Kai's death was good for Toxikita's business, that was one thing.

All but two Ninja was dead - one was the Tyrant and the other one's location was unknown. Their heroes were practically gone.

Change happens. Toxikita became the new hope, the new hero. Everyone thought that being in her army guaranteed safety. Toxikita, who had assumed her position as the leader after Cole's death, was more than happy to recruit all the people of Ninjago who could offer something to the army.

"We can't fight, but we can offer our services? Maybe you want a blacksmith, maybe you want an assistant...? If you can't take us, please just take our children." Some mother was bugging poor Skales again. He was in charge of recruitment, told to recruit anyone and everyone who walked in through the doors. But this woman wouldn't let him get a word in edgeways, so the snake was left stammering and stuttering.

"Ma'am? It's fine. It's a policy to recruit everyone," Camille said, grinning at Skales' relieved face. "We can train your kids to fight and you... do you have any talents in medicine? Nursing? Organising? Writing?"

"I was a trainee nurse before all this, I can help out in the infirmary... I assume you have one of those... and I'm used to doing paperwork."

"Perfect. I'm going to be doing a tour group soon for all the new recruits, so if you'd like to have a wander round for about half an hour before you're called back into the hall, that'd be lovely. Keep an eye on your kids and deposit any weapons in the armoury, which is the closet on your left, Echo will take you to it." Camille gestured to the approaching rusty robot. "Don't worry Skales. If any other loud and obnoxious people start rambling and ranting at your face and won't let you speak, you can just beckon for me." Camille patted his shoulder.

"Thanksssss, Camille." There was a short period of silence as they regarded each other. "But... now you're holding up the line." They grinned as he gestured for her to go away. "Shoo. Go on. Shoo."

Toxikita, meanwhile, sat in her office and doodled on the side of her paperwork. It was just sending out confirmation to the hospitals that, yes the medicines enclosed were legally tested, no one was harmed in testing (a lie, of course, but she'd push Cole's memory aside - plus, it wasn't the medicine dosage that killed him), they were safe for use, legal stuff. Since all of them would be coming to the HQ to assist with the new recruits and for a meeting, she could just hand the paperwork over, so there was no need to shove them in the envelopes and waste her pen's ink.

"You wouldn't think there'd be so much paperwork in an apocalypse, would ya?"

Camille's voice startled Toxikita, and she stopped doodling and looked up at Camille, who was sitting on a table, legs kicking under it. "Cam! Didn't see you there. I was just doodling on the paperwork I have to send to Nadakhan. Hospital stuff, you know?"

"X, P and everyone from our other bases are here. Practically everyone... alive is in our headquarters, except from Lloyd and Misako and, of course, the Tyrant." Camille's tone was stern but her expression was soft. "It's a safe haven, especially after the Tyrant paraded Neuro, Kai, Zane and Shadow's corpses around on sticks. They're like flags now. It's sick."

"I'm sure He wanted Kai to die and that's the only reason He started this. So why hasn't it ended?"

"It's gone on too far. Could we ever adjust back to normal life?" Camille sighed, leaning against the wall. "I'm so used to fighting for my life, I don't think I could just... go back. I'm not the only one, Tox, and you know it."

"... So tell me. Any familiar faces?" Toxikita stumbled her swiftly spoken words. "You said everyone alive is here."

"Ash is here. You remember Ash? From the Tournament?" Camille smiled. "Good times, eh?"

"Mm. 'Good' times." She chuckled. "You liked him - you were friends with him."

"Knew him beforehand. We were childhood friends. Parents thought we were going to be in a relationship but after he came out as gay, I let him stay with me after his parents threw him out. We got invited to the Tournament together, actually."

"Backstory, huh? I didn't know anyone really but I'm glad to have met you." Toxikita stood up. "Anyone else?"

"Well, Karloff is here and he's probably going to making weapons." Camille continued to list off a couple people, mostly Elemental Masters who hadn't yet died. "I'm so surprised Karloff is still around." At Toxikita's raised eyebrow, Camille continued, "Well think about it. His youngest brother got kidnapped, his second younger brother disappeared too, then the older of those two got killed by an assassin and, until he was found in an alleyway where the assassin sold his most recent kills, his youngest brother was assumed dead."

Toxikita raised her other eyebrow. "Fascinating."

"And that's not it. His youngest brother didn't even remember him because his memories had been completely wiped. So he had to live with one of his younger brothers being dead and another who would never know who he truly was. And now... all three of his brothers are dead. He's alone. But he's alive. I'm really amazed." Camille smiled slightly. "I'd have killed myself a long time ago."

Toxikita opened her mouth to speak again, probably to agree with her friend, but the door burst open and Ash and Karloff came in, the Metal Master carrying Ronin. Ash's leg was poised as if he'd just kicked the door down. "Help him!" Ash wildly gestured to Ronin.

"Ash, sir, this isn't the infirmar-"

"THEY'RE COMING!" Another voice began to yell in the distance. "HIDE!" Karloff and Ash were pushed over, Ronin giving a loud cry as Karloff fell on him. "SHUT THE FUCKING DOOR!" The person yelling slammed the door shut and yelled through it, "I'M SORRY!"

"Lloyd?!" Camille gasped. "What are you doing her-"

The familiar sound of the Tyrant's minions and robots bursting in and beginning to shoot at people interrupted her. Instinctively, everyone ducked down, except Ash, Karloff and Ronin as they were already on the floor. Five minutes of shooting and screaming passed before there was silence. The human minions began to confer between each other.

