Alright! Let's get this pajama party started! First of all: BEWARE THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF PLOT. No, really. The plot bunny FLOODED me during the week (you know, when I'm suppose to be focusing on my exams this week -_-), so I figured I'd let my creativity get productive. I hope I wasn't too poetic in this chapter (which I sorta sketched out the outline for during a poetry lesson in English). On the bright side, I'm eight pages into the contents of the scroll Wu found back in chapter one! Unfortunately, I don't know when the poor guy will get to read it, since the whole Great Devourer thing is kind of distracting him. Anyways, I can't wait to show you all the products of my insanity! I hope you enjoy the latest installment in Nevermore!
Lya200: Zane cool or just cool? :3
Ridin' Shotgun: She's a character, so the others will get their very own nicknames pretty soon. And yep, I wanted Jedediah's name to stand out from the crowd. I mean, how many male OCs do we have floating around the fandom lately? I figured I might as well let him pack a punch.
ForeverDreamer12: I swear you can read my mind... o.o I was just getting to that in this chapter.
Sadly, I don't own Ninjago. :(
Right..?
When Zel awoke the following morning, she was a little surprised by the lack of restraints, and then chastised her overly-adaptive behavior. She had always been told that she was too amiable for anything to insult or lead to concern her, not that the ninja had ever seen that particular side of her- and they certainly wouldn't see it now that her darling "brother" was here. Her hands clenched into fists as she glanced over to the mat next to her. Jedediah was laying spread eagle on top of the covers, snoring lightly. Granted, he had fixed her faulty switch, but the last time she had seen him...
People change, she reminded herself, pushing the covers aside. The thin sheet of sweat over her body told her that she must have gotten hot during the night but had been too stubborn to relinquish the blankets. She was in desperate need of a shower, but the layout of the ninja's ship was worse than any maze and being "directionally challenged" (as Jedediah called it) certainly didn't help her case. But there was no way under the sun that she would dare ask one of the ninja for help. Maybe she could talk to that girl, Nya.
Jedediah rolled over in his sleep and mumbled something about sheep. Zel couldn't help herself as she leaned over and brushed a strand of unruly hair back from her brother's face. He may have done certain things in the past, but they were siblings, so they were pretty much stuck with each other. No matter what happened, blood was thinker than water.
Even if that did mean she had to let him keep lying to the ninja.
After aimlessly wandering Destiny's Bounty for a good half hour, Nya came to the kunoichi's rescue and pointed the way to the bathroom, even being so kind as to lend her an extra outfit she had outgrown. The hot water did Zel a world of good, and she felt much better after a quick shower.
Dark gray eyes scanned her reflection in the mirror with an odd gleam. Nya's red kimono only brought out her fiery hair and made her eyes appear more lackluster than usual. Her curves- had she had any to begin with- were completely covered up by the baggy material, but the broad sleeves didn't look like they would catch on her arm blades like her ninja suit. Nya had forgotten to let her borrow shoes, but Zel didn't mind going barefoot. The cool boards tickled the softer skin of the kunoichi's feet and she regretfully noticed that the callouses had worn away; hopefully, she wouldn't step on anything anytime soon.
Zel stared at her double with a frown. It had been so long since she had worn regular clothing that this reflection was almost foreign to her. She looked more like a girl, and less like the ferocious warrior she was trying to become. It made her appear dainty, but looks were deceiving so she didn't mind too terribly.
A loud knocking at the door drew her out of her speculation with a jump. "You planning on staying in there all day?"
The kunoichi gritted her teeth at the sound of Jedediah's voice. Of course, he would pick now to wake up. "Maybe," she called, tying the ribbon around her waist. Zel strode over to the door and yanked it open, revealing a sleep-ridden young man.
"The ninja got back late last night. Pythor's looking on the other side of Ninjago for the fourth fang blade and there's gonna be some sort of showdown today where we go and get the other three," he said with a yawn.
Zel raised an eyebrow. "'We'?"
A smirk flitted across Jedediah's face, but it was gone so quickly Zel thought she might have imagined it. "You and me are staying here with Lloyd, his father, and Sensei Wu."
