Kai gaped at the Samurai X mech standing there at the ready. That was Lloyd... Lloyd!
Despite the fact that anyone wearing Pixal's helmet wound up with a highly synthesized voice, Kai knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that his little brother was alive... meaning Garmadon and Skylor lied.
Wait... Garmadon lied?
Now Kai had questions... but those questions would have to wait. The ground rumbled with every step the mech took towards Chen.
"I thought you said he was dead!"
"I lied." Both Skylor and Garmadon stated in unison.
Chen glared at both of them before stepping forwards angrily. His fingers were clenched tightly at his sides, eyes narrow.
"You shouldn't have come alone! I'm far more powerful than the last time we met."
"Well..." Lloyd replied dryly. "I didn't have all that many people to ask for help."
Suddenly the lights cut out, the cell doors rumbled open, and Chen could be heard gasping.
"But I had a few."
"Good work, Dareth!"
"Thanks, Misako. Everyone knows I love flipping switches."
"Indeed. Now we must get inside to help Lloyd.""You're right sensei Wu. Let's do this."
The emergency lights came on just in time for Chen to see seven livid elemental masters and a nindroid all surrounding the Mech...
But Lloyd wasn't the only one with loyal supporters. Chen stretched his arms out above his head in signal, and thirty SOG goons threw open doors and jumped from the shadows. UV, Cryptor, quite a few serpentine, and several gang members from various other organizations stood mingled in.
Lloyd studied the situation. Pixal's mech was already at thirty percent fighting capacity... damaged from the battle before Lloyd got his hands on it. The gangs were armed with heavy police weaponry, meaning the mech wouldn't be standing for all that long... but if he could work fast, he might be able to make it work before the advantage was gone.
Lloyd looked at his comrades on the ground before locking eyes with Chen.
"Attack!"
Skylor was held back by Garmadon, who practically dragged her to the back of the fight to keep her out of the way.
"Let go of me." Skylor hissed, yanking her arm away from the dark lord. He reaffirmed his grip on her upper arm and shot her a look.
"Why did you help him?" Skylor paused. Garmadon had helped him twice now, meaning either his logic was completely twisted... Skylor didn't know.
Garmadon set his jaw, not looking or answering. He didn't have to explain himself to a child.
Lloyd knew that guy lurking three stories up was going to be a problem, but just how much of one hadn't been determined until a fast flying missile hit the mech's chassis.
The Samurai X machine had gone flying through the wall, landing outside the prison. That was strangely familiar...no unpleasantly so.
"Power at point five percent."
"Ow..." Lloyd groaned. He hadn't just stolen the mech itself, but a spare set of armor from one of their safehouses. It was far more reinforced than his Gi, and provided the rigid structure needed to keep him standing.
That being said, every single step was agony, like hot daggers digging into his flesh... and being jolted from the fall? Only compounded the issue.
He just lay there for a long moment until the overhead harness was tossed off, letting him slide out into Sensei Wu and Misako's arms.
"Lloyd!" Misako whispered, pulling the helmet off.
"Agh...I'm fine.."
"Lloyd, stay here. We can-"
"I'm sorry, Master Wu." Lloyd pulled himself free and rose to unsteady legs. Misako saw his eyes shut in a wince as he blindly groped for the helmet Misako had apprehended. He grabbed it and snapped it back on. There was no way he had come this far just to keel over and die from a head injury. "I can't do that. I've come this far, and the battle's not over."
Biting the inside of his cheek hard enough that it drew blood, he shoved the pain back in it's box and ran towards the opening his mech had smashed in the walls.
"Lloyd!"
"There's no stopping him... but we can help him." Misako sighed.
"I fear you may be right."
People had noticed when Lloyd's mech had gotten thrown through the wall... but no one had been able to do anything about it.
Nya did however decide to get a little vengeance for her brother. The missile launcher psychopath perched up top didn't know what hit him. Suddenly the bar was sailing from in front of him, under him, and behind him as someone kicked him over. The three story drop and initial splat was all that remained in his life now.
How could it have come to this? He was such a good kid growing up, straight A student, obedient, reliable... now working for Chen. He didn't really have time to get into the specifics of it all, since the ground was only a few feet away.
A rope snagged his foot, halting his fall midair and sending searing stabs of pain through his back and spine.