"We only have time to search a few rooms. Kill anyone and everyone in the infirmary and then take their weapons, take as many as you can carry. That's all we'll have time for. He wants us back to prepare."

"Why did we even come here?"

"To kill as many as we could. To prevent a battle. He's hoping for one though. You know Him. Loves a challenge."

"He's batshit insane."

"We're all aware, Karen."

"My name is Timothy."

They didn't talk after that - a few more doors were kicked open, a few more shots were fired, some people screamed but no one opened the door to Toxikita's office. Soon, there was a ripple of a murmur about leaving and a final slam of the door.

Camille and Toxikita, who had moved behind the desk and were practically cuddling, allowed themselves to relax and untangled their arms. "Karloff, check the doors. Make sure it's not a trick."

Karloff nodded, lifting himself off Ronin (he had to check for breathing and a pulse as Ronin didn't respond, but he was fine). He knelt on one knee for a second before crawling over Ronin and Ash to the door.

Lloyd was underneath the table Camille had been sitting on, shaking and trying to not cry. He had cuts and bruises all over his body, some bleeding. There was a gun wound in his shoulder but it didn't look dangerous. One of his eyes was squinting and the flesh around it was bloody and purple. He tried to tell Karloff to not open the door, that they'd be waiting for him, but he ended up spluttering blood.

Karloff only opened the door a little bit but it was enough to see the coast was clear. He tried to open it more but something was wedging the door shut. Upon looking down, he saw what was keeping the door wedged shut.

Skales' body, mangled and riddled with bullet holes.

"You... You not want to go out there..." Karloff shut the door and sat against it, giving out a single sigh. "No one there but..."

"We need to leave at some point, Karloff," Toxikita argued, standing up. "And if there's no one there, we should look for casualties, people who also liv-"

"No one else alive, Toxikita. Everyone... dead." Karloff rubbed his face, tone almost angry. "Everyone in city, gone. It only us now."

"I call bullshit, now let me out!" As she neared the door, the Metal Master stood up to block her way. "Karloff. Let me out."

"You go out there, you die."

"You said they're gone."

"You die of heartbreak. Everything you work for is gone. It for your own good." Karloff pushed her back as she walked forward. "No."

"Let me through!"

"I not losing you as well!" His tone was now angry but, as she glared at him, she noticed the purple bags around his eyes, the puffiness of his bloodshot eyes and the trembling of his mouth, she saw why. Her glare softened.

"Karloff..."

"Karloff not losing you as well." His voice was choked up, his eyes were watering and he was gasping slightly to hold back the tears.

"You're not going to." Toxikita stepped back, then stepped forward when she stepped on Ash's hand. "But we need to check the other rooms. See if anyone else lived. Please."

"... Take this." From the inside of his jacket, Karloff brought a small pistol, silver, which he gave to her, though it wasn't suited to her hand. "Karloff didn't give all Karloff's weapons to you."

"I suppose that's a good thing now."

"Karloff sure no one alive out there but... just in case."

Lloyd slowly emerged from under the table. "I wasn't fast enough."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. My mother and I were roaming the streets, looking for everyone. I saw someone going inside and realised that everyone was going inside it. Then... His minions came. They started shooting at us and we had to run. We should have run somewhere faraway but we thought that we could make it to your place, warn everyone and at least a few people would live." He had to pause, gasping back sobs. "My... My mother didn't make it and I realised that neither would anyone else. I ran in anyway, tried to warn everyone and I saw you all... And then..." He was crying now, the bloody, purple bruise around clearly making his tears hurt. "I should have sacrificed myself... maybe everyone else would have lived."

"Well it's too late for to whine about our mistakes," Toxikita said. "Give me one of your guns. And give me some extra ammo." Lloyd chucked her one of his guns and some extra bullets. "Thanks."

"Do you want me to go out with you?" Camille slowly stood from behind the desk.

"No, I'll be fine." Toxikita looked down at the pistol she was holding, then at Karloff to give him a reassuring smile. He shuffled to the side of the door and leant against the wall so she could get past.

Of course, instead of opening the door slowly, Toxikita kicked it open. Her eyes darted around for any threat.

They widened and she nearly dropped the gun when she saw all of the mangled bodies. All she'd worked for, all her friends, all her recruits... The kick had been hard enough to move Skales' body but it was still in plain sight. She nearly dropped to her knees.

"They even killed Nadakhan... a fricking Djinn... immortal..." She stepped out more, treading over bullet riddled corpses. "Everything I've worked for is gone..." She wrapped her arms around herself, the pistol slipping from her grasp as she fell to her knees and cried.

Karloff trying to give her comfort, Camille and Lloyd checked everywhere else. No one was in their rooms, they had to help manage the steady flow of new recruits. Some people had been in the infirmary, but it was one of the checked places. Their weapons were gone, everyone was dead and their leader was in the arms of a blacksmith, crying.

"We're the only ones left, aren't we?"

"Isn't there that one guy? He wouldn't kill people and used to mentor the Ninja before shit went south?" Ash called from inside the office.

"Wu? Yeah. There's him. Aside from him and the Tyrant and his cronies, we're the only ones left, I mean."

"What are we going to do?" Ronin's weakened voice was barely audible over Toxikita's crying, let alone coherent, and Ash had to yell it.