The kunoichi shuddered. Lord Garmadon was the weirdest person she had ever met, but he was the only person that that Kai ninja seemed to hate more than her. Personally, she was freaked out by his four arms. She almost had a heart attack when she walked in on him playing on the video game console as the first and second player; he offered to let her be third, but she learned just how quickly she could backtrack. "Where are they? The ninja, I mean?" she asked.
Jedediah jerked a thumb upwards. "They're getting ready. I'd stay out of there way if I were you. I don't know if you're back to normal or if we should give it a little more time, but I wouldn't risk you lunging at Zane and having four elemental weapons shoved in your face."
With a frown, the young woman watched as her brother made to shut the door, but paused.
"Hey, Zel. Do you remember what we talked about? You know, before you ran away?" he asked in an undertone.
The kunoichi drew back sharply. "You think?" she hissed.
A dark light ignited in Jedediah's colorless eyes. "Everything's going according to plan."
"Last I looked, the plan didn't involve you babying me!"
Jedediah chuckled, smirking, and patted Zel's shoulder. "Oh, Griselda. There's so much about Ninjago you have yet to learn. I'm sorry about keeping you from the rest of the world all those years, but I assumed that was behind us. Don't worry, sis. As soon as we finish our business with the ninja, I'll take you out for ice cream."
With that, he slammed the door in her face.
"That little-!" Zel seethed. If only he hadn't welded her panel shut, she just might be tempted to turn her annihilation switch back on and show him how much she knew about the world.
If only Jay hadn't accidentally reactivated her emotional harddrive when he had shocked her that first time.
The kunoichi watched through the porthole leading out onto the deck as Sensei Wu instructed the ninja. Kai was fighting blindfolded, Cole was wiggling out of a net, Jay was doing one-handed handstands and twirling his nunchucks, and she couldn't tell what Zane was doing. Were his eyes glowing..?
"They always like to get warmed up before a fight when they can manage it." Nya's soft voice floated up from further down the hallway. The samurai slowly approached the kunoichi as she joined the latter by the doorway. Out of the corner of her eye, Zel could see that she had already suited up, and that her machine-like contraption was waiting for her just outside.
"You're going too?" asked Zel quietly.
"Yep! Going into the belly of the beast. They'll need all the help they can get." The girl offered Zel a smile as she swept out the door.
The belly of the beast? wondered Zel. First, Jedediah mentioned a showdown, and now Nya was assisting the ninja? And after Kai made a big deal about women warriors...
The kunoichi's brow furrowed as she attempted to find her way back to her room. It took a few minutes, but she didn't get lost too terribly. As soon as she entered, Zel fell face-first onto her bed and let out a long sigh. For some reason, the girl felt twitchy, like there was something she really needed to tell someone but had forgotten. Whatever the cause of the feeling, it certainly felt important.
"Zelda, you ready?"
The arm blades were out before Zel was up on her feet. Seeing who stood in the doorway, she dropped her arms but didn't sheathe the blades.
"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that," she grumbled at Jedediah, who was dressed in dark clothing. She recognized the thick battle gear all too easily- the obsidian leather that clung to his form like a second skin, the slits in the material that served as pockets, the broad belt securing his vyblade, the steel-toed boots whose high tops masked the outline of kunai knives and mini shurikens. Her brother wasn't dressed for battle.
He was dressed for war.
"And don't call me Zelda," she added, trying to shake off the chills that ran the length of her body.
Jedediah winked and pulled something from one of the slits in his gear: her whip. Her mouth dropped as he tossed her the glowing weapon. "Would you rather I called you Zena?"
"Where did you get this?" Zel demanded, looping her whip around her waist and tucking it under the kimono's sash to hide it from wandering eyes. "And why are you dressed like that? When did you-"
"One question at a time, sis," Jedediah held up his finger. "First of all, the ninja were keeping your whip from you because they don't trust you. I say that if we're allowed to walk free around the ship, we should get to keep our weapons. Secondly, didn't I just tell you that the ninja were going after the three fang blades that Pythor has? They may want to keep me here with that green-clad kid and his family, but it's been ages since I've had a good fight, and we're suppose to be fighting snakes. Also, I'm kinda curious to see Ninjago's pride and joy in action."
