Disclaimer: I don't own Ninjago, just the story idea and the ocs.
Hello readers. I hope you spread the news about my story so that we can have others opinions on here. It would be very thrilling for me, now let's hop in. Like I said previously, this chapter will be KILLER. Just kidding…maybe.
HIT IT!
Chapter 10: The Breaking Point
"Evil doesn't sleep! Neither should the seven of you!"
Sensei's voice blared out over the loudspeaker. It had proven to be a much more efficient way to wake the ninja up, especially with the feedback it gave off. But honestly, he was just having too much fun. The seven of them dragged themselves out in uniform and to the deck, moaning and complaining all the way. They lined themselves up and faced Sensei, who for some reason had his arms behind his back.
"Today's lesson will be different for some of you. Some of you are getting stronger, the rest of you still have a long way to go. But first, we should take care of priorities first."
He pulled his hands out that were holding a pair of unusual leather gloves. They had long, metal claws where the fingers would slide in, and looked sharp as a sword.
"These gloves are a weapon known as neko-te. Perfect for a ninja that can throw a good punch…" he turned towards the sleepy pink ninja, "...like you Maria."
His answer behind the weapon made her rub the sleep out of her eyes furiously, "Wait? You mean…I finally get a weapon?" He gave a short nod, she responded by snatching them and slipping them on.
While admiring her new weapon, she spoke enthusiastically,"This is so awesome! Soon I can fight with you guys, and we'll win the fight over evil before we know it!"
Sensei walked over to Lloyd and Kai, "You two have been fortunate in finding two of the gems and unlocking the power within them. However, you still have a long way to go to control it. I will personally see to it that we can prevent an incident similar to the one you had in Hiroshi's Labyrinth."
Lloyd tensed up when Sensei mentioned that. He and Kai made a pact to not tell the truth about what had actually happened to protect the Hibagons. As soon as Sensei walked to the rest of the ninja, he gave Kai a hard kick in the shin. In response he got a silent scream and a glare.
"Might I ask why the heck you did that?!" Kai whispered through clenched teeth.
"Because you told Sensei what happened!" Lloyd whispered back. "We promised to not say a word about what's really in Hiroshi's Labyrinth."
"I didn't! I just said I had a hard time summoning my armor, nothing else."
Their conversation was interrupted by a clearing of a throat. They turned their heads to Sensei giving them a look of disapproval. "Might I ask what it is you two are whispering about? Perhaps it is something you would like to share with all us?"
They quickly shook their heads and let out a breath when the attention was off of them. Sensei continued on with the instructions,"Now as I was saying, Nya, Jay, Cole, and Zane. You four will train as usual, then study up on mythology to get a better idea of what else is to come. Lloyd and Kai, the two of you will come with me to get better control of your new powers."
Maria waved to get his attention. "What about me, Sensei?"
"You will practice with your new weapon by climbing all the way, up there." He had pointed at the sail mast as he spoke, "I want you to climb up and down 30 times. It will build both your upper and lower body strength."
The ninja had their mouths open in shock at this. It was hard to tell from the ground, but that mast looked like it was at least 90 feet tall. They were about to protest at the unfairness of this training when Maria walked past them. She latched onto the mast and started climbing casually, as if it was no big deal. Their faces turned to confusion, was she not gonna complain about how unfair it was?
"Hey Maria? Are you gonna be okay?" Nya called up.
"Sure will," she shouted down in reply.
"Well, do you want of us to stay down here in case you fall?"
"Nope."
"Okay, be safe." Nya turned to the team, "Well, someone's confident." She then walked off to train below deck. Zane, Cole, and Jay followed close behind, and gave another look of confusion as they watched Maria climb higher and higher.
Sensei tapped his staff on the ground to get the remaining ninja's attention, "Now, the two of you will come to my room and we will work on meditating." He walked to the hatch to go below deck, and held it open for his pupils. He noticed he was one short, looking up, he saw Lloyd staring up with a worried look on his face.
"Lloyd, we must begin training."
Lloyd turned and called, "Coming!" He gave a final look up Maria, who climbed slowly but determined. Finally, he walked towards Sensei and headed below deck. Maybe it would be okay, she did want to try and defend herself. If she was that determined to train that hard to accomplish her goal, then everything would be okay. Right?
Lloyd, Kai, and Sensei had begun meditation in the dark, with only the light of faint embers burning in the spirit smoke. As they focused, Sensei would speak softly of how to control the power within the gems.
"The gems you wear are full of power. Each with its own strengths and weaknesses that will give you aid, or challenges in battle. You must look deep within yourselves and connect with it. Face what holds you back, and strengthen what sets you free."