Toxikita, choking back her sobs, could only say one thing:

"I'm going to fucking kill Him."

Jay pulled Kai into a dance of some sorts. "Come on, Kai, it's your party! You gotta loosen up and there's no way to loosen up like dancing!"

"Jay, I'm not a dancer and you know it. I leave that to Cole and his dad." Kai rolled his eyes and tried to free his hands from Jay's. "I want to look at some more of my presents and open the boxes, you know, so let me go."

"Kaiiiiii, you gotta have a dance."

"No."

"Kai, just one dance. We put on your favourite songs for you."

"You have never asked me what music I like."

Jay grinned. "We didn't need to. Nya stole your phone and went through your playlist." He took Kai's phone out of his pocket and waved it in front of him. "Oh! We forgot to give it back."

"Mm. Thanks, Jay." Kai freed his hand and put it on the table next to them. "Jay, please don't make me dance. I'm really bad at it and you know it." He tried to tug his other hand free but Jay just pulled him uncomfortably close to his chest. "You're dating my sister!"

The Lightning Master winked. "You mean you've never wanted a taste of me?" His eyebrows wiggled - Kai dreaded what was coming next. "Shocking." There it was. "And it's just dancing. It's not gay."

"Is there a difference?" Kai joked, nervously chuckling.

"Jay, let go of him, the poor guy's terrified." Lloyd came to his rescue at last, giving the Blue Ninja a look that made him groan and release Kai's (now sweaty from nerves) hand. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm just... not the best dancer."

"Neither am I. Let's improve together." Lloyd grinned as the Fire Master gulped. "You're not out of the water yet, Kai. Just a small dance."

"Ugh. Fine."

"Karloff, Griffin stole the remote again!" Neuro whined as he wrestled with his older brother for the remote, trying to not grin as Griffin tickled him. "Stoooop!"

"Come on, squirt, you've been watching that stupid cartoon for an hour! Mr Speedy needs his daily intake of Star Trek!" The Master of Speed shoved the Master of the Mind off him before sitting up. "Oi, bro, how's that spaghetti going?"

Karloff rolled his eyes and sighed. "It going fine, Griff." He walked over to the two bickering boys and snatched the remote out of Griffin's hands. "Karloff want to watch Mary Berry."

"Ughhhhh."

"Karloff, you're so boring sometimes!"

"Boring but adult." Karloff grinned at his youngest brother. "Who feed Neuro?"

"You feed me..."

"Who got remote?"

"Uh, Griffin did!" Griffin turned around too and glowered, lips puckered with frustration.

"Karloff got remote. Karloff want to watch Mary Berry. We watch Mary Berry."

The woman's voice resonated through the flat. Though at first Neuro and Griffin groaned and moaned and pleaded with Zlatko to 'at least put Star Trek on', they slowly found themselves watching the show.

"Karloff, why can't you make these things?"

"Mary Berry been doing this stuff for years, before Karloff born, probably." He grinned. "You two just thought for future."

"Is that fucking Mary Berry I hear on the TV?" Shadow grumbled as he heaved his body inside. "Can we put on something like... I dunno, Finding Nemo or something?"

"We watching Mary Berry. Shadow going to have to deal. Spaghetti nearly ready anyway."

"And then we're going to watch a movie?"

"Finding Nemo!" Neuro called from the sofa. Shadow smiled, soft, subtle, brief, and leapt over the back of the sofa to grab his younger, honorary brothers in a loose headlock.

"Hell yeah! Finding Nemo!"

"Finding Nemo it is," Karloff laughed, ladling oodles of spaghetti into waiting dishes, a fond smile on his face.

He'd never let anything happen to his younger brothers.

Karloff squeezed the remote he'd kept ever since Griffin had died. No use for it anymore, the TV being rendered useless. It reminded him of happier days.

Maybe it was the worn out buttons, the lack of a cover for the batteries, the Finding Nemo stickers that, through it all, remained on the back of the remote. He stroked the buttons with his thumb and pressed the remote to his face, holding back his tears.

Not now. The others needed him.

Toxikita wasn't crying anymore - quite the opposite, angry, tone calm but bubbling with rage, red, puffy eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed, lips puckered in anger.

He remembered that look. Neuro had made it often whenever Griffin burst into their bedroom and took his artwork to flaunt it off. However, there had always been a blush of embarrassment, a flustered stammer.

Lloyd was out in the city, scavenging for metal and, if they were lucky, food. The enemy had stripped them bare. Maybe that's why they got to live.

The speed Lloyd was leaving and returning was similar to that of Griffin, especially when spag bol was on the menu. The smirk, the glee, the determination, it all reminded Karloff of his first lost brother.

Ash was treating Ronin's injury (as they'd made their way to the HQ, one of his old wounds from his time with Wretch had reopened) and keeping to himself.

The way he showed no expression, sort of glowered at anyone who came over, the love he had in his eyes for Ronin... it reminded Karloff of his last brother, Shadow. The hair, the stony face, they shared it all...

Camille was standing amidst the chaos. Calm. Collected. She dumped Lloyd's metal into a pile, helped plot the battle Toxikita was planning and offered help to Ash.

Though she was far from being the oldest, though she too was scared, she took a position which no one else could. And that's when it struck Karloff who Camille reminded him of. Himself.

Karloff turned away - could he bear to take it anymore? He looked at the remote one more time before shoving it in his satchel. "Karloff got stuff back at Karloff's flat. We go, Karloff make weapons."