"So you're going with them?"
"Nope. I'm gonna follow them from a distance and come in when things start to get a little messy," the man yawned and rolled his shoulders a few times, "and so are you."
Zel palmed her forehead out of pure aggravation. "Are you stupid? What's gotten into you? You know good and well that these people are only letting us stay aboard their ship because they're too preoccupied with these 'fang blades' to really focus on us. The minute we draw their attention, we're dead!"
Jedediah tightened his belt with a solid tug. "Which is why I'm going to kill them first."
Sensei Wu's POV
How interesting... What a clever device. Did you make this, Jay?
[Jay: Sure did!]
Do you all really want my old bones to add to your... story?
[All: YES!]
[Cole: Please, Sensei!]
Alright, then. Let's see. Where were we..?
[Lloyd: We were at the part where we were sneaking into the Mountain of a Million Steps getting ready to steal back the fang blades!]
My students were finally ready. However, ready for what, I knew not. The blades were heavily guarded, and there were likely to be protected by intricate traps and puzzles. On the off hand that we were chasing smoke, Lloyd would remain on the Bounty with my brother. He was far too precious to be risked in such a matter.
Yet despite everything that had transpired as of late, my mind couldn't help but to drift to the scroll I had left in the storage room. I had not returned to its hiding place since its discovery out of fear that Garmadon would somehow learn of its existence. Knowing my brother, he would be hesitant to face his son in battle, regardless of prophecy, and would be looking for any and all ways to prevent the final battle. Should one scroll seem significant in my eyes, he might try to swipe it out from under our noses. Though he was my brother, and he was undoubtedly here for Lloyd, a part of me was still wary that the evil inside of him was corrupting him more and more each day. I knew not how long I could continue to trust my brother aboard Destiny's Bounty, but I feared that the day of his betrayal was drawing nearer.
(Like that?)
[Kai: Pretty good, Sensei! Keep going!]
Sitting "shotgun" in my seat on the Samurai X suit, I sipped my tea as my students departed into the darkness of the mountain's caverns. Their bickering echoed all around the cave, but I was more intrigued by the designs carved and painted onto the walls all around us. Some of them were pictures that resembled things from the frozen forests atop the southern mountains to the ninja themselves. In a darker portion of the room were a few carvings of a large snake rising above the rest: the Great Devourer before his downfall. If I didn't know better, I would have said that a few of the scribbles around the arched ceiling and floor seemed hauntingly familiar.
A sudden tremor drew my eyes to my pupils, all of whom were standing around an ever-growing passage with wide eyes.
"I meant to do that," said Cole with a sheepish grin.
Without another word, we raced into the tunnel.
(I believe that's a sufficient place to stop as any.)
[All: What? Nuh uh!]
(Oh no, now is fine. Carry on, you all. I just remembered that there is something in the bridge I need to check...)
Zel's POV
Me again? I swear you're just using me as an excuse to be lazy. [Jay: Pfft! Of course not!] Whatever you say, Sparky. [Kai: Are you going to keep stalling, or should I go?] No, you guys practically shoved the mic down my throat, so I'll go. Wait your turn. [Kai: hmph]
...And of course they want me to do this part. [sigh]
I stared at Jedediah, whether paralyzed by shock, uncertainty, or plain lack of active gray matter, I'll leave that up to you. The emotional section of my CPU must have been glitchy from all of Sparky's electrocution jobs, because my sensors were being overloaded by a vast multitude of indistinguishable feelings. Though my annihilation switch was turned off, I could feel it twitch inside of me, as though longing to flip itself and assist my brother in his slaughter, but my bombarded hard drive was screaming at me to decrease power to my sensors- like that was the problem. I couldn't flip any switch even if I wanted too, not since my motherboard was secured behind welded steel.
"Why?" was the only question to leave my slack jaw.
Jedediah took a deep breath. "I just told you why, Zel. Pay attention. The ninja don't trust us, and they never will, not with my connections. Even if I severed them now, it wouldn't matter."
"What connections?" I demanded, though my tone sounded more detached than threatening. "I know you never had the cleanest hands growing up, but don't just show up out of the blue after all of this time, lie to these people, threaten to kill them, and then tell me it's all to cover your own ass!"
