It takes two
Chapter 24
Mission impossible
PrincePacman47: I honestly think that the red paint might've been blood...but hey, we may never know. Harumi changing her appearance is more of her trying to change her ways, and trying to move past her mask as the Jade princess and The Quiet One. Now she's just trying to be Harumi. Lloyd is definitely not trying to open his heart to Harumi after she broke it, but he's definitely bringing down some walls. And don't worry, I'm trying to have Harumi be cool with everyone, but I can't rush it. I will not rush her redemption. Lol that would really suck if I killed Harumi and Liv. But thankfully, Harumi is safe. Liv i'm not so sure. You'll have to wait and see what I do for her.
Can I just say thank you all for over 20 reviews? Like really guys over 20 reviews, thank you! Oh, almost forgot, as of now this story has officially strayed from the events of the show.
Warning for language I guess? And the fact that I had too much fun with this chapter and it's unreasonably long? Guys there will be some less savery words here.
Misako didn't handle it well.
But, in hindsight, Nya really shouldn't have expected her to. Heck, they're all still trying to grieve for their brothers, and with Liv's current situation and the murderer who's responsible for the death of said brother now joining The Resistance...everyone is pretty tense.
Saving the city has sadly taken a back seat on their list of priorities.
Nya's got a lot on her hand, okay? She's trying to cope with the loss of her brother, boyfriend, and her best friends. While trying to be there for Lloyd and help him lead The Resistance, save his sister from death, try not to strangle Harumi, and stop Garmadon. She feels like a balloon about to pop.
But all other problems aside, telling Misako about Liv's future was hard. Liv is her daughter after all, and after everything, they deserve to be together. Aside from the distressed mother, Pixal seems to enjoy poking holes in their plan.
"That plan is not logical." Pixal says, her bright green eyes firm. "Confrontation between Lloyd and Liv is inevitable, and not to mention vital if we wish to save the city."
"What makes you so certain that Lloyd is the only one who can stop Garmadon?" Ronin scoffs, eyeing the blonde teen. "I mean, he's powerless. Literally."
Lloyd stiffens, glaring at Ronin halfheartedly. "He is not powerless." Nya defends. "It's his sister-"
"And that's exactly why Lloyd shouldn't be the one to stop her!" Misako cuts in. The room falls silent, all eyes averted from the elder woman.
Nya puts a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, trying to comfort him as much as possible. His scarlet eyes are glassy with tears, silent sobs racking his small frame. Harumi looks away as Skylor glares at her, biting her lip
"There is no alternative." Pixal finally says, her voice a low whisper. "I have run countless options, and there was no outcome where the city was saved, and Liv survived."
Misako breaks down, silent tears running down her cheeks. Nya rubs soothing circles on Lloyd's back as he cries. Damn logical thought. Since when did they use logical thought? Sadly, it was the truth that they all knew, but never wanted to admit. Harumi wipes furiously at her eyes, trying to stop herself from joining this sob fest.
She has no right to cry, not when she dragged Liv into this mess. Liv would probably be right here if it hadn't been for her, happy with Lloyd and planning how to stop Garmadon and Harumi, not trying to figure out how to stop her own death-
Harumi's face lights up with a smile. "The masks!" She shouts. Blood shot eyes look up at her, quizzical. "The Oni masks!" Harumi continues, standing up from her seat at the small table next to Ronin and gesturing wildly with her hands. "The Oni masks brought Garmadon here, so maybe they can send him back."
"That - That could work." Pixal says at the other skeptical expressions.
It's not that Nya doesn't trust Harumi, she might. Maybe? A little bit? Not really, Nya's trust in Harumi is very, very little Practically non-existent. Because this is the girl that lied to them, for weeks!
But Nya might not trust Harumi, but she does trust that Harumi does care about Liv. Nya believes that Harumi and Liv's friendship wasn't a lie. "So we use the Oni masks to send Garmadon back to the departed realm? Wouldn't he take Liv with him?" Skylor says, raising one, quizzical eyebrow.
"Not necessarily? The masks should just pull Garmadon from Liv's mind." Harumi adds, glaring at Skylor. All eyes look to Lloyd, and the blond nods slowly.
"I say we try it." He says, his eyes locking with Haumi before she looks away.
