten someone who's already dead. "We're still a team! That means you still have a job to do!"
Before Cole can form a retort, the other half of his treasonous team step in with their own irrelevant opinions. "What he said!" Jay exclaims unhelpfully, jerking a thumb in Kai's direction. "You don't get dead-days in this profession! The bad guys won't stop with the evil just because you're a ghost!"
Zane's wording is far more eloquent, but differs not from Jay's in sentiment. "It goes without saying that you'd never leave any of us behind if the situation was reversed. We stand by your side until the end. And then remain there for whatever comes after."
Cole rolls his eyes, praying there are no other spirits floating around the Temple and witnessing this rubbish. It would do no good if the enemy learned that Ninjago's protectors were actually Big Balls of Feelings deep down- interrogations alone would become a nightmare.
(Not that he doesn't appreciate it, mind you.)
And silence, again.
Againagainagain.
The suggestion of possession suddenly holds far more weight after that last image, and Morro shivers again, but this time, the movement isn't of fear.
No one controls him. No one.
The storm within has built to breaking point, and Morro angrily (desperately) raises a hand heavenward, needing to feel the power and control of dark hurricanes and wordless howling to rid this monster from his mind. "Come ON!"
All remains still.
What?
His powers.
They can't be-
gone?
While the sun crosses the sky and begins to fade on the horizon, Morro desperately tries again and again and again to summon even the smallest gust of wind, but every attempt fails. By the time dusk has swept over the ocean, reality is unavoidable. The gifts which Wu once rescued him for are gone, leaving him as disgustingly worthless as the rest of humanity.
["You're all my prized pupils!"
"Take my hand, Morro!"]
(Gods, gods, gods)
… Wu won't care anymore.
No more images appear, and Morro spends the next hour drifting aimlessly, staring at the stars overhead and wondering why Death couldn't have just fucking kept him.
It's approaching midnight when Morro washes up on a stony beach and dimly realizes that the next few days could be a bit problematic, because …well… human beings are generally more socially acceptable when they have clothes.
It's pathetic how much of an issue this is going to be.
He should have clicked sooner, but in all fairness, clothing is never high on any ghost's priority list, and he still isn't used to feeling for objects all the time anyway.
After standing in the waist-high water and allowing himself a moment of hesitation- cut short when the cold night air assaults his bare chest unpleasantly- Morro decides that he should probably figure out how… extensive…the issue is. Slowly, awkwardly, he glances down further, and exhales in relief at the discovery of a pair ofwetsuit pants.
Hang on.
What the actual fuck. Who gets resurrected in swimwear?
…Where is his armour?
He nearly starts cursing again for the hell of it, but a rattle and flash abruptly draw his attention to the beach. Silently slipping back into the dark water, he edges closer, gradually making out several figures surrounding a bonfire, and as the distance narrows, their voices become audible.
Recognisable.
The smart-ass in red, the walking computer in white, the clown in blue and the broody ghost in murky black-green. What a colourful bunch.
Clearly, fate isn't yet done with their conflict. Oh, this is too perfect.
Crouching by the rocks on the shore line, Morro watches the Master of Lightening stand and raise a glass in the direction of the fire, his tone taking on a gleeful edge.
"…On this fine evening, exactly one year after Morro's defeat, I just want to thank the man who made our success possible. Morro himself." a round of laughter from the other three rings after his words, and concealed in darkness, Morro seethes.
They're mocking him. They think he's dead, and they're mocking him.
"Jay…" a girl Morro didn't notice before sits beside the Master of Lightening. At his words, she laughs merrily and places a hand on his arm. "…It isn't nice to joke about the dead. Besides, Morro was Sensei's first student!"
There's something incredibly familiar about her, and Morro inches forward, eyes squinting to make her out better against the fire's glare. As he watches, she absent-mindedly summons something in her hands and sprinkles it at the fire's edge. Steam immediately rises from the site with a gentle hiss.
She's the Master of Water.
He nearly snaps right there and then, and if he still had his powers she would have already been dead. As it is, she remains the one person Morro would do anything to kill. This is the girl who ruined everything with her eleventh hour water powers. If it hadn't been for her, Ninjago's history would have been re-written entirely.
He stalks closer to the fire.