A disappointed frown flickers over Jedediah's face as his eyes land on my midriff. "That lightning ninja got you good, didn't he? Your emotions are back online. I can tell. You normally aren't so passive."
"Passive?" I spat, jerking a bladed arm up from where it had been previously limp at my side. "You're calling me passive?! Dad made me to protect you and you turned me into a killing machine! LITERALLY! The only reason I'm here is because that stupid annihilation switch got flipped on accident and I came after the person I was programmed to! No planning! No forethought! Nothing! After all this time, Jed, and you're still the same selfish brat I left all those years ago!"
"Exactly! You left me!" Jedediah's eyes were blazing furiously as the vyblade seems to materialize in his hand. I shrank back, but didn't yield my stance. "I was fifteen with no family and hardly any friends and you left me!"
"Whose fault was that?! Dad made me to stand between you and hardship, but you brought all of that down on yourself when you altered me! You eliminated my compassion to make room for the apathy needed to not care when I killed someone! You had to make sure that I wouldn't feel anything, because God knows that your body guard might feel a twinge of guilt every now and then!" My voice was growing louder with every sentence, but I didn't care if we were overheard. This was long overdue. "Nobody needed to die, Jed, but no! You had to have it your way! You had to have your stupid revenge! I left you because you were a monster and it had taken me seven years to realize it! When I left, you were a lost cause."
I took a deep breath to steady myself. Jedediah was staring at me with a mixture of monotonous despair. I found myself wondering how humans could pull off such impossible facial expressions without revealing the darkness of their hearts.
"Besides," I added in a whisper, "you never payed me any attention anymore. You were too concerned with making more androids, more servants that would follow your every command without hesitation. You didn't need me. Griselda Williams had died long ago, for all you cared."
"Zel," he said softly. "I never meant to hurt you, and I didn't forget about you! I just wanted us to be happy! Those kids harassed us and I could tell it was hurting you. That's why I turned off your emotions; I didn't want you to feel the pain. I was human. The pain couldn't be 'turned off,' so I did what I could for you."
"Liar." I swallowed uneasily. "You're just making up more excuses, just like you always have. You've been an impulsive liar since the beginning. I should have realized that when you told the ninja that sob story." I shook my head. "I can't believe they accepted it without question."
"Zel, Griselda... sis... Please believe me. I've missed you so bad," his voice was barely a whisper. "I messed up, I know, but I never wanted this to happen to you."
"Then why did you program me to kill Zane?" my tone soured.
Jedediah sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The ninja are strong as a whole, but they have individual weaknesses. The only reason I took an interest in making more androids like you was so that I could make one specifically to destroy each ninja. With them out of the way, Ninjago would need new saviors, and if I became the savior... Well, no one would look down on me anymore, would they?"
I drew back with narrowed eyes. This was my brother as he truly was: flawed. "You say that yet think we can still have a happy reunion? I thought you might have changed. I was actually considering giving you a second chance. But then you go and tell me this?" I took another step back, my other blade slowly sliding out of my arm. "I'm Jedediah, but I won't let myself be controlled by you. Not now, not ever."
The man blinked a few times, eyes closed, with a melancholy expression. "And if I told you that I would kill with or without you?" I had to strain to hear his words.
"You were my brother once, but these people have done nothing to you," I said softly. "If you turn your blade against them, I won't hesitate to stop you."
He nodded. "Very well. You were right. Griselda Williams is as good as dead. My sister would never abandon family."
Ebony flashed before my vision and I backflipped away from the vyblade as Jedediah swept it towards me in an arc. He had gotten faster since the last time I had seen him fight, but he was still slow in comparison to me. Regardless, I could still make out the curling patterns scored into the vyblade's length: the symbols that always kindled a frantic terror into my heart.
I remembered that sword all too well.