"Your plan is great and all," Ronin says, smirking. "But the Oni masks are somewhere in Borg tower. How are we supposed to break in there, and steal the three things that are probably the most guarded?" The theft sniffs, setting down his coffee cup. "Sneaking into a heavily guarded tower is a little out of my pay grade."
The room falls silent once again, and Harumi shifts. "Well," She says, unclipping a violet relic from her belt. "The mask of hatred is as good a start than any." The white haired girl says, holding up her mask for all to see.
"Welp, guess were breaking into Garmadon base, then." Ronin huffs, sitting back in his chair.
The rest of the afternoon is spent trying to iron out a solid way to get in and out of Borg tower with the Oni masks, and Harumi is way more useful than the others gave her credit for. Pointing out places where guards are gathered, and how long they'll be there. The smartest way to get in and out of the tower, and, last but certainly not least…
Where the Oni masks are hidden.
The next day, Pixal, Skylor, Harumi, Lloyd, and Ronin made their way through the streets of Ninjago city. Using the shadows and alleys to their advantage, the hastily made their way towards Borg tower. Dareth and Misako are hidden at Skylor's noodle shop, standing by on the radio's in case the plan went south.
"Look, I'm all for you ninjas reckless little schemes, but come on! We're sneaking into his vault-" Ronin whispers, running close behind Nya and Lloyd.
"Put a sock in it, Ronin." Nya hisses, making a left into an alleyway and scrambling up a fire escape to the roof. Ronin huffs, but keeps his doubts to himself.
Lloyd slows down a bit, running next to Harumi. "You sure this'll work?" He asks, his voice low. Harumi doesn't look at him, her hair swaying behind her like a ray of pale moonlight.
"I'm positive." Harumi says, curtly. Lloyd stares at her a moment longer before tearing his scarlet eyes away.
Before they know it, Nya, Skylor, Pixal, Harumi, Ronin and Lloyd are standing on the roof of the building across from Borg tower. The tall building towers over them, casting a large shadow over the smaller building occupied by The Resistance.
Pixal flips open a compartment on his arm, revealing a 3D hologram of Borg tower. "The safest way to get into the tower is here." Harumi says, gesturing towards the back side of Borg tower, closest to the rooftop The Resistance members are on. "If we use the skytram cables, then we can get up to this window on the twentieth floor. The vault should be on the twenty first."
Everyone nods, somewhat hesitantly. But they follow Lloyd's lead as he runs towards the side of the building and leaps off onto the nearest skytram. The tram shudders, the roof bending under Lloyd's feet. He holds a hand out to stop Nya from running next, and brings his foot down hard on the tram, once he's deemed it safe, Nya runs up next, grabbing Ronin by the arm and using twin jets of water to propel her and the thief forward. Pixal goes next, landing solidly on the tram.
Harumi goes last, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she sprints towards the edge of the building. Kicking off the roof and springing for the skytram. She lands none too gracefully, losing her balance and slipping.
With a yelp, Harumi stumbles from the tram when firm hands grip her wrist, pulling her back up atop the skytram. Harumi nods in thanks towards Lloyd, and the blond slowly lets go of her wrist. Ronin chuckles, letting out a low whistle.
Lloyd turns around swiftly, shooting Ronin a fierce glare. His cheeks heat, and Lloyd turns around. "Let's keep moving." He says, ignoring the flare in his heart and the fire in his cheeks. The group hasilty, but carefully, race across the sky tram cables. Flipping over the inactive cars and balancing on the thick cables until they reached the window on the twentieth floor of Borg tower.
Lloyd motions for the others to jump across onto the window sill, and they hesitantly obey. Nya, Skylor, and Pixal leap across without a second thought, having Ninja for brothers had advantages. While Harumi followed with a bit of reluctance, and Lloyd soon after until Ronin was the only one left on the skytram.
"Reckless, idiotic kids." Ronin grumbles under his breath as he jumps onto the window sill, Nya quickly steadies him, and the small group inch their way across the side of Borg tower towards the supposedly unlocked twentieth window.
The drop from Borg tower at the height there at now would certainly be deadly, so Ronin can complain all he wants about how slow the small group is moving at, but honestly, he can put a sock in it, Lloyd thinks with a grin as he slowly slides his feet along the wall.
"Here, this is it." Harumi says, stopping in front of a large window.
"Pixal, are the camera's shut off yet?" Nya asks, eyeing the silver haired nindroid.