Camille smiled at him. "Sounds great. We don't have a lot to work with but we can make some stuff, hopefully. Swords and maybe daggers." She approached, treading over the bodies. "You okay?"

"... Just missing brothers..."

"It's understandable." She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "I'm proud of you. I certainly wouldn't have lived this long, you know."

Karloff's face played at a smile, though it was small and brief. He didn't respond to her words but squeezed her hand in response.

"Everything will be okay." It had to be.

Nya pulled her brother into a hug as he sat on the sofa, pulling at threads. "Kai, don't pick at the sofa, you're going to ruin it," she scolded as she jokingly smacked his hand.

"I'm bored, Nya. Why does a pizza take so long to get here?"

The Water Master shrugged. "I pre-ordered it and everything." She smirked. "But it gives me time to talk to you. You really got some injuries out there in the field, Kai. I need to change the bandages, Kai."

"I'll do it later, Nya. This is my day."

"I'm not letting you get killed, Kai, and you're heading that way. Let me change the bandages."

She did so anyway, removing the one around his hip and on his arms near his shoulders. She redressed the wounds, frowning. "Sometimes I hate how reckless and caring you are. It gets you into this mess." She pouted as she finally made eye contact with Kai, who was giving her a bored yet judging look. "I'm your sister, Kai. I'm supposed to care."

"You're my little sister. Little. Got that?"

"Please, I was practically your older sister for most of your life." Nya grinned and wrapped her arms around him. "I heard Jay tried to get you to dance."

"While you were ordering the pizza and helping Zane prepare the food, yeah."

"And that Lloyd actually got you to dance with him."

"Over him, more like. Kept tripping over his toes."

Nya raised her eyebrow. "Oh? Are you admitting a flaw? I thought I'd never see the day."

"Oh shut up. Everyone has flaws. I just have... very few."

"You have like at least five."

"You have at least ten."

"Hush, you! I'm trying to count your many, many weaknesses."

Kai swatted her hand and teasingly scrunched up his face. "Funny, haha. This is my birthday, you're conditioned to sing my praises."

"I don't have to do anything, I'm your sister. It's my job to make sure your ego doesn't get too inflated. It's a tricky job but I've had enough practice." She smirked at him and then frowned at the grimace on his face. "Look... I know it's been a while since you had one of these... officially, anyway. I know parties really aren't your thing but you need to relax. It's your day. Have fun."

Kai smiled, but it was slight and short and he didn't make eye contact. "Which Elemental Masters are dealing with the bad guy?"

"Toxikita, Camille, Shadow, Ash, and Skylor. Why?"

"I thought Griffin and Neuro were helping too."

"We went to get their help but Karloff and Shadow told me they'd disappeared one da-"

The door slammed upon and an unruly Ash burst in through the door, eyes wild and wide.

"Ash?!"

"Griffin and Neuro have turned traitor! They're on the enemy's side now!"

"What?!" Kai stood up almost immediately, Nya grabbing his wrist and glaring.

"We need your help!"

"But it's Ka-" Jay began to call from the kitchen.

"There's no time!"

Nya glanced at Kai, a sad look in her eye.

"We can finish it when we get back... it won't take too long..."

The Water Master sighed, standing up too. "No..."

Ash bit the inside of his cheeks. "Hurry. We need your help."

"How long does making these weapons take?!" They'd been there for a few days. Toxikita and Camille were on the sofa together, Camille fast asleep and snoring into the cloth of the sofa. Toxikita was pressed up against her, having just woken up and already complaining. "We need to fight him - and soon!"

"Hush, Karloff still making sword. Karloff need to focus."

"Ughhhhhhhhh." And with that, she slumped back against Camille and went back to sleep.

Ronin was looking and feeling better now. He and Ash were making food ('making' was generous, it was really little more than them getting the food Zlatko had made beforehand and microwaving it) together. They were 'cooking' a pizza now, pepperoni. It'd been one of Shadow's favourites, even though he didn't like pizza much.

Lloyd came back, carrying more weapons. "I raided some people's houses! Looks like they left some weapons and food behind!" He dumped the weapons - three swords, around ten daggers and five guns - on the floor and put the food - mostly tins of baked beans or something similar and fruits and vegetables - on the coffee table.

Karloff grinned. "That great! Girls are asleep, Ash and Ronin making pizza."

"Damn it, Karloff, now we have to share!"

Karloff chuckled to himself. He'd missed a loud house, a house full of bickering and joy and laughter. It was the thing the sound of metal and forging could never replace. His smiling lips trembled for a moment and he blinked away tears.

The rest of the day was uneventful, Lloyd deciding to sleep on the armchair nearby the sofa and Ash and Ronin falling asleep together in the kitchen, Ash leaning on Ronin and Ronin leaning on one of the cupboards. Turned out Lloyd had practically drained the city of its metal and weapons and food and had given up a few hours prior.

The girls, still sleeping on the sofa, had woken up for food, to check on progress, to make sure no one was injured but that was pretty tiring, it seemed.

"You should really get some shut eye, Karloff." The voice, in the dead of night, startled him. So much, in fact, that Karloff grabbed a dagger from the nearby pile of weapons and wielded it as he looked around, panicky. One could blame it on instincts.

Ronin was still leaning against the cupboard but his hair was carding Ash's hair and smiling softly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

Karloff relaxed his stance, putting the dagger on the counter at which he was forging weapons. His shoulders slumped and his mouth curved into a frown. "It fine, Ronin. It just late."