As soon as it began to vibrate in his hands, I knew that my struggle was in vain. Instead of trying to fight, I dove for the door. At the time, I knew I was faster and was positive that I would make it, but Jedediah's skill had improved more than I dared to imagine. Before my hand could touch the doorknob, something snagged my ankle and I tripped, slamming into the wooden door and sliding down the grains. Even if the ninja were still aboard- they surely would have left to go on their mission- the only person who might have been able to hear me was Lloyd (who wouldn't stand a chance against the vyblade) or Lord Garmadon (who would probably grab some popcorn and a front-row seat).
The blades in my calves slid out and I lashed out with a kick that would have easily taken off a grown man's arm, but the enemy I was fighting wasn't a man. What coiled around my foot was neither living nor dead, and certainly didn't have severable appendages. Rather than removing what grappled with my ankle, all I seemed to do was bring a smile to Jedediah's face.
Dark fog spiraled up my leg and a cold chill swept throughout my entire body as it climbed higher. With a soft cry, I tried to pull away, but the mist tightened its grasp, now borderline painful. With hopeless desperation, I jerked my whip from my waist and snapped it at Jedediah. Apparently, he wasn't expecting me to think up a worthwhile attack and the weapon slashed clean through the back of his hand. My brother dropped the vyblade with a howl and the blade clattered to the floor. I kicked it into the corner of the room before he could recover. As soon as the vyblade left Jedediah's hand, its fog retreated back into the hilt.
I leaped to my feet and bowled down the door in my frantic attempt to escape. My hit was a lucky blow. Jedediah wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
My feet pounded as I raced down the hallway, my breathing ragged and my head whipping around as I searched for the door that makes the stairwell leading to the deck. Forget about protecting the ninja.
It would be a miracle if I got out of this alive.
Lord Garmadon's POV
I can't believe I'm doing this... [Zel: You and me both.] Do I have to?
[Lloyd: C'mon, Dad! Please?]
Fine. Just don't expect me to sugar-coat it.
"I'm trying to help, Nya! Just... hold on!"
My son's cries drew my eyes back to him as he whaled away on the control panel. Destiny's Bounty gave a precarious shudder as Lloyd frantically stabbed at the buttons with trembling hands.
My son...
I turned away with a deep sigh. It was only natural for him to shove me away- I left him all those years ago, and now, it was his destiny to stand against me. Just as evil ran in my veins, his own blood discriminated my being. Lloyd was a boy with a pure heart, but he was the Green Ninja, and not even he could refuse his calling. But even though he was destined to rise up and defeat me, I couldn't have been more proud of my son.
"You will make a fine man some day," I murmured under my breath.
My feet thudded dully on the steps as I descended to the deck. The Great Devourer's bite turned me against my brother, and my son against me. I could feel the darkness coursing through myself, but seeing Lloyd again had helped tame it. For the time being, I was still in control, but that vigilance wouldn't last much longer. I knew that Lloyd would try to save his friends, but my son was far from his true potential. His failure would be devastating to the entirety of Ninjago. Should the Great Devourer be unleashed, not a soul would prove powerful enough to stop the destruction of the world. That snake destroyed any future I might have had, but I wouldn't let it do the same to my son.
I had to help Lloyd.
"Mmph-!"
A deep scowl found its way onto my face as something squished beneath my foot. I glared down at the deck, only to see something more entertaining than I could have possibly imagined. The little kunoichi was bound and gagged, chained to the railing at the bottom of the stairs, a stream of dark liquid trickling down her face from a jagged laceration at her hairline. She wore a slashed kimono stained with umber patches and a look of pure horror that faded once she recognized me. Then the look turned deadpan.
"Having fun?" The corners of my mouth curled up.
The girl's eyes narrowed.
"Oh, silly me. You can't answer." Smirking, I leaned over and ripped the duck tape from my mouth. Instantly, coughs rattled her small form and droplets of oil splattered onto the wooden panels of the deck.
"It's a trap," she wheezed.
"We know," I couldn't help the grimness that seeped into my tone.
Confusion riddled her gaze as she studied me. "Aren't you going to help them?"
Instead of answering her outright, I said, "Not if you're having more fun here. How did you know it was a trap?"
"Jedediah works for Pythor. He didn't seek the Bounty to find me; he wanted to meet the ninja face to face, and I was just his excuse. He's on his way there now to release his army of androids on the ninja. Paired with the rest of the Serpentine, they don't stand a chance."