He looked up to see the master of water glaring at him.
Kai felt fairly useless. Broken leg, chained to the guard tower while his friends grew more and more outnumbered. Reinforcements for the opposing side were beginning to pour in as criminals returned from the city.
Cryptor suddenly came flying his way, smacking into the side of the guard tower, his sensors momentarily frazzled. Zane ran up, freezing the bot in a jagged prison of ice before kneeling next to Kai.
"Let me get you out of this."
"Zane, look out!"
The ice ninja was grabbed from behind by UV, who jammed a taser into his side. Zane shouted, tensing up as electricity momentarily socked his systems.
Chen hung back, not seeing a need to get involved. His goons had things well handled for the time being. That's when he noticed Samurai X... or rather the Samurai X of the day, clambering back in through the hole in the wall.
Well maybe he could get involved just this once. Garmadon had lied to him, meaning all courtesies regarding Lloyd were off the table.
Lloyd barely had time to dodge Chen's attack, staggering backwards to avoid getting a sword to the neck.
"Hello, Lloyd." Chen sneered. "Long time no see! My you've grown up!"
"Chen. Have fun rotting in the cursed realm?"
Lloyd wasn't cold to many people, but he could find excuse for his hostility towards Chen.
"Oh it was wonderful! There was definitely a lack of trap doors though. That really killed my mojo."
"I'm sure it did."
Chen swung at Lloyd again, but this time the green ninja parried it. Chen had years more practice than Lloyd or even his father did, meaning Chen could easily win this fight.
"I'll make you a deal green ninja." Chen grinned darkly. "You win this fight, and I surrender. Lose and your friends surrender."
"De-"
"I'll fight for him!" The prison stilled as all eyes turned towards Garmadon.
He looked slightly peeved. "If anyone's going to kill my son, it'll be me." Garmadon wasn't sure that he actually wanted to anymore... but if anyone actually got the right... it would be him and him alone.
"My son's too injured to put up a good fight. Not that he'd win even in good shape."
Minus the jab... had Garmadon just referred to Lloyd as his son?
"I thought you disowned him." Chen dryly pointed out.
"Slip of the tongue. Old habits die hard. Now is it a deal or not?"
"Not." Chen chuckled. "I offered the deal to him... not you."
"Because you knew you could beat him."
Chen froze at that.
"You knew he didn't stand a chance. How strong are you really if it takes a weakened enemy for you to extend that kind of offer? How strong are you really?"
Garmadon knew how to play towards egos.
"Fine fine, I'll show you. What are your terms?"
"If I win, you leave Ninjago and never return. And if you win..." Garmadon glanced over at Lloyd, with an unreadable look. "I'll serve you until my dying breath."
"Chen's going to destroy us!" Sensei Garmadon yelped. Lloyd cast a glance in his direction with a frown. "You idiot! You could have made the terms a little less harsh!
"But all three of them knew that was a lie. Chen wouldn't have accepted otherwise...
"It's a deal... clear some room!"
Garmadon and Chen paced in a circular motion, never daring to take their eyes off each other for even a second.
There was very thin ice for either of them to tread on. They were both criminals with outstanding warrants for their arrests, both responsible for heinous and unforgivable crimes.
As they paced Lloyd crossed his arm across his waist and closed his eyes.
"We're gonna lose this." Sensei Garmadon huffed. "Chen taught me everything I know... and even then, I didn't learn everything before I left."
Lloyd shuddered, shaking his head slightly.
"I'm sorry. This is my fault-"
Garmadon shook his head. "No. You were right in coming."
Lord Garmadon listened to his good half and arch... person... chatter as he charged at Chen with a roar. He had over thirty sets of eyes trained on him, a ring of people surrounding their makeshift fighting arena.
Chen dodged his strike and lazily thumped his back.
"Please. You call that an attack?"
Chen whirled, using spinjitzu to hit Lord Garmadon from behind. The dark lord fell forward, but rolled back to his feet and swung a heavy sword at Chen's chest.
Chen dodged, struck at the hilt of Garmadon's weapon, only to get kicked.
He saw it coming and danced away, grinning darkly.
It was an even match, the two striking blow for blow, but never really hitting. But Garmadon was fine with that. With every attack, he could his power thrumming even more strongly in his veins. The fight fueled him after all.