"And you're tired. You need some sleep." He smiled. "We sort of took up everywhere, huh?"

"Yeah. That not matter. Karloff got mattress to sleep on." He dragged out a mattress from the part next to the kitchen and threw it on the floor. "Ta da!" Karloff grinned and waved his hands in a 'jazz hands' style.

Ronin chuckled. "So... when do you think the weapons will be done?"

"Tomorrow, next day. Soon." Karloff lay down on the mattress. "It... unbelievable. We really all that left..."

"I thought Wretch would have killed me by now or I'd have killed myself. You heard what Lloyd did, right?"

"Hm?"

"Kept a guy in debt, made him get a job with Wretch as a... you know... I was there for a while before I got saved. Lloyd started offering to kill Wretch for him, but he'd still be trapped in debt. In the end, the guy threw himself off the roof and Lloyd burnt the building down, killing Wretch... and all of the employees." Ronin squirmed a little, though it was hard under the weight of Ash.

"Lloyd tell you this?"

"Mm hm. Boasted about it too."

Karloff sighed. "Ronin should just sleep..." He offered a small smile, which was returned. "Karloff sleep too."

"Night."

"Night."

As he lay on his back, Karloff realised how much he'd missed this.

Let me tell you a secret about the Tyrant.

He can't wait to die.

A man was currently standing in their way. He had a long white beard and not a lot of hair. He had a staff which was horizontal and blocking their way.

"I will not let you fight him. You will die."

"... Uncle Wu?

Wu gave a single, solemn nod.

"We need to end it. Once and for all." Toxikita stepped forward but she was immediately swatted back by the man.

"What's the point? We're all that's left."

"Everyone else died for one thing - to overthrow this tyrant. Even if it'll mean nothing, we're going to defeat him." She glowered.

Wu glared back at her before pulling back his staff and sighing. "Fine. But I'm going too. The Tyrant was a student of mine."

"You think seeing you might get him to stop?"

"No."

As soon as they went inside, the minions and robots and cyborgs turned and began to shoot. All of them were quick to dodge and they kept running as the bullets fired.

"As long as we outrun them long enough, they should run out of ammo! Then they'll be forced to reload or get out their swords!" Lloyd yelled over the chaos as he ran with his uncle, Ash and Ronin. "Don't fire yet!"

Toxikita glared at Lloyd, biting back a rude remark of, "Who made you boss?" Camille's sideways glance may have stopped her as well. She just focused on running with Karloff and Camille. "When do we fight them?!"

"When we can!"

How long had passed? It didn't matter - Toxikita was tired. Tired of running, tired of waiting... "Fuck this!" And she jumped up onto the wall and, pushing herself off with her knees, leapt forward, sword slicing through the enemies. Her free hand fired her pistol and she soared through the minions, the robots and the cyborgs.

It was only when one of the robots managed to hit her with the side of their gun that she was stopped. She slammed into it with her stomach, yelling in pain. The robot smacked her aside and she went flying into the wall, far away from her friends.

"Tox! No!" Camille began to run toward her friend, shooting at the Tyrant's guards with her gun. "Tox, get up!"

Toxikita, spitting out blood, slowly got to her feet, knees threatening to give in at any point. It was only when she saw a huge tear in her shirt with blood seeping out of a cut across her chest that she got worried. "No... not yet... I need..." Her knees nearly buckled on her and she leant on the wall. A robot with a bloody gun - her blood - aimed at her. She wrapped her arm, the one that held her sword (she dropped it now), around her chest, covering the wound.

"TOX! I'M COMING!"

She lifted her shaky arm, the one holding her pistol. Her vision blurred. She aimed at the robot and fired.

Nothing.

Her pistol was empty. It slipped out of her hand and she finally let herself slip to the floor.

"TOX!"

The sound of her dear friend firing bullets echoed through her brain, loud and deafening, and she flinched. Blood pooled around her, soaking her sleeves, shirt and trousers. The taste of metal lingered in her mouth no matter how much she spat.

"Tox...?"

Her dear friend, Camille, was here. Her arms wrapped around Toxikita and held her tight.

"The others are fighting... Please... you have to stay alive... This was what you wanted. This is your purpose. You wanted to defeat the Tyrant. You can't die before your purpose."

Toxikita grinned a little bit at Camille. "Cam... I also... said..." She paused to cough. "That sometimes a death can... can... get someone to... to get to their purpose... That... they have to die... that's their purpose."

Camille tightened her hold. "No. That's not your purpose. Your purpose is to defeat the Tyrant with me. You said it yourself."

Toxikita laughed. Her hand pressed against the back of Camille's, using what little strength it had left, and Camille gripped it tightly. "I'm not always right, Cam... And this time, I was wrong..."

"No. No! I refuse to believe it!" The shapeshifter's tears landed on Toxikita's cheek. "NO!"

"I'm so sorry... Cam..." The Poison Master paused, long enough for Camille to think she was gone. "Come closer. I need to tell you something."

Camille brought Toxikita up to her face so she could tell her whatever she needed to know.

Toxikita closed the gap, brushing her lips on Camille's for a few seconds. The taste of metal was shared between them, but Camille returned the brief kiss.

Toxikita fell limp in Camille's arms.

"No... Tox..." Camille's voice was soft and broken by tears.

"Come on, Camille." The Master of Form turned her head, almost reluctantly, at Ash's prompt.