So Jedediah was a traitor? That little fire ninja was right all along. However, this meant a serious change in plans. After all, if the kunoichi's brother was attacking the ninja, and Lloyd was one of them now...
I bore down on the kunoichi with a smoldering gaze. "You knew all of this and didn't say a word?"
Her eyes met mine without flinching. "I couldn't say anything to anyone, not even privately. The Ninja of Earth, Cole, told me about how you were banished to the Underworld, so you know what I'm talking about when I mention half-lives. My brother has a sword- the vyblade... You can probably fill in the blanks."
A half-life.
How long it's been since I heard someone mention those wretched souls. No one had breathed a word about them since I escaped. Then again, no one living knew about them.
"This Jedediah is in possession of a half-life?"
She nodded. "And my whip."
Well... this certainly took a turn for the worst. There way definitely no way I could abandon Lloyd and my brother now, not even those pesky friends of theirs. If a half-life had been freed from the Underworld, the Serpentine would be the least of this world's worries. If one were to add in the Great Devourer to the mix, the combination between the two would ultimately destroy all of life as we know it, not just the world.
There was only one thing left to do.
"You're coming with me," I growled. One of my arms snagged a spare sword from the rack secured to the bridge and sliced through the chains with inept precision. The girl made quick work to untangle herself from the web of restraints and kicked the last of them to one side.
"When you say that I'm coming with you, do you mean into the Mountain of a Million Steps?" she inquired suspiciously, inspecting her internal blades one by one but keeping me in her peripheral the entire time.
"No," my voice reverberated deep in my chest as I spun the sword and pictured running the blade through anyone who dare harm my son. "We're going to the Underworld."
Zel's POV
Again? Twice in one segment? [sigh] Okay, you can stop with the bribery. What do you want this time? [Lloyd: Nothing! Well, actually-] Nevermind... [Garmadon: I believe I hear Halo calling my name. Son, would you like to join me?]
[Lloyd: But Kai says I gotta watch Zel...]
[groans under breath] For the last time, I don't need to be watched! What am I going to do? Turn this thingamabob into some sort of weapon and try to use it against you if I lose my mind? [Garmadon: That's one idea.]
Ugh, fine. I'll be a good little girl and sit still and try to keep my inner Hulk tamed. Feel free to stare impulsively when needed.
[…]
Really? No Marvel fans in the room?
[Lloyd: I like DC.]
...I feel the need to shun you now. But Batman does have the best villains. [Lloyd: I know, right!]
Anyways... where were we? Oh, yeah. That.
The Underworld.
"So, would you like to share your thoughts? Not that I mind trekking off into the middle of the forest without rhyme or reason," I arched an eyebrow. Padding after the dark lord like a lost puppy felt a little odd, but a sharp look over his shoulder sent a shudder through my body. No one's eyes should be that red. "Why are we here again?"
The hand clutching the sword twitched ever so slightly. "Getting our hands on traveler's tea will take too long, and since I can't summon a dragon with a snap of my fingers, we're doing this the fun way."
The fun way? Did he honestly mean that there was a fun way to get to the Underworld? So far, my ideas all added up to one painful death or another, unless he was a fan of skydiving without a parachute. Then again, my travels between realms were kind of limited considering that death, near death, or experiences similar to death were required- and since I wasn't too interested in my devising my own demise... Needless to say, the gleeful darkness that seeped into his tone in the last few words made me seriously question our sanity; him for being that way, and me for following him.
Lord Garmadon suddenly ground to a halt and I had to hop sideways to avoid crashing into him. A glance to the side revealed that the man was leering down at a pile of leaves, so either the man had lost his mind-
Garmadon quickly bent over and started ripping away at the underbrush. Within seconds, the beginnings of a vehicle of some sort were starting to take shape.
-or there was something he wasn't telling me, and I was about to find out.
At least the basis for his lessened normality didn't include him dragging me out into the middle of nowhere for no reason. Hopefully, the vehicle was a reason. Hopefully.
Grunting contentedly, the man leaned back to admire his work. I blinked a few times and focused hard on the thing, but ever time my eyes refocused, it just kept getting weirder and weirder.