Pixal taps at a panel on her wrist, holding up three fingers and slowly counting down. When she got to one, the group peaked inside the window, watching as the floor's security cameras shut down. Harumi pulls out the mask of hatred. Skylor eyes the mask wearily before glaring in warning at the white haired girl.
Harumi ignores Skylor's fiery look as she slips on the mask, the familiar power coursing through her as she smirks, letting the power settle before she slams her stone fist into the glass window. The window shatters instantly, glass raining down on the pristine marble floors. Harumi steps inside, the glass crunching like fresh snow beneath her feet. The rest of the Resistance steps in after Harumi, Nya eyeing the broken glass and Lloyd checking the hall for any guards. He's not surprised when he comes up empty, Harumi did say that the guards on this floor wouldn't be here for thirty minutes, tops.
"As of right now," Pixal starts the timer on her arm panel. "We officially only have thirty two minutes and seventeen seconds until the camera's turn back on this floor, and the floor holds the masks."
"Alright." Lloyd says, turning back to face his team. "We're on the clock now, guys. Let's make this quick." He says, talking to Ronin, Pixal, Skylor, and Harumi like he would Kai, Cole, Zane, Jay, and Nya. Like this was just some mission he was going on with his brothers.
Lloyd swallows, pushing his grief back into its little Do not touch box in the back of Lloyd's mind. He's fully aware that he's suppressing his trauma, But Lloyd knows Nya is, too. And so is Pixal and Skylor and Misako. Because they have bigger things to worry about, and The Resistance cannot afford to have their leader curl up in a ball and sob somewhere. His sister needs him to be strong. So for now, Lloyd will stuff all his trauma and pain and heartbreak and just all of his stupid, stupid emotions in the box, and they will sit there until Lloyd deems them ready to come out.
"I thought you said the window would be open." Skylor bites, glaring at Harumi.
The white haired girl rolls her eye, taking off the mask of hatred and clipping it back on her belt. "It's open now, isn't it?" Harumi snaps, meeting Skylor's glare with her own.
Skylor scoffs, stepping up to Harumi's challenge. Ronin huffs out a laugh, shaking his head patronizingly at the two girls. "Alright, girls. Enough with the cat fights." He breaths. Harumi and Skylor hold their ground for a moment longer before finally breaking apart.
Lloyd sighs, running a hand through his tangled, blonde locks. Nya places a hand on his shoulder, and they keep moving down towards the staircase leading to the twenty-first floor. Harumi takes the lead, much to Lloyd's chagrin. It makes sense, really. She knows the tower better than them at the moment.
She stops at the door to the twenty-first floor, slowly pushing the door open and checking the hall. The cameras are shut off, too. And the guards voices echo faintly down the hall. Steadily disappearing from earshot.
The vault is in the middle of the hall. One, large steel door that looks impossible to break into. Yet, that's exactly what The Resistance plans on doing. "Pix, can you get that door open?" Nya asks.
"We shall see." Pixal says, running up to the vault and tapping away at the control panel.
"Wait, you're telling me that this whole time, you kids didn't even know if you could get into the vault?" Ronin asks, incredulous. Silence greets him, but silence is all the answer he needs. The thief scoffs, taking off his straw hat to run a hand through his auburn hair in exasperation.
A soft click resounds through the hall, and all eyes turn at the sound of creaking metal. Pixal steps back from the control panel with a satisfied smirk. The steel door opens with the whirring of metal.
A smile breaks across Lloyd's face, and Nya pulls him into a hug from behind, ruffling the blond's hair. Skylor cheers silently, patting Pixal on the shoulder as Ronin pushes open the door and-
The vault is empty.
"Okay, what the hell?!" Skylor says, her previous mood forgotten as she rushes into the empty fault.
"What in the world…?" Nya says, quietly. Lloyd stares bewildered at the vault where two Oni masks should be.
"What the f*ck?" Ronin says, ignoring Nya's gasp. She swats his shoulder, gesturing wildly at Lloyd. The blond rolls his eyes, resisting the urge to remind Nya that he was raised at a school for terrible children. He's no stranger to cussing.
"Where are the masks?" Pixal asks, looking around the vault. All eyes float over toward Harumi, who's been surprisingly quiet.
"What?" The white haired girl says, looking around.
"Where are the masks, Harumi?" Skylor says, her voice low and threatening.
"There supposed to be in that vault!" Harumi almost shouts, gesturing at the vault.