The only ones left standing were her friends. All the guards, human or robot, had been cut down and killed.

She brought her hand to her lips and rubbed off the blood Toxikita had left on them. She stared at it for a second and then looked down at her dear friend. A smile was on her face, her eyes closed. She looked peaceful.

"There was nothing we could have done."

"I know, Ash." Her voice was still choked by tears. "I know."

"C'mon on." He held out his hand, smiling. Camille took it. "I promise no one else will die."

"You can't possibly promise that."

"Well, you can watch me try." He pulled her up and hugged her. "You're like an older sister to me, Cam."

That's what got her breaking down. She wrapped her arms around the Smoke Master and sobbed into his shoulder.

They'd moved into the next room. There weren't so many guards in this room - in fact, there were none at all. Camille had calmed down, the only evidence of her breakdown being her red eyes and the memory. Karloff was standing by her.

The room was quite large with three doors, excluding the one they'd broken into - one was practically opposite them, one was on the wall right of them and the third was on the left wall.

"We should check them, one at time, together. No splitting up." Karloff took charge, wrapping an arm around Camille.

"We've all seen the movies," Lloyd said. Whether it was a joke or not was uncertain.

Ronin began to walk to the room on the left, pulling Ash by his hand after him. "I think this one first."

"I was thinking about going through the one opposite us but... that'll do."

Ash kicked the door down after Ronin stepped back. "HIIIII...YA!"

It was a bathroom. Small, measly, quite cute actually. There were your typical bathroom supplies, which didn't seem right for the situation.

"Oh, nice, mints!" Camille grabbed the mints - Polo's - and shoved one in her mouth.

"Mints?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why are there mints in a bathroom?"

"Who cares? I've been missing these!" Camille offered her childhood friend one of the Polo's, which he took. Soon, everyone who wanted one had one and the mints found a new home in Karloff's pocket.

There was nothing interesting other than the mints - it was just a standard bathroom. "How about the room right ahead of us?" Lloyd pointed to the door on the opposite wall. It was something you'd expect him to be eager about, for him to demand and almost yell that they do, but it appears that arson takes a lot out of you. He didn't even leave time to agree, striding off on his own.

"Lloyd going to get himself killed," Karloff murmured, Wu nodding in agreement beside him, before jogging after him.

Behind the door was a long hallway, similar to the room they'd just come out of. There were curtains drawn over all the windows, effectively covering the walls. The floor was marble and made a thudding sound with every step they took. There was another door just opposite them, and it was the only way out of the room.

"Something feels... off..." Ronin mumbled, huddled up against Ash, who had his arm wrapped around him. "I don't know what it is..."

There was a shuffle and one of the curtains moved.

"... Shit," said a voice from behind the curtain.

"RUN!" Karloff yelled, all of them breaking into a sprint toward the next door. The robots, who had seemed to be standing guard from behind the curtain for whatever reason, began to fire at them.

"Ronin and I can hold them back - Karloff, Wu, get Camille and Lloyd into the next room. We'll follow!" Ash pushed the four ahead a little, holding his boyfriend's hand. "We got this."

Ronin grinned nervously and squeezed his boyfriend's hand. "Yeah."

The two of them took out their swords and pecked each other on the lips before nodding. They then split from each other and started to run at the robots, slicing them in half with their swords.

Karloff pulled the other three behind him as he sprinted toward the door. Lloyd, who had clambered on top of his shoulder, fired at any robots that were trying to stop them, turning around and all. The door was so close, Karloff pushing Wu and Camille in and then letting Lloyd get off his shoulder and going into the room himself.

He turned around just in time to see Ronin, firing his pistols, getting a sword through his chest.

"RONIN!" Ash screamed. Everything was a bit of blur, really.

Screaming.

Bullets.

Clashing.

Running.

Blood.

He ran through the crowd of robots, screaming incoherently with rage, firing his pistol and slicing through the enemies. He got a few bullets in him, not enough to cause real damage, just for him to bleed.

He soon stood above Ronin's impaled body. There was still life in his lover, his eyes flickering around, his laboured breaths becoming slower.

"Ronin... N...no..."

"A... Ash... be...behind... you..."

The next thing the Smoke Master knew, there was a bloody sword through his chest.

"... Huh." He fell beside Ronin, gazing into the dying eyes.

And they died, staring into each other's eyes.

Karloff shut the door.

The Tyrant knows they're there.

He's just wondering how many people will be alive to face him.

Toxikita. Ronin. Ash.

"We've lost them... Who else are we going to lose?" Camille leant again Karloff. "Let's place bets," she joked. "I bet... I'll die next. Either me or Lloyd."

"No one dying next." Karloff glared at her, though it was soft and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We gonna live, you see." He tightened his hold briefly, grinning widely. "You see!" He grabbed Lloyd into a hug, who looked very uncomfortable and was even glaring at Karloff, after he stopped rolling his eyes.

When Lloyd finally escaped the deadly hug, he brushed himself off, huffing, and said, "Right. Now, are we going to stand stupid in this room or are we going to get out of here before they-" He gestured to the door they'd come through (now barricaded with a lot of furniture to keep out the robots) "-find a way in and kill us?"

Wu raised an eyebrow and sipped something from a flask - since it looked like your typical alcohol flask, Lloyd assumed it was that. "Want some?" He offered it to his nephew who responded by snatching it out of his hand and taking a swig of it.