"Oh no..." Sensei Garmadon breathed. "He's charging up with dark powers... I-I'm." Sensei Garmadon clutched his chest and staggered a bit. Lloyd reached out, but it did no good to try and grab something that wasn't there. "I get weaker whenever he embraces it."
"Who is Lloyd talking to?" Jay asked. "Did he hit head that hard?"
"No." Neuro replied quickly. "Lord Garmadon and Lloyd have a shared mental link... and Lord Garmadon is hallucinating Sensei Garmadon meaning-"
"Lloyd is too-" Wu who had entered at the beginning of the fight alongside Misako, finished for the master of mind.
Neuro nodded.
Suddenly Garmadon bashed Chen's chest with a supercharged fist, but rather than severe damage the attack might have otherwise caused most people... Chen laughed as his own eyes sparked.
He had absorbed a bit of Garmadon's power.
"Oh that's not good." Nya whispered.
Garmadon growled and tried to shove hid powers back down, but every hit either he or Chen landed gave Chen more power.
"Oh this is nice!" Chen cackled. "Have a taste of your own medicine!"
A massive orb of dark energy sent Lord Garmadon flying into a wall.
"No!" Sensei Garmadon shouted. He felt stronger than ever, but Chen was about to collect his debt over the both of them.
"Father." Lloyd muttered quickly, tugging his helmet off. "Wu once told me that there must be a balance between good and evil."
"Yes, I know, I'm trying to balance that moron out but-"
"You can't do anything like this." Waving arm, Lloyd gedtured to Sensei Garmadon as a whole.
Sensei Garmadon paused. "What?"
"Talking to Lord Garmadon has never done anything. It's always taken action to really get him to listen.... And this time, I can't do anything to help... at least not like I did before. There's no venom to scrub from his system. The oni is strong, because the dragon is weak." Lloyd looked at his father. "You've already made a difference from out here, but if you want to change him... you have to become a part of him again. Your dragon has to destroy the Oni's foothold."
"Lloyd, I'm not strong enough."
"Yes you are.' Lloyd gave him a resolute look. "This is a battle I can't fight for you... but I will be with you... father."
Between the speech and over exertion, Lloyd was barely able to stay standing. Thankfully Zane and Jay realized that from across the room and had been fighting their way through the throng of spectators to get to him.
"Lloyd!" Jay called, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to support him. "Man it is good to see you alive and well."
"Correction. He is far from well." Zane stated, a quick scan revealing the horrible extent of Lloyd's injuries. The nindroid helped Jay keep Lloyd standing.
"It's good to see you guys too." Lloyd breathed, glancing at his father. Sensei Garmadon lowered his head, deeply in thought.
If this didn't work, he would be stuck in Garmadon's head again... probably forever, trapped in a dark cage never to see the light of day again.
But Chen would take away his ability to give Lord Garmadon the chance. Even now, Chen stood over the downed criminal with malice in his eyes.
"Surrender?"
Garmadon planted his fist into the ground and forced himself up to aching feet. Everything hurt, but he wasn't about to call it quits yet.
"No."
Sensei Garmadon took a deep breath and charged at Lord Garmadon, impacting and allowing their minds to merge once more.
"Agh!"
Chen was taken aback by Garmadon's howl of surprise and rage... but unbeknownst to him, a fight was now taking place at the mental level.
In the darkness Sensei Garmadon closed his eyes.
"Now that was stupid." His four armed counter part hissed lowly, voice echoing through the blackness.
"What can I say? My son's love of risk taking had a positive affect on me."
"You realize I can finally squash you... right?"
"Yes. But you won't. You can't! Good can never be destroyed!"
Lord Garmadon huffed out a laugh. "No but it can be buried!" The playing field shook and a pile of rubble came crashing from the darkness above.
Sensei Garmadon lunged out of the way, tackling Lord Garmadon.
"I made the mistake of believing I was alone!" The Sensei cried. "But I never was! Unlike you, I have something worthwhile to fight for!" Sensei Garmadon landed a hit before getting thrown off.
"Naive thinking!" Lord Garmadon growled. "Now I know where he gets it. You'll never win! The darkness is strong! The Oni in me always was!" He got his good counterpart down, choking him with one of his four forearms. The Sensei kicked his feet, sending Lord Garmadon flying off, only to land moments later with a dull thud. The good of the two rose to his feet and massaged his throat.
