Special thanks to HarmonicPhantom for being (assumably) the first reader and reviewer. I really appreciate it. So, I made sure to get the next chapter out just for you!
"I appreciate the offer, but you didn't really have to come." Lloyd said. "This is just a break in, nothing that the great green ninja can't handle."
"I know, but I cannot permit you to go by yourself. What if something happened?"
"Relax Zane, it's just your normal everyday bad guy. We'll bag him, turn him in the authority, return what he stole, and then go."
Lloyd and Zane walked up the stairs leading to the museum. They reached the door and were greeted by two security guards standing behind a line of caution tape.
"Well, lookie here! The Green Ninja! I feel safer already." One of the guards stated.
"I got your call, there is a break in?" Lloyd asked flipping over the caution tape, followed by Zane.
"Eh, the night watchman over there had quite a scare, doesn't remember a thing." The second guard said, pointing to a watchman huddled on a bench. "Hasn't been too helpful, maybe you'll have better luck."
"Thanks," Lloyd said, already starting to walk over the watchman. "I, and Zane are going to check it out."
Lloyd approached the watchman, followed by Zane. The watchman kept looking down, almost as if he was reliving the moment over and over again.
"So… You were on guard when it happened?" Lloyd prompted.
The watchman still breathed deeply in and out, ignoring the question totally.
"Can you show us what was stolen?" Zane asked.
The watchman continued panting, and Lloyd moved in closer, putting his hand on the man to console the poor guy.
The man looked into Lloyd's eye. "I'm here to help you," Lloyd said, giving him a friendly smile.
All of a sudden, the man tensed, his gaze hardening. He dropped the teacup that was once in his hand, and grabbed Lloyd's arm, bolting down the hallway. Lloyd was dragged down the hallway, with Zane trailing after him.
"Hey!" One of the guards said. "The bathroom's the other way!"
The watchman ran into a room at the end of the hallway, slamming the doors shut. Zane slid in just in time before the doors were closed. The watchman locked the doors before starting to speak.
"I was knocked out. When I came too, I found that the only thing that was stolen was something wasn't even on display. Just a worthless, old armored breastplate they call and Allied Armor of Azure." The watchman said, gesturing to a case that strewn to the side, half open. Zane bent down and looked at the crate, inspecting it.
"Why would a thief leave all these priceless relics… and just take that?" Lloyd said, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because when you're in trouble they say it's got the power to summon allies." He answered. "Whether they be friends, foes…even spirits from the Cursed Realm.
The man walked behind Lloyd and shuffled through some things. He grabbed a hammer and swung hard at Lloyd's head.
"Lloyd!" Zane yelled, catching Lloyd's attention.
Lloyd dove, avoiding the hammer, again as the watchman swung it, hitting a cabinet. The watchman grabbed the blanket and pulled it off him to reveal that he was wearing the Allied Armor.
"The Allied Armor!? You stole it?" Lloyd said.
Zane jumped at the watchman, but he avoided it. Zane landed in front of Lloyd and turned quickly on his heel, leave only mere milliseconds that his back was turned to the man.
"So Wu chose you to be the beloved Green Ninja." The watchman said, advancing upon Lloyd.
"How do you know Sensei?" Zane asked, totally confused.
"And if you have a bone to pick with me," Lloyd added. "Maybe we can discuss things without weapons?"
The watchman's frown only deepened and he took another swing. Zane grabbed and parried the hammer, sending it flying into a pile of boxes, which tumbled down upon the watchman, knocking him over and burying him. Lloyd started to dig, and soon uncovered the watchman, who lay, splayed out on the floor.
"I don't want to hurt you," Lloyd said. The watchman shook, his head growling dangerously. Then all of a sudden, his face relaxed, looked almost peaceful as a sickly green black smoke wafted out of him. It hovered a bit and then dissolved into a painting of Chen.
"What's going on, " The watchman asked, his voice wavering. "Someone was in my head."
The painting of Chen started to laugh evilly. Lloyd grabbed, and smashed it on the statue of a serpentine. The smoke reappeared and then dissolved into the statue. Zane could guess what was going to happen next and jumped over to Lloyd standing protectively next to him.
"Your powers are useless!" The statue yelled. "You think you can hurt a ghost! I can possess anything!"
Lloyd watched in amazement as the pure solid metal of the statue moved. Zane watched as the tail started to unwind and reach out to Lloyd. He pushed Lloyd out of the way, the tail snatching where Lloyd was standing a few moments ago. The statue hissed in frustration and took another swing, this time, the tail curled around Zane. The Statue brought Zane closer almost as so that he could reach out and touch the fangs in the mouth.
"Zane! NO!" Lloyd cried out, a million thoughts racing through his mind.
The wisp of smoke appeared again soaring over them and then swooping down into a pile of sand.
"When he was in my head… I saw his thoughts! The world…is going to be cursed!" the watchman cried, trying to free one of his legs that was still trapped under a heavy crate.
Zane struggled in the grip of the tail, trying to bend the now solid metal. The sand started to move and took shape into the form of a human body.
"You're a ghost from the cursed realm, but how did you escape?" Lloyd asked while struggling to try and help free Zane.
The sandman laughed, "When your father opened the door, he should have been more careful of what came out!"
The ghost charged to the watchman, grabbing him by the collar, pulling him out from under the crates. The watchman whimpered, as the ghost tore the Allied Armor off of him.
"Boo!" The ghost whispered into his ear. "Now run." He said, tossing the man toward the door.
The watchman grabbed the handle and bolted, running down the hallway, occasionally tripping over his feet.
"You can't take that!" Zane yelled, still struggling.
"Oh, yes I can, Zane." The ghost continued.
"You know my name?" Zane asked.
"Oh, yes Zane. I know other things too. How's the new titanium? And the vacation to Chen's Island?" The ghost sneered, satisfied when he saw a shadow passed across Zane's face. "How, rude of me, my name is Morro."
Morro swooped down past Lloyd who backed up from the statue in response, his attention turn to the ghost boy.
"The armor's nice, but it's not the only thing I want to possess," Morro said, rubbing the armor with his sandy hand, almost as if to polish it.
"What else do you want?" Lloyd asked, with a guarded look on his face.
"Originally, I wanted to be you. I wanted to be the green ninja. But, we all can't have what we want." Morro said, floating up by the ceiling on his back, high out of reach. "Now, I want to see you suffer. I want to posses you at first, break you down from the inside out, be in your mind even when I'm not. But after I was in that watchman's mind, I got a quick scope of recent events," he said, gesturing to Zane. "And not so recent events. And it looks like an opportunity has come my way."
Morro smiled, liking the way that it made Lloyd's face twist up in confusion and anger. "You took everything from me! Everything that I wanted to be! Now it's time to return the favor and take something back from you!" Morro yelled, swooping down on Zane like a hawk does a smaller bird.
"No!" Lloyd screamed, reaching out towards Zane.