It wasn't alcohol. It was...

"Fucking TEA?!" He threw it down onto the floor, the offending drink dribbling out and onto the floor. "Why did I expect anything else?" He groaned, rubbing his temples with his eyes closed. When they opened, he glared at Wu. "You're just as crazy as he is. You're just as crazy as you were when I left you and your stupid ninja team to rot." He chuckled. "Could hardly call it a team. One of them had run away, probably to kill himself, one of them was going crazy and another person had died."

Wu glared and said nothing. His eyes often looked at the tea trickling down the cold marble floor.

"It was only a matter of time, Uncle, until we all left." Lloyd grinned wickedly. "And you'd be all alone again." He would have continued, but Wu suddenly aimed a gun at his nephew's head. Lloyd just grinned more. "What you going to do, Uncle? Kill me? The only living person in your family? Your brother is dead again. Your students are dead. The love of your life, my MOTHER, is dead. Everyone else, well, they're dead, or soon to be."

The gun quivered in Wu's hand but he looked stoic - not even glaring.

"And even if you didn't care, you still wouldn't. You don't kill and neither did Cole. You just hurt and hurt and hurt but you never kill. Maybe if you did kill, you'd feel better. Killing really takes your breath away. It feels good and gets the pain out. You know what I mean? The pain of having once had everything... and then having nothing but the clothes on your back, your guns and swords and your mother. That's why people kill. To take out their stress... and to save others from this life."

"Lloyd, quit it. You're right, we need to get out of here fast." Camille stepped in between the relatives, hand on Wu's gun. "Come on. We need to get out of here."

The barricade shifted slightly behind them. Karloff, who had been topping it up slightly, backed away. "Sooner the better," he muttered, eyeing it uneasily.

Camille nodded once before pushing Lloyd back to Karloff and turning to face the blond. "Quit making trouble. You're going to get yourself or others killed. Stop being an ass."

"What you expect from arsonist?" Karloff snorted. "What you expect from murderer?"

"You take that back, you big metal freak! Who told you about that?!"

"Ronin told me about it. About Morro."

Lloyd aimed one of his guns at Karloff. "SHUT UP, YOU METAL FREAK! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Gun quivering in his hand, he had it facing Karloff's head. "Or I'll shoot you. I'll shoot your fucking brains out. You got that?"

The next few seconds were a blur. Camille slapped Lloyd and grabbed his gun and yelled something at him. Whether Lloyd was alarmed or shocked or angry, it didn't matter.

He shot her in the throat anyway.

Karloff caught her as she fell. Choking out blood, she managed to giggle and whisper, "I told you I'd die next." He ignored her words, holding her close to his chest and hugging her as she died.

Bang.

Lloyd gave her a bullet to the head, to end her suffering. She slumped against the Metal Master.

"Lloyd... killed Camille..." Karloff held her close for a few more minutes before finally allowing her to drop to the marble floor with a bloodcurdling thud. "LLOYD KILLED CAMILLE!" He practically leapt up and at the Green Ninja, grabbing his throat and throttling him.

"Oh? Hm? Well, who's soaked in her blood, huh?"

"LLOYD SHUT UP!" He continued to squeeze his throat tightly. No one stopped him. Lloyd seemed to love it and Wu just sipped at another flask of tea. He had to remind himself that he was necessary to defeat the Tyrant to get himself to stop.

His vision blurred with tears and he cried over Lloyd. For his brothers. His friends. Everyone.

He felt Lloyd's finger rubbing his forehead to soothe him. He felt him press his finger down and looked up. It wasn't a finger. It was the barrel of a gun.

"So sorry about this. But I don't need mental breakdowns happening."

Bang.

The last room. The Tyrant's hall. Where He would be. The last two stood in front of the door, slain robots on the ground behind and around them.

Lloyd grinned and pulled a box of matches out of his pocket and ignited it to show off. "Flamethrowers are too heavy and big for me to carry. Plus, if you use them right, gasoline and a lighter or a match can go a long way." He turned to his uncle. "Are you ready to fight Him? To kill Him?"

Wu sipped his tea, not pleased with his nephew. "No. We're not going to kill Him. I want to try to talk to Him."

"I fucking told you, Uncle, you're batshit insane. Just as bad as He is," he grunted. "Whatever. I just want the bastard dead."

"Not yet, Lloyd."

The Green Ninja glared. "You can't stop me from barging in there and beating His ass!" He gestured to the massacre of robots behind them. "They couldn't!"

Wu calmly stared, sipping his tea. "No, perhaps I can't." He looked back at the door and put his flask away. "All right. Try to kill Him."

Lloyd could have ran into the room with excitement as he went to grab his lighter and gasoline and matches, patting his pockets eagerly.

They were gone.

Something drenched him and he felt a shiver run down his spine. He slowly turned to face his uncle, who was holding a flickering match. He looked stoic. Uncaring. Emotionless.

"But I'll have to stop you."

The shiver all but grew as Wu finally, finally, finally gave a small smile.

"So sorry about this. But I don't need a family."

He didn't need a family either.

Who needs family when you have a world?

"Sensei." The tone of Jay's voice should have been mocking. It wasn't. Completely serious, he stared down the old man. "Come to visit?"

Wu wasn't smiling; he just blankly stared, head tilted ever so slightly. He dropped a box of matches, a lighter and an empty tub of gasoline from his hands. "You are the only thing that stands in my way."

"The same goes to you."