"Yeah, well, there not!" Skylor continues, taking a step towards Harumi.
"What? You think I had something to do with it?" Harumi scoffs, offended. "I was with you the whole time!"
"Guys, guys stop it!" Lloyd pipes up, shoving his way between the two. "Or you're gonna alert the guards."
"Too late." Nya says, peering over the steel door and down the hall, where two silhouettes are visible. The guards.
"I thought we had thirty minutes until the guards came back!" Ronin hisses, his eyes darting around the corner.
"I said we had thirty minutes until the security cameras turned back on!" Pixal snaps, her green eyes panicked.
"This is your fault, you sold us out!" Skylor says, pointing an accusatory finger at Harumi, who smacks it away.
"I did not!" Harumi bites, indignantly.
Lloyd shushes them all. "All of you be quiet!" He whisper-shouts. "We are not leaving without the masks. Harumi, where else would Garmadon keep them if they're not here?!"
The white haired girl purses her lips, thinking. Nya's foot taps quickly on the floor as the guards voices grow louder. "I know where, but you're not gonna like it." Harumi finally says.
"Just lead the way." Lloyd says impacialy as he shoves them all from the vault before following the rest of his team back up the stairs. Killow and another biker come around the hall, stopping dead at the open vault door.
"Sound the alarms! We have an intruder!" The grey skinned giant demands, and the biker pulls out a small device, mashing one of the buttons. Loud, obnoxious sirens ring through the tower, along with flashing red lights.
Nya groans loudly, and Skylor curses under her breath. Reluctantly following Harumi up the stairs of Borg tower. "The Sons of Garmadon know we are here, the camera's will only remain off for less than five minutes." Pixal informs the group.
"Yeah, no shit they know we're here!" Ronin yells. "If the damn sirens weren't enough of a hint!"
Pixal bites back a snarky retort as she switches off her hologram. "Here, right here! This door!" Harumi says, kicking open the door at the top of the stairwell. This leads the small group into a large room. A large bedroom.
"This is Garmadon's quarters." Nya breaths, looking around.
"Oh great, just-" Ronin starts, but a glare from Lloyd shuts him up.
"The masks better be here, and if they're not, then we need to get the hell outta here." Skylor says over the blaring sirens. The group fans out across the room, opening drawers and checking the walls for any hidden compartments.
A trunk at the back of the room catches Lloyd's eyes,, and he heads towards it, trying to pry it open. It won't budge. Lloyd tries again, grunting with strain before he finally lets up. "Here, I think I found them!" Lloyd says, the others quickly race over towards the trunk. And a small laser sprouts from Pixal's arm, she brings the heated beam down on the trunk, and it cracks open like a walnut.
Inside the trunk are two Oni masks.
The Resistance cheers, clapping each other on the back and sighing in relief. In the moment, Lloyd goes to hive five Harumi, but he pulls back at the last second. Harumi and him awkwardly stare at each other before turning away.
Skylor grabs the mask of deception while Nya grabs the mask of vengeance, and the group quickly makes their escape. Ronin throws open the door back to the stairwell, laughing. "Time to blow this popsicle-"
Voices from a few floors below them catch The Resistance members attention, and Ronin slams the door shut.
"We can't get out that way." Nya says, she yelps as the door to Garmadon's room is almost thrown open by bikers. Skylor looks down at the mask in her hands, and swiftly pushes it to her face.
"Skylor!" Lloyd yells in alarm. The redhead grunts, vivid orange light shooting from her eyes as the mask's power takes hold of her.
"I'm fine!" Skylor says, standing up. Two long, jagged grey horns shoot out from Skylor's head, and Lloyd stares at her, shrinking back a bit.
Skylor lifts her hands, and the bookshelf on the back wall of the room floats with the motion. The redhead slowly guides the shelf towards the door, and Ronin and Nya quickly scramble away as Skylor plops the shelf in front of the door.
"There." Skylor says, taking off the Oni mask of deception. "That should buy us some time to find a way out of here."
Lloyd looks ready to strangle Skylor, but he settles for barely restrained screaming. "Okay, okay, how do we get out of here? There's no other exit!" Nya says, looking around frantically.
Harumi walks over towards the large window, peering to see how high up they are. The others follow her gaze. "No, no no no no!" Skylor says shaking her head.
"Harumi, whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it!" Nya yells, pacing back and forth.