"Only because you embrace the Oni, is it strong! But as for me... I've chosen to embrace something much stronger." Sensei Garmadon took a step back, his eyes glowing gold. "Love. My family, my friends, my students, good... the dragon! I am stronger than you! I will end this madness once and for all! For my family!"Lord Garmadon watched in horror as a gold swirls spun around Sensei Garmadon, joining together above to form a massive glowing dragon. The creature reared back its head, and roared.
Light exploded, blinding both of them.
"Uh..." Chen waved a hand in front of Garmadon's face. "Earth to Garmadon... anyone... there?"
"What happened?" Cole asked. Ultra violet just shook her head.
"I think we won."
"Ah crab apples." Cole cursed, wrinkling his nose angrily. This was just great. Had Garmadon planned this? Was this all some ploy to destroy them all?
Nya was biting her lip, kneeling next to Kai in worry.
Wu frowned, furrowing his brow. What was his brother doing?
No one had a chance to answer. Chen turned away. "I guess I win!"
Suddenly Garmadon lashed out, yanking Chen back around and pulling him close. Chen could see that Garmadon's eyes were glowing faintly gold, but that glow got stronger.
"Hello, Chen." Garmadon's insane leer was replaced by a calm, hateful drawl.
One Chen knew well.
"S-Sensei Garmadon?" Chen asked slowly, feeling for his powers. They weren't responding correctly, and there was something deadly in Garmadon's eyes.
"The one and only."
Suddenly Garnadon's eyes flashed brightly, and both Chen and the four armed warlord were engulfed in golden light that blinded everyone in the room.
Eyes were averted from glow, and the light lasted for a good ten seconds.
When it died, Lloyd pulled the Samurai X helmet off and rubbed his eyes. He still couldn't see clearly for a moment, but he heard awed whispers from those who could.
"Is that?"
"It is!"
"No way!"
Lloyd blinked and finally got a glance at what they were all looking at. There... in the middle of the room, holding a dazed Master Chen... was none other than a two armed, gray haired, Sensei Garmadon.
He let Chen drop roughly on the ground.
"You lose!" He called. "Now everyone stand down..."
The remaining goons seemed to debate the order, but quickly found themselves outmatched as a loud voice came over the speakers.
"This is the warden!" Dareth's voice could clearly be heard. "The police... my buddies.. have the place surrounded. Stand down, or else I'll uh- Just stand down!"
Lloyd smirked as Dareth's bluff seemed to do the trick.
Apparently the police were surrounding the station, because only seconds after Dareth's announcement as 'the warden', police flooded the place.
Chen's army didn't put up much of a fight, and Garmadon handed Chen over to the commissioner.
"Hmm... good to have you back, Sensei Garmadon."
"It's good to be back, Commissioner."
"Father!"
Both the Commissioner and Sensei Garmadon looked up to see Lloyd stumbling over. Lloyd was met with a gentle yet firm bear hug.
Being able to actually feel the hug made the moment all that much sweeter for both of them, until Lloyd's legs gave out, forcing Garmadon to keep him standing.
"Easy!" The old sensei laughed. "Oh my son..."
"Sensei Garmadon!"
The bear hug became a group hug as eight more people joined in. Even Kai, who had been liberated by a police officer, joined in. All of them had greatly missed Sensei Garmadon, even Kai. While Lord Garmadon's actions had earned the wrath of the ninja team, no one could fault his good half for very much. Even Wu had forgotten the stolen letter which had driven a stake through their relationship not long before Garmadon's sacrifice.
Garmadon laughed quietly, not acknowledging the sole tear running down his cheek.
"It's good to see you... all of you."
"Welcome back brother." Wu put a hand on his long lost brother's shoulder, unshed tears making his eyes glisten.
"Thank you."
From the back of the group, Misako hesitantly approached. Her eyes first went to her son. His eyes were closed; and she could tell he had finally passed out.
"Misako." Garmadon muttered, remembering how at one point he had tried to kill her. "I-I know what I've done is unforg-"
She raised a hand. "I know it wasn't you... but we can discuss all this later."
"Yes." Garmadon nodded in agreement. "You should probably get Lloyd and Kai to the bounty."