"We killed all of your robots. You must have... ten left." Wu should have sneered. He didn't.

"Good. Saves me the task." Jay didn't smile. Neither of them were.

There was a period of silence. Wu spent it tossing matches and lighters and tubs of gasoline on the floor. Jay spent it watching.

Finally, finally, finally, one of them smiled. "I suppose you're going to kill me."

"Yes. Yes I am."

There was another pause... and then Jay burst into fits of laughter. "You have to be joking, Sensei!" He cackled and wheezed and laughed. "You really think that you can kill me?! You won't kill anyone!"

"I beg to differ. Go outside. You'll find the burnt corpse of my nephew." He aimed a gun at Jay. His eyes should have been narrowed. They weren't.

"Awwwww. You killed for me!" Jay pressed his hands to his cheek in mock adoration, pouting his lips a little. "That's so nice of you, Sensei."

Wu rolled his eyes and pulled out a pistol.

"Ooh, a pistol, I'm so scare-"

Bang.

Jay covered his stomach with his hand, watching with both bemusement and disgust as blood trickled through his fingers. "Hm... it won't kill me, you know."

"I was aiming for that." He lifted his hand a little to aim at Jay's head.

He grinned, giving the sensei a thumbs up with his free hand. "I like you more now, you know."

The gun trembled in Wu's hand.

"No. You can't do it, can you? You killed one guy and now your hands are bloody." Jay tapped his foot, almost impatient. "You must be so ashamed. To kill your nephew. I killed your brother. I killed your sister-in-law. I killed nearly all of your students." He stretched out his hands to Wu, as if blood should have been oozing off them. His pupils contracted as his eyes widened and he grinned. He looked crazy but also as if he was despairing, in pain. "I have more blood on my hands than you!"

The gun slipped from the sensei's hand and he fell into a kneel. He hung his head and stared down at the ground, defeated.

All the bloodshed in the world could never give either of them what they wanted.

"Are you going to do it yourself or do I have to kill you as well today?" The voice should have been cold and uncaring. It wasn't. It was soft, pained, warm. Jay didn't want to kill his sensei.

He hadn't wanted to kill Kai either.

He just wished Nya hadn't died.

Tears fell down Wu and Jay's cheeks, but the Tyrant laughed slightly.

"I want... to save you," Wu whispered as he saw the feet approach him to pick up his gun. "I was deluded enough to think I could fix you..."

"I'm beyond fixing. I've been beyond fixing since the day Nya died." Jay's voice was a mumble as he spoke. The gun felt heavy in his head. Was it the weight of the pistol...?

Or the weight of his sins?

"But that's okay. It doesn't mean anything now." He patted his palm with the pistol a couple times, pacing, his tangle of limbs stumbling. "Are you sure you want me to do it?"

"Yes." Wu hadn't looked up at all, head bowed as if in prayer, hands on his knees, ankles tucked under him. His breaths were shallow and quick-paced. "Just get it ove-"

Bang.

Jay watched, almost emotionless, as the second to last survivor slumped onto his side and died, head bleeding out. His eyes, still soaked with tears, stared wide, mouth ajar.

"I'm all that's left, huh?" He blinked back tears, biting his lip and patting his palm with the pistol. "Didn't think it'd end like this." He sighed. "Better make sure I'm the only one left."

It took an hour for him to find all of his guards and robots and cyborgs. It took him less time to kill them all. He soon stood on a mountain of corpses.

Wu's dead, teary eyes burnt into his own.

"Thank you, Sensei." He put the gun to his temples, finger on the trigger.

He should have been trembling, crying. He wasn't.

"I've always wanted to die."

Bang.

A/N: And that, my friends, is the end of When the Darkness Comes!

It's been a fun ride. That eight month hiatus I accidentally took really paid off - my writing is much better and it feels more flow-y. But I keep looking back on myself and cringing.

I'll be posting the entire fanfiction on Archive of Our Own - Author Note free - and then I'll begin to work on the original story version. It'll be much better - I'll have a good idea of what needs to happen in each chapter and such and I'll have this to lean back on. If you want to talk to me, you can find me on Tumblr, Archive of Our Own and Twitter - all under IHaveNoSoul13 (except for Tumblr, which is ihavenosoul12)! If you want to find me anywhere, just look for that username and it should be me. My Discord number is #3871 and I, of course, have the same username.

Now, a little note. I have lost interest in Ninjago so this will probably be my last fanfiction for it. I may watch episodes and maybe the upcoming movie but I don't think I'll be in the fandom. I'll treasure what I've learnt from my time here and you're free to keep in contact. I'll still reblog stuff about it sometimes. I'm just not too into it and not a part of the fandom.

And I'll be moving from Fanfiction as a website entirely too. I want to invest in original stories - like The Blood Series - and this isn't the place for that. I will probably be available to message and I may read a couple fanfictions from time to time but don't expect much from me.

Thank you for joining me on this journey - you started with me as Bronya, a cis, straight twelve year old girl, and you have now ended with me as Soul/Tristan/Viktor, a non-binary, aroace fourteen year old.

I'm sorry for leaving you guys all of a sudden but I have to continue my writing career somewhere, even if it's not here. I hope you can understand. Perhaps, one day, you'll be writing and reading fanfiction for my published works, haha.

I hope you have good lives and I hope you can understand this.

It's been fun to be around.

See ya!

~Soul/Tristan/Viktor.

Fini.