Deep within their minds was an endless darkness, full of peace and security. Soon, they only heard their heartbeat, everything else had faded off to silence. Time passed slowly around them, until it became nonexistent.
Within Lloyd's mind, he focused on what he felt when he unlocked the gem's power. He remembered that he was never alone, that he would never be forgotten or pushed aside again as he feared many times. Joy began to grow inside him, a green glow began to pierce his mind's darkness. He blinked his eyes open to the now existing sky above him, clouds and a blue sky as far as the eye could see. With another blink, the sky began fading faster….faster….FASTER!
"NO!" Lloyd screamed. He took deep breaths and glanced around, he was back with Kai and Sensei. They had worried looks on their faces, and were prepared to question what had happened when Lloyd stopped them before they started. " I saw something awful! I was up high and then I started falling and I think I almost died!"
Kai put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, "Dude chill! It's probably nothing. If it was, then wouldn't you be actually hurt?" Lloyd shook his head in response. "You see? It was just a vision or something."
"Kai is right." Sensei stood up and offered him a hand to help him up which he gladly took. "It could be you activated your gem's power and saw through the eyes of a bird or something similar. It could also be the work of Onryō again. Maria went through a vision that was hard to interpret as well."
Something clicked in Lloyd's head, suddenly he understood what it really was. He wasted no time and sprinted out of the room to the top deck. He stumbled a little and lost his footing at times, yet he kept going. Thoughts ran furiously through his head, but they all had one similar theme. Maria was in danger.
Lloyd made it to the top deck and got a good look that fed his worries. Maria was on the ground, weapons thrown to the side. She was rubbing her right wrist, as though it was in pain. He quickly ran over to her, grabbed it out of her hands, and started examining.
"L-Lloyd?! What're you doing?! I have to train and your kinda interup-"
"You fell down and hurt yourself, didn't you?"
Her face immediately fell and she started speaking softly, "How did you know?"
"I really didn't mean to, but I used my power and looked through your eyes as it happened. I didn't know what was going on at first, then I realized it probably went off on its own or something. But I'm glad it activated. So how'd it happen?"
Maria looked away and searched for an answer. "I-I thought if I went faster, I could get it done faster. I slipped when I started rushing, and then I lost my grip. But I'm not hurt badly, it's only a bruise."
Lloyd pulled back her sleeve to reveal a forming bruise. He rolled it back up and stood up. "Okay, your story checks out. You can continue training, but I want you to be careful." Like that, he turned and left her.
Instinctively, she grabbed her wrist the moment he went below deck. She hadn't bruised her wrist, she sprained it. Maria didn't want to lie, but she was an important part of the team now. Soon she would have to fight with them, or fend for herself. A little sprain wasn't going to put all that on hold, she could get through this. She looked up at the mast and let out a sharp exhale.
"Get it together Maria," she encouraged herself. "You only have to climb 27 more times. You're not gonna to disappoint them." She went over to her tossed neko- te and slipped them back on. Gathering her courage, she latched on to the mast and pulled herself up.
Immediately, the sharp pain of the sprain started kicking in. She bit her lip in pain, sweat began running down her face. But she kept going, slower than ever and kept testing her limits. Nothing was going to make her crack, not now.
Noon had come which meant break time. Everyone gathered in the dining room, with an array of food cooked up by Zane. They all talked on how their training went, all except for Maria. Her wrist had stung whenever she'd pick up her sandwich or drink, so she could only starve and stare at it. The pain was spreading and it was strong. Maybe she had over done it. Maybe she pushed herself too…no. No, everything was…fine.
"So what do you think, Maria?"
She snapped out of her trance and realized Jay and Cole were staring at her for an answer. "Oh I'm sorry," she blushed. " I wasn't really paying attention. Could you repeat the question?"
"Cole and I were deciding which monster that we found, was the weirdest and most threatening. I'm all for the Basan, it's a giant, fire breathing chicken! You can't get any weirder and threatening than a chicken that tries to make you crispy, it's unnatural and ironic."
Cole scoffed at his reasoning, "Oh please! That's nothing. If you want something scary and weird, then you should've seen the picture of the Nuppeppō. It looks like a big mound of flesh, when it's actually a living mound of flesh that decays. It's creepy, it has a face and limbs under all that fat, but it's still gross. It gives off a horrible smell and sometimes, it travels in packs."
Zane raised his hand. "If I may add my opinion, I think both would prove to be a tough and intimidating foe."
"I'm going with the mound of flesh, " Nya spoke up. "It gave me chills when we saw it's drawing. I wouldn't touch that disgusting thing with a 30 foot pole, even if it was a life or death situation."
"But we already know who you guys voted for, Maria's the tiebreaker." Jay gave her a hard stare, "So who do you choose?"