"What about you?" Cole asked. "Aren't you coming?"
"I don't think so. I'm... I wasn't strong enough to stop him from hurting you all. I can't even begin to forgive myself... meaning I can't expect you to forgive me."
"But we have." Zane replied. "We were never mad at you. We were made at Lord Garmadon."
"Yeah... you're not getting a choice in this one." Kai said, readjusting his arm across Nya's shoulder to keep his weight off the broken leg. "You can take Jay's bunk."
"Wait a second!" Jay protested. "Why does it have to be my bunk!? Why can't it be yours?"
"Broken leg, remember?"
"So?"
"He can have my bed." Cole sighed. "I don't mind the fold out couch."
Garmadon winced, causing Jay to feel just a little guilty. "No. It's okay." Jay backtracked. "I was joking. I really don't mind, Sensei G. It's good to have you back."
Everytime Lloyd came back around these days, he was somewhere else. He smelled the familiar oak aroma of the Bounty, heard the usual creaking and soft roar, associated with flying through the air.
Man, Lloyd had definitely had a wild dream. He knew a bunch of it had happened, but the prison fight couldn't have possibly happened.
He groaned, finally deciding to get up. It was going to be agony, but he needed some fresh air.
"Oh no ya don't!" Jay yelped, shoving him back down gently.
"Jay..." Lloyd grumbled. "Let me up."
"After the stunt you pulled at Kryptarium?" Scoffed the master of Lightning. "Not a chance! You popped like every stitch! We had to give you a transfusion! You' are so not leaving that bed until either Zane or Pixal gives you a full bill of health."
"Wait..." Lloyd shook his head. Hope was blossoming in his chest. "It wasn't a dream?" He rasped.
Jay looked confused. "What wasn't?"
"Kryptarium... my father..."
"Oh no. He's meditating with Sensei Wu." Jay walked to the door and stuck his head out. "Hey sensei Garmadon! He's awake!"
Jay stepped away from the door a moment later as Sensei Garmadon entered, looking elated.
"I'll leave you two alone for a bit." Jay backed out of the room and closed the door.
"Welcome back, Son." Lloyd watched his father sit in the chair next to Lloyd's bunk. "You've been out for a day and a half... we were worried sick."
But Lloyd didn't care for himself at the moment. A small smile stretched across his face. "You did it... you're back."
"I am." Garmadon assured, gripping his son's arm as proof. "And I'm not going anywhere for a long time."
Well folks, it's been a fun ride for this story! I've enjoyed writing it and reading all your reviews on it. This is the end though. Twenty chapters is a good stopping point. I hope you all enjoyed the read. Thanks for tuning in! Now for the final shout outs for Impass:
Bookkeeper2004: Guess we found out what he was thinking. Thanks for reviewing throughout this story! It means a lot.
Candice The Heart-icuno: I found Fugi-Dove hilarious myself. Same with Dareth actually. I've had a bit of a difficult time with Dareth's personality, but hopefully I managed alright.I still had Garmadon's motives for lying be incredibly selfish, but there was signs of a change. Of course Skylor had a good motive for playing along though.Thanks for the reviews! I seriously appreciated them.
Hypothetical Alien24: The chance of poor Lloyd ever getting a break is fairly slim all things considered. Now... your suggestion was incredibly close to what I already had in mind. I hadn't totally decided how it would work, but your suggestion really helped. So... I incorporated your idea into the story... cause I had the ending in mind and just didn't know how I was going to get there. So thank you for the suggestion! and All the reviews you've left.
Guest: I just HAD to add Fugi-dove as air support... and you're probably right. Garmadon just naturally sticks around people without glue. Lloyd definitely needs to stop being reckless, but it did make for an awesome dramatic entrance. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review!
Saga: Yeah... Lloyd definitely said screw it all I'm gonna be the Samurai today... though Pixal will make sure that's a temporary arrangement. I'm glad you enjoyed the story development and my idea to do the mental link with Hallucination Sensei Garmadon. Those were literally last minute plot twists. I was just like OOOH let's do it! I'm glad it's a favorite for ya. Thanks for the review!
So...*sniff.* It's time to turn my attention to my other stories... because this one has faced it's dramatic conclusion. That being said... So long and thanks for all the reads.-Bl00dR4v3n