"There's no way out besides this window. Unless you wanna fight your way through a dozen or so bikers and just hope they don't call up Garmadon on speed dial!" Harumi argues, already slipping the mask of hatred on and ramming into the window.
"We have three Oni masks, a nindroid, and a water master! I think we can handle a few gangsters!" Ronin bites, standing as far from the cracking window as possible.
As if on cue, the bikers hurl themselves at the barricaded door, and the shelf begins to crack and splinter. The alarms blare in Lloyd's head, and the flashing red lights cloud his vision. "Lloyd, you're the leader, what do we do?" Skylor asks the blond boy, her eyes panicked.
Lloyd steels himself, turning away from the almost broken down door and towards the almost shattered window. "I say we jump." He says, and Ronin scoffs.
"You've been chucked through to many walls, kid." Ronin huffs, shaking his head.
"Hey, you asked me what to do, and I told you." Lloyd scowles, heading towards the window.
"It is the only way out." Pixal says, walking over towards Lloyd and Harumi by the window. A soft breeze rustling her synthetic silver hair. "By my calculations, the chances of us fighting our way through all the SoGs outside the door are a little over twenty percent. And if Garmadon was to show - which there is a eighty percent chance of - those odds drop to below ten percent."
Nya, Pixal, and Skylor place a hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "We trust you, Lloyd." Nya says, and Ronin sighs dramatically before reluctantly walking over towards the window. The Resistance members peer over the ledge of the building, looking at each other in worry. The shelve won't hold much long, and they all take hands.
"On three." Lloyd says, gulping.
"One…" Skylor starts, shifting worriedly and making sure she still has the mask of deception.
"Two." Pixal continues, her bright green eyes scanning the drop that awaits them.
"Two and a half why are we doing this again?" Ronin says, shaking his head.
"Three!"
The Resistance jumps out the window, wind howling in their ears as they clutch onto each other's hands. The ground rushes up to meet them, and Nya's sherik rings in Lloyd's ear as he closes his eyes and concentrates.
"What the hell were we thinking?!" Skylor says, and Lloyd can't tell if she's laughing or not..
"We're gonna f*cking die!" Ronin yells over the wind.
Suddenly, a shaky, emerald dragon forms beneath them, catching the small group on it's back. Lloyd laughs, pumping his fist in the air in triumph. He silently thanks Liv for giving him a boost. The dragon's roar booms through the air, and The Resistance cheers.
The victory is short lived, though. Because after a moment the green dragon dissipates in a puff of sparkling mist, and the freefall ensues. Crap crap crap, Lloyd thinks as the ground comes towards them.
Nya rips her hand from Lloyd's, her palms facing the ground and twin jets of water shooting from her hands. The others wisely grab hold of Nya's legs, and she uses her water to slow their descent towards the unforgiving sidewalk. Skylor slips the mask of deception on, too, and Lloyd shoots her a glare. Skylor ignores him as she uses the mask's powers to help Nya slow their fall.
The Resistance members land roughly on the sidewalk, but considering that they jumped from the top of Borg tower and aren't street pizza, a few bruises are nothing. For a beat, the group sits silently on the sidewalk, heaving in long, precious gasps of air.
Nya laughs, softly at first, then Skylor joins, and soon they're all laughing to the point of hysteria in the middle of the sidewalk. Tears in their eyes and they cackle endlessly. "What were we thinking?" Nya laughs, wiping a tear from her eye.
"I have no idea." Lloyd breaths, sitting up. The others chuckle softly and begin to stand, rolling their shoulders and popping joints.
Soon they're sprinting back through the city again, back towards Skylor's noodle shop. Lloyd doesn't say anything about Skylor using the Oni mask, and in turn no one questions how, exactly, Lloyd knew Liv would help him create his elemental dragon.
Well, at least Lloyd doesn't say anything to Skylor until they're back at the noodle shop.
The Resistance all but throws open Skylors back door. Panting heavily and leaning on the back walls. Misako and Dareth come running down, frantically. "What happened? Did you get the masks?" Misako asks, going over to help Lloyd and the others upstairs.
"Oh, it went absolutely swell." Ronin huffs, sinking down into the chair in the kitchen.
"Yeah, turns out the masks weren't in the vault like we thought, but were actually in Garmadon's personal quarters." Skylor says, plopping down on her old couch.