Maria struggled to find words. She opened her mouth to answer and…
BANG!
Everyone was flung to the side as the bounty had stopped abruptly. They got up and quickly ran out to the deck, only to see nothing. Black smoke filled the air and scratched their lungs with its scent. They fanned it away while coughing hard, it began to lift slowly and reveal the damage that was done. Only two holes near the side of the deck got their attention, for they had seen them before. Misako quickly ran over and examined them, she turned back to face them with a terrified look.
"Get ready to fight! I know what made these holes, and she's close by!"
Zane gave her a confused look. "What do you mean 'she?' Those are bite marks from a beast, nothing else could make them."
"Bite marks?! You think a lady like me would do something a dumb animal would do?!" A voice echoed around them.
In a blink of an eye, long, dark purple hair started crawling up the side of the ship like a spider. It pulled up the owner of such hair. She had pale skin that was blemished with tar colored lips, her eyes were an icy blue that gave chills with one look. She wore a long sleeve, black leather jumpsuit with black high heeled boots. Her nails were pointed and precise, and looked ready to slice anything that got in its path.
She put her hands on her hips and shot them a disapproving look. "Let me get this straight. I wanted to look nice, so I stole a modern outfit, I sharpened my hair, I even prepared a little party to take the great Seraphina to," she pointed at Maria who was quickly guarded by the ninja, "and you think I'm some sort of animal based on my actions!"
Nya stepped forward. "Wait a minute…I know you. You're Harionago! You're that crazy lady who can't take a joke!"
"Glad to see someone's paying attention. Now how about we get this over with, and you hand over that cheap version of the spirit queen?"
"No way!" Kai shouted at her, "If you want Maria, then you're gonna have to go through me first!"
"Very well."
She tightened her hair like a whip and snapped Kai out of the picture! He flew over the side from the sudden attack, screaming as he tried to get back on the battlefield. Nya went at her with full rage, thrusting her sword at the demon woman. Harionago just formed her hair into a large shield until the water ninja stopped to catch her breath. In that moment, she grabbed her by the wrists and flung her into Jay, who caught her by chance.
The ninja wasted no time and ganged up her with Spinjitzu, they engulfed her into one huge circle and closed in on her. Even in the bright lights of the attack, she managed to grab onto them and keep them from escaping. They struggled and wriggled out of her death grip with little success. They could feel a scratching sensation as they tried to escape, it brought a laugh out of Harionago's mouth.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She mocked them, "It'll only hurt your delicate, soft human bodies. Especially if I do this!" The hair tightened on them and made it harder to breathe. Her face turned to Sensei and Misako, hiding Maria behind them.
"Get away from her now, or say goodbye to these prime examples of a lesser species!" She held the ninja high above her head. Her eyes locked with the pink ninja, giving her headache as she tired to figure out what to do. Get taken and lose the fight against evil in an instant, or have her friends suffer in exchange for her safety?
"Hate to interrupt this tense moment, but how are humans the lesser species?!" Jay shouted at her, "Your species includes monsters that just roam around like idiots, and they attack whatever they want whenever they want! They're basically brain dead!"
"J-Jay..I think you should stop talking!" Lloyd chocked out.
Harionago had tightened her hair even more in response, and gave them a glare that could burn holes right through them. With a sudden surge of adrenaline, Maria charged and took a swing at her arm, ripping her sleeve and scratching her arm. She tightened at this attack on her, and slowly turned her head in Maria's direction.
"You shouldn't have done that…SERAPHINA!" Harionago grabbed her with just one strand of hair, and flung her into the mast by her right wrist. Maria clung onto it quickly, but winched in pain as her wrist inflamed. "You're gonna pay for that Seraphina, and your gonna pay for what you did to my king! He will win Chaos, and disintegrate you FOREVER!"
Before she could strike, a scream interrupted and got closer and closer, it stopped when it landed on Harionago. Kai had tackled her down with the force of airjitzu, and in shock she dropped the enslaved ninja to the ground. Her hair quickly tossed him off and to the side, she jumped up and charged it at Maria, forcing her harder into the mast. She screamed out in pain, she quickly tried scratching her hair off with her free hand. The results ended up with sparks flying off with every slash, and a maniacal laugh from Harionago.
"You're kidding right? Now I really do believe that you are the failed copy of Seraphina! You really are pathetic, but either way, it would satisfy me to torture you for all the crazy things you believed in!"
"H-hold on a sec!" Maria squeaked out. "I'm not really Seraphina, I don't have her memories. I don't know who she really was, I'm someone entirely different."
"LIAR!"