It was a vehicle, yes, but it was unlike any car or truck I've ever seen. It resembled some sort of motorbike, roughly nine meters in length, with its engine resting just in front of its enormous hide wheel. The body curved up and latched onto an impressive suspension system that stretched out to its fore-wheel. There was no seat, just a platform to stand on, and the only thing that might protect you from falling were the two wide elephant tusks arched over the back wheel. Might I also mention that the entire structure of the vehicle, albeit the engine, was made of bone?
"What is that?" I asked blatantly.
"It's one of the skeleton's bikes from the Underworld. It seemed to have lost its rider, so I had it stored here for safekeeping if I ever needed to return," he said. After a moment's inspection, he hopped onto the platform and turned the key that had been left in its ignition. The bike sputtered a few times, but it didn't the engine long to settle into a gentle purr.
I clambered onto the platform behind Garmadon and gave the machine a good once over. The driver could use the handlebars for support, but all I had was the skeletal perch on which I stood. Huffing, I plopped down and wrapped my arms around one of the elephant tusks. So long as we didn't hit a bump, I should be fine.
"Don't fall off," was the only thing the dark lord had to say as he revved the engine and the motorbike leaped forward.
Wind whipped me from side to side but I sank my one of the blades in my leg into the tusk as I wrapped the limb around it. Trees blurred my vision from the sides, and all I could hear was the gale howling in my ears and the dark chuckle from Garmadon when he twisted the handle at a sharper angle. Inertia's drag threatened to yank me from the bone-yard bike every time Garmadon swerved to avoid the larger trees, but I managed to hold on. At some point, I realized that things weren't blurred because we were going fast, but that our speed had increased to the point that all colors had blended together to form a solid wall. I knew it wasn't tangible, but that didn't make the illusion any less apparent. Some strange part of me longed to reach out to see if it were possible to touch it- I had never achieved such high velocity before- but I liked my limbs to remain attached to the rest of me, and thus adhered against it.
A deep chuckle from the designated driver drew me out of my stasis as he gunned the throttle once again. The bike lunged forward eagerly and I was pitched backwards. Hissing under my breath, I wrapped my other leg around the tusk and sank its blade into it as well. Of course, the dark lord would be a maniacal driver. That just had to come with the territory.
It wasn't long before I began to notice something odd about the wall of colors that shot past us. The hues were more of a dark violet than anything and it almost seemed as though...
Suddenly, the bike bolted forward with another phenomenal burst of energy. A gasp caught in my throat as a swirling mass of pastel shades yawned before us, enlarging with every nanosecond as we flew towards it. The bells and whistles went off in the back of my mind, but my newly-activated emotions were having a field day. Namely panic, fear, terror- you know, the usual. In the end, when Lord Garmadon let out a dark laugh, all I could do was cling to the elephant tusk for dear life and watch as the vortex swallowed us whole.
I don't know what it is with my computer, but it keeps insisting that Garmadon's name is Armageddon. . Also, his POV was HARD. Writing the guy is fun, but trying to come up with all of the rhymes and reasons behind his actions is like trying balance on your head at the top of a light pole. (Not that I've actually tried that, or anything.)
So, half-lives. I presume you all know about ghosts and poltergeists- paranormal stuff like that. A half-life is sort of my take on the things that go bump in the night in the Ninjago universe. Think of a vengeful spirit, now think of them is an irate vengeful spirit who's been trapped inside of a weapon that's capable of giving them form. Now you're getting the picture. See why Zel was terrified of the vyblade? It wasn't that creepy mist reached out and grabbed her, but she can't kill something that's technically dead already, especially when it's practically a shadow. If you still don't get it, don't worry. Garmadon and Zel's trip to the Underworld will cover more than a few things you'll need to know later on, half-lives included.
And yes, I did just make my male OC evil, but that was the plan from the very beginning. ;) In reality, Jedediah wasn't suppose to come in until chapter seven, but I realized that the plot sort of required everyone to know the truth behind Zel, and since the kunoichi in question wasn't going to talk, I needed someone a little more loquacious to spill the beans. So Jedediah got to make an extremely early appearance.