"And then we got caught and had to jump out Garmadon's window to escape." Nya adds, dragging Lloyd away from Misako and over towards the couch.
"Oh my…" Misako says, a hand covering her mouth in shock.
"That sounds awesome!" Dareth excaleims, staring at the small group in awe.
"Yeah, sure, awsome." Harumi scoffs, laughing a bit and sitting down next to Ronin at the small table.
"You're the one who suggested we jump out a hundred story window." Skylor snaps, glaring at the white haired girl.
"And you're the one who insisted we try and fight off over a dozen gangsters, and potentially Garmadon." Harumi challenges, smirking. Skylor stands, and Harumi stands with her. Lloyd sighs, exasperated.
"And speaking of fighting off thugs..." Lloyd sighs, looking at Skylor. "What were you thinking? Using an Oni mask!"
Skylor flushes, but she doesn't back down. "I was helping! We would've died in the Tower or from jumping out the window!" She says, glaring at Lloyd.
"No, he's right." Harumi says, shocking everyone, including herself by defending Lloyd. "You have no idea what those masks can do, you could've killed us all!"
"You would know, wouldn't you? Quiet One." Skylor says, her voice low and threatening.
Harumi blinks, caught off guard. But her anger bubbles up like a shakes soda bottle, and she practically growls at Skylor. "Hey, guys, come on-" Lloyd starts, sounding tired.
"No, Lloyd," Skylor says. "I need to say this." She continues, looking at Harumi and making herself seem taller. "We trusted you, and you stabbed us in the back! And except to just waltz in here, saying you want to try and be who we thought you were?!" The redhead yells, hotly.
"Well then you can't exactly blame me, can you?" Harumi snaps, pointing a finger at Skylor. "You trusted me, it was your mistake."
The room goes dead silent, and Lloyd can easily pick out the Quiet One's voice in the cold tone of Harumi's. "Leave." Skylor says, her voice as cold as ice.
"Excuse me?" Harumi says, taken aback.
"Get out!" Skylor yells, pointing towards the door. "Just leave, jump out a window if you can."
"Skylor-" Lloyd starts, standing up from his seat.
"No, Lloyd. She's leaving. I do not trust her. I don't care if Liv trusts her, or Nya or Pixal or even if you trust her, she needs to go." Skylor says firmly.
"But we need her, she's knows more about the Oni masks, she can help-"
"Help us get killed!" Skylor says, cutting Lloyd off. "And I know you're worried about your sister but Liv brought this upon herself!" Stunned silence, and Lloyd finally here's what Pixal's processor sounds like. "She chose to help the SoG, she chose to bring back Garmadon, it was all. Her. Choice."
Even more silence, then - "Yeah, kid." Ronin says, propping his head in his hands. "Why you so eager for her to stay?" He jerks a thumb at Harumi. "Isn't she the reason your friends are-"
"Because I need her!" Lloyd shouts, and the lights in the shop flare brightly before exploding with a loud pop! Lloyd's cheeks burn as he flees the sitting room. He walks hasilty down the hall, turning down the hall and pushing open the nearest door. He ends up on the roof that Skylor probably watched the bounty get crushed from.
"Watch as you lose it all."
"Jump, Lloyd!"
"You can make it!"
"NO!"
Lloyd shakes his head, pushing that night back into its box. It's funny to think that it's almost been a week. He's surprised he managed to hold out this long. "I could really use you guys right about now." Lloyd says aloud to himself. "I really miss you all."
"Why are you so eager for her to stay?"
"I need her!"
"I have no idea what i'm doing." Lloyd continues, fiddling with a torn piece of his blood stained gi. He used to have all this power. Golden power, Green energy, the power of his love for his family, and Harumi. And god does Lloyd wish he had the power to ignore her just like she ignored him. Because Lloyd's telling himself that he and Harumi are over, that there was never anything to even love in the first place, but in his heart - in his heart it was so real.
"It is her path."
"I'm scared I'll wake up and you'll be gone."
"I'm scared, too."
"I'm trying so hard to save her, but it seems like all the odds are against me." Lloyd sighs, sitting down in the middle of the roof. "I don't know why I need her so much, I've only known her for a month. Liv and Harumi."
"See you later, Lloyd."
"There wasn't supposed to be something there for me."
"I need help." Lloyd says, choking on a sob as he stares up into the clouds. "I can't do this without you guys. I need