She wounded up her hair into two large sections, and spun them like drills. They came flying at Maria, who closed her eyes and waited for the blow. It never came. Maria peeked to see Sensei holding Harionago back with his staff, pulling her farther away. The ninja pointed their weapons at her in case she tried anything, but she didn't.
"Maria," she looked down at Zane who backed up with his arms open. "you can come down now. I'll catch you." She did as instructed and unhooked herself from the mast, Zane caught her and placed her down to let her stand. They both walked up to the prisoner, who just took her defeat calmly.
"Start talking," Misako demanded. "What is Onryō planning?"
"He's not planning anything, he's only being forced to follow a destiny that never should've existed! My king is a pawn in this crazy idea that Seraphina made!"
"What are you talking about?"
Harionago just hung her head down, they slowly leaned in as she mumbled something under her breath. She elbowed Sensei in his gut and spun wildly, hair forming a sharp tornado! Everyone backed up and ducked quickly, giving her a chance to escape. She whistled a high pitched whistle, and underneath her came a swirling hole of darkness that sucked her and itself in.
"Quick, she's getting away!" Jay ran over to where she stood and whistled like she had. It had no effect. In frustration, he kept trying and trying, eventually he started jumping on the ground with pure annoyance. "Why isn't this stupid thing working?!"
Before anyone could answer, a groan of pain was let out. The source? Maria. Her sleeved was rolled back, revealing a dark purple, swollen wrist. The crew gathered around her, mortified at her injury.
"That's disgusting!" Kai cried out. "It looks like Cole's meatloaf!" He got a glare from said ninja. "Which tastes great by the way!"
"Maria, did she hurt you that much?" Lloyd asked with worry in his voice.
"N-no," she replied while looking down. "She did only half of the damage. The truth is...I didn't get a bruise. I had….a sprain and…I kept training anyways."
Everyone gasped at her answer. Was she really stupid enough to push herself like that? Why would she act so foolishly, and not think about the effect this would have on the strength of the team? How could she be so selfish?
"Let me get this straight. You say you're gonna be fine and you ask us to let you train unsupervised. We give you your space. You look me in the eye and tell me it's only a bruise. I believe you. And what do you do? You give yourself a second degree sprain in a fight!"
Lloyd had been pacing around in the medical room and finally stopped on that last sentence. Maria was sitting on the bed with her wrist in a splint, an ice pack was pressed firmly on it to reduce the swelling. She ducked her head every time Lloyd called out her actions that gave her deep regret. It was wrong what she did, but she didn't have another choice. How was she supposed to know that they would be attacked?
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to get stronger and help the team."
"But this isn't helping us. Now we have to take care of you until you get better. We're weaker as a team and the enemy has the upper hand to attack us or kidnap you. And it's all because you didn't tell us, instead you kept it a secret. You were acting selfish!"
Maria's eyes widened at that part, her eyes started getting damp. "S-selfish? B-but I just wanted to…. I thought that...I could do it."
"You did something alright. You risked our lives and yours, and now we can't go anywhere because of what Harionago did to the engine. You're lucky we can still stay in the air! But this is all because you thought you could do it!"
"Get out."
He arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"I said get out!" She lowered her head to hide her face. "If you're not going to listen, then maybe you should…go."
"Fine by me," he turned and slammed the door behind him, without looking back. The moment he got out into the hall, he nearly bumped into Sensei Wu, who looked disappointed.
"Are you deaf?" He asked.
"What? No, of course not Sensei."
"Then why didn't you listen to her?"
Lloyd was at a lost for words. He realized he let the anger take over him in that moment, it crashed down on his heart hard. He started to head back in, when his arm was caught in the grip of Sensei.
"Let her rest. I know why she did what she did," he spoke softly. "The exercise I gave to her was to see what's holding her back from her true potential."
Lloyd whispered, "Really? Well, what does she have to do to unlock it?"
" I knew that it was no challenge that a beginner could overcome simply. But she went on, even when it caused her great pain. She wanted to help us, even though it was far beyond what she was capable of."
"So? What're you getting at Sensei?"
"Maria puts false hope in herself. She wants to please and protect those around her, even though she knows what she can and can't do. In the end, she might give her own life to make sure we're safe."
A mortified look was spreading on Lloyd's face, "Sensei, i didn't know that… I wouldn't have yelled at her if I knew. Can't we stop her from hurting herself?"
"I don't know how, nephew. This will be difficult, we must figure out why she's like this and how to fix it. What I do know, is that we can't let our hope die."
Well, well. Someone pushed themselves past their BREAKING POINT. Get it? Hey where'd everyone go this time?! Don't worry, this isn't the last we've seen of the villains. Also a reminder that our hiatus is coming up soon. Please tell fellow fanfic friends to read, review, and follow my story.
Remember, God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
