Happy late Easter everyone :v

Review replies:

Kat: We'll see.

Ebony: Bansha will... certainly suffer. How exactly has yet to be seen. :) As for the evil Morro, he's definitely curious, but, at least for now, obliterating his enemies is more important. And yeah, Lloyd 2 needs character development.

KRR: Hahahahaha good luck with that. My characters have tried that already. They failed. And I've only seen about half an episode of HoT so far.

Brave: We'll see.

ninjachief: Kid doesn't know when to quit. You should always be scared when it comes to Morro.

Nicktastic: Oh, definitely.

The Mayor of Ninjago City: He's a smart kid.

TheAmberShadow: Pfft... well you're not wrong.

Samantha: Getting your legs chopped off can do that to you.

Windy: xDD Siblings will do that. Yeah, I've seen it. I really want to go see it the day it comes out, but my family almost never goes out to movies, so it probably won't happen. :C

Glacier: :)

Chapter 13

Lloyd, despite being the leader of a ninja team, was not very good at thinking ahead.

In him impulsive rush to save Morro, he had managed to forget to pack food or water, which was how he found himself at noon that day, trudging dizzily across the hot sand and acting like he was about to die of thirst. Bansha floated alongside him, completely unaffected by the heat or lack of supplies. She offered to carry him a couple times, but both times he quickly refused.

Finally, a couple of hours into the afternoon, the blond boy flopped forward into the sand, mumbling something about getting up after a quick rest. Ten seconds later, he had passed out. Exasperated, Bansha picked him up and carried him for a few miles to an oasis with a spring of water, where she laid him in the shade of a tree and shook him awake. He was surprised and a bit indignant when he learned she had carried him, but grudgingly thanked her when he spotted the water. After drinking his fill, they continued their way. Fortunately, they were out of the desert in another hour, and reached the edge of the city by nightfall.

Though he was tired, Lloyd pressed onward through the city, Bansha following him to Morro's castle. Once they arrived, after a quick conversation, they agreed that Lloyd would stay in the alley just outside the courtyard, not moving unless necessary. After urging him not to fall asleep, the blademistress slipped through the courtyard, invisible, then headed down the first staircase she could find. Down she would find a dungeon, and in a dungeon, she would find Morro.

TheDarknessReturn

Indigo stared at the ground below her, counting the cracks in the tile over and over again as she tried to keep her mind off evil Morro's voice in the background. The ghost king had given the order to blow up the ninja's base about ten minutes ago, and was now bragging about his accomplishments to Reena. Indigo had a bad feeling that his attention would soon turn to her, and there wasn't much she was going to be able to do about it. As if on cue, Morro stopped talking, his gaze falling on her.

"Reena, go find something else to do. Indigo and I are going to… celebrate." The illusionist nodded, turning and heading towards the exit as evil Morro stood up, heading towards the pole she was chained to.

"If you so much as touch me, I'm gonna bite you." She threatened. He rolled his eyes.

"Clearly you've never done this before. Maybe if you don't fight I'll go easy on you, hmm?"

"'Maybe'. I don't think it's worth the trouble." The ghost king rolled his eyes again before bending down and reaching for her cuffed wrists. She bit his hand. He instantly slapped her across the face with his other hand, but his yelp of pain made it worth it.

"Little beast…" He muttered as she rubbed her stinging cheek, digging in his pocket for the key. Once he found it, he reached towards her again, threatening, "I'll hit you harder if you try to bite me again." Ignoring his warning, Indigo moved to bite his hand again, but this time he moved away in time, following up with a much harder blow to her other cheek. Her head snapped back and she sat there for a few moments, dazed, as he unlocked her cuffs and hauled her to her feet. Ears ringing, she grabbed his arm for support. He chuckled.

"Better." Not letting go of her wrist, he started towards the door he always disappeared into at night. His bedroom. It was now or never. Tightening her grip on his arm, she sapped his energy until he passed out, rewarded by a strangled yelp before he tumbled to the floor. Pulling her wrist out of his now-limp hand, Indigo turned and ran towards the door to the dungeon. This was her only chance. If she didn't make it out of here with Morro before that Morro woke up, she would be recaptured, and they would never have a chance like this again.

TheDarknessReturn

Bansha hurried down the dark passages of the dungeon, clutching a ring of keys in one hand as she glanced in every cell she passed. She had managed to snap the keys from a guard she had found dozing in a corner, making off with them before he woke up. Now all she had to do was find Morro, which could be harder than she'd imagined due to the sheer size of the dungeon. There were so many hallways, she really had no idea where she was anymore. Finally, she spotted a familiar figure through a barred window, and quickly stopped and backed up to get a better look. It was Morro, she recognized him from the green in his hair. Otherwise it was hard to tell his identity, as he was pressed in a corner, facing away from her, and his clothes were torn and dirty. Was he asleep? Turning to the lock, Bansha began trying the keys, one after another. Finally, one turned, and the door creaked open. Instantly, Morro's head jerked up, eyes wide with alarm as they focused on her.

"Hey." Bansha put her hands up to show that she was unarmed. "It's alright. It's me." Slowly, his tense posture relaxed, and he frowned,

"Are you… my Bansha?" She nodded.

"Yes."

"Oh thank God…" he breathed. "H-how did you get here?"

"I snuck in, invisible. Lloyd's waiting outside the castle. Where's Indigo?"

"She's upstairs somewhere. With the other Morro." The ghost boy braced his hands on the floor, trying to push himself up, but quickly gave up as pain clouded his face.

"Here." Bansha offered him a hand up, but he shook his head.