Back by the firelight and completely unaware of the threat lurking only meters away, Jay smiles at the Master of Water's little display before continuing with the mockery, "Light cannot shine without darkness, and your attempts at evil were very dark indeed, Morro. But in the end, like all our other enemies, you were easily defeated. All you really achieved was a substantial increase in our fame… not to mention our pay-checks!"
The itch to destroy them all becomes overwhelming; a possession all of its own, and one which Morro is more than happy to obey.
[Isn't there something wrong with someone who perceives slavery to self as true freedom?]
How dare they.
How can they mock and judge and crow when they've never seen, never known, never understood the utter shit which led him down this path?
Have any of them ever been truly unloved? Hungry? Cold? Hopeless?
(the cold will break you faster than anything else)
DamnitALLtoHELL.
"So, I do hope you're having a lovely time in whatever afterlife is unlucky enough to have you… We certainly don't miss you over here." The speech concludes with a mock toast in the direction of the fire. "Here's to you, Morro. Or- as it's nearly midnight- should I say, here's to-morrow. Hehe." There's another round of laughter, and Morro decides that since the speech is over, it's only good etiquette to reply.
"Well, in short, brats…" he sneers, stalking into the firelight and darkly delighting at their reactions. "…not dead."
The laughter abruptly drops to silence, and Jay's oh hell no look informs the rest of the horrified team that this is not part of the act.
The Master of Ice reacts first by giving the ninja in blue an accusatory frown. "Jay, what have you done?" But his reluctance to address Morro directly reveals that even he isn't over the shock.
Jay's glass drops, shattering on the stones, and he edges away hurriedly. "Don't blame me, Zane! I thought a ghost could only be summoned from a camp-fire in the movies!"
"Current evidence is suggestive of the contrary,"
"I wasn't to know! You should've stopped me, brainiac!"
Their bickering is cut short by the ghostly Master of Earth, who rises and gives Morro a heated scowl. "Well this isn't awkward at all," he sneers, folding his arms in a characteristic stance of disapproval. "How come you get to be physical again?"
"Beats me, buddy." Morro snaps, sensing this would already be a fistfight if Cole wasn't intangible. These ninja always did take things too personally, but it's not like Morro's responsible for events at Yang's Temple. The ninja fucked that one up all by themselves. "Why don't you go for a swim?"
Before Cole can process that comment and respond suitably, Kai launches to his feet and throws his own unnecessary two-cents into the brewing storm. "So after everything you've done, Fate's given us a second chance to send you to the grave." Even in the faint moonlight, violent intent is clear in the Master of Fire's chilling gaze. "That's excellent."
"Yanno, I don't see Greenie anywhere," Morro shoots back with a cruel smirk. "Lose your toy-boy again, Kai?"
There's a collective gasp from the still-dazed spectators as the crudity registers.
Kai makes no comment, just neatly sidesteps the fire and suddenly slams a fist into Morro's sternum. Morro realises at the last second that baiting the other man may not have been the wisest course of action; he's forgotten how fast the damn firecracker can move.
Before the pain registers, Morro grips Kai's neck and flings him downward, but the Fire Master digs a hand into his shoulder at the last moment which drags him over as well. They hit the ground together, where it quickly becomes apparent that despite his position beneath Morro, Kai has the advantage. Morro takes several fists to the jaw before Kai flips them over, kicking up enough sand and drift wood to make it impossible to track every limb. Morro somehow manages to land an elbow strike, causing a rib to crack audibly, but Kai simultaneously delivers a kick to the back of his head, leaving Morro staring at stars.
"STOP!" A new pair of footsteps storms across the shore, and even with pain imploding throughout his skull, Morro recognises Sensei's voice. "I can't leave you lot alone for a minute. Who's squabbling this time?"
With clear reluctance, Kai rolls off Morro and their teacher notes the scene disapprovingly, "I see Kai, and…" suddenly Sensei becomes soft and unsure. "… Morro?"
"Surprise, Sensei." Morro spits shakily from the sand, and then everything goes very black.
A/N: Hahaha… swimwear. Don't take yourself so seriously, Morro! In my defence, he wouldn't have swum so well in his normal gear … amiright?
Despite the insinuations, there is no Lloyd/Kai in this fic (soz, but Kai is mine)… Morro's just a weee bit jealous of the ninja fam. And, yanno, deranged.