"I can't take your hand. The other me… broke all my fingers. They hurt too much for me to do much of anything with them." Oh. The bladeswoman took a closer look at his hands, flinching when she saw how crooked his fingers were.

"Then…" She bent down and put her hands under his arms, lifting him to his feet. He swayed slightly, but nodded in thanks. Keeping a hand on his elbow in case he fell, she lead him out of the cell, stopping short when the light of a torch fell on him. One of his eyes was bruised black, and his cheek was swollen. The rest of him wasn't much better, she realized as her eyes swept down his body. All of his exposed skin was darkened from bruises and cuts. Morro's eyes lowered to the ground when he realized she was looking at his injuries.

"The other me… really doesn't like me." He mumbled, cracking a faint smile. Bansha shook her head.

"Never mind that. We need to find Indigo and get you two out of here."

"Morro?" They both jumped at the sound of a voice, and the wind master spun around, then dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around the smaller figure behind him. Indigo.

"You're alright!" He exclaimed as she hugged him back. "What happened? How'd you get away from him?"

"He unchained me so I drained his energy and ran." She said before pulling away. "Are you our Bansha?" She addressed the ghost woman.

"I am." Bansha nodded. "We need to go. Lloyd's waiting outside."

"Wait." Indigo turned back to Morro, frowning. "The evil Morro said… he said you told him where the base was. To protect me." The bladeswoman's eyes widened. Had he really…?! Instead, Morro shook his head, lifting his hand and gently laying his fingers against his girlfriend's cheek.

"I lied to buy us some time. He didn't catch on." The ghost girl breathed a sigh of relief.

"So the others are safe."

"Perfectly safe." Morro agreed. "Now let's get out of here before the other me wakes up."

TheDarknessReturn

"Lloyd!" Lloyd pressed his hands over his ears, trying to block out the voice of whoever was trying to wake him up. "Lloyd! Come on, wake up!" This time, the voice was accompanied by shaking, and he groggily pushed the hands away.

"Five more minutes…" he mumbled. He heard a groan.

"He hasn't gotten more than an hour of sleep in a couple days." The voice muttered. "I honestly expected him to fall asleep, but I didn't think he'd be this hard to wake up.

"Lloyd?" A hand touched his shoulder gently, and his eyes snapped open as he recognized the voice.

"Morro!" He exclaimed, his head popping up as the ghost pulled his hand back. "You're okay!"

"Well… mostly." The wind master cracked a faint smile. Lloyd reached towards him to hug him, but Morro exclaimed,

"Stop!" When the blond stared at him in confusion, he explained. "The other Morro broke all my fingers and they hurt a lot, and I'm pretty beat up too. Just… be gentle with me, okay?" Lloyd nodded, then carefully wrapped his arms around his chest, smiling as he felt Morro's hands gingerly rest on his back. After a couple moments, he slowly pulled away.

"Were you spotted?" He asked, glancing at Bansha and Indigo.

"I don't think so." The bladeswoman shook her head. "But we should still get back, all the same."

"Yeah. The others'll be worried." Lloyd got to his feet, and, noticing Morro struggling to do the same, took him by the arm and pulled him upright. "Let's get out of here before we do get spotted." The others nodded, and the four started down the alley. As they passed a side passage, Lloyd felt a hand brush his arm, and looked up in surprise to see a figure vanishing around a corner. "Did you see…" he started, but trailed off at the confused looks on the others' faces. "Never mind. Must have just been someone who lives-" before the words could make it out of his mouth, there was a loud creaking noise and a tall stack of boxes fell towards them. Bansha and Indigo dodged one way while Lloyd pushed Morro the other way, and the pile fell between them, blocking their view of each other. The blond boy managed to catch Morro before he hit the ground, then sat up, staring at the boxes. Where had those come from?

"Morro? Lloyd?" Indigo's voice came from the other side of the boxes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. We're fine." Lloyd called back.

"I can't go through these boxes. They're deepstone or something." Indigo said after a moment, sounding confused.

"There's too many to climb over. We'll have to split up." Bansha instructed. "Meet at the edge of the desert."

"Okay." The green ninja carefully tugged Morro to his feet again as he heard the girls' footsteps move farther away. "C'mon." The wind master frowned.

"Do you think someone's… trying to separate us?"

"No." the blond shook his head. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Let's go, we don't wanna fall too far behind."

"Okay…" Morro followed him down the alley. "I still think something's off."

"We're in a city ruled by an evil version of you. Everything is off here."

"More than that." The ghost insisted. "Something feels really wrong." He stopped, and Lloyd went a few steps further before stopping and turning to look at him.

"What?"

"I... think we should go back and find a way to join the girls." Morro hugged his arms to his chest, his broken hands limp. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"They've already gone." Lloyd shook his head. "We're gonna be fine, okay? I won't let anything happen to you." The ghost boy stared at the ground for a few moments before nodding.

"Let's just get out of here as soon as possible."

"Okay." Lloyd turned back to the path ahead, almost as eager to get out of there as the ghost was.

The last thing he heard was a loud thud as something slammed into his head before he crumpled to the ground.

wow

lloyd seems

really

down on his luck

;))))))))))

So, I probably won't be updating again until at least Thursday. I have a spanish presentation due on Wednesday that I'm kinda really nervous about because I've never done a presentation before and idk if I'm gonna epicly fail or not, so... yeah.

Also, would the owner of the OC Mimora Collins let me know? I printed out her bio but I forgot to write down who owned her and I have no memory of whether she came from a review or PM so I don't know where to look... sorry ^ ^'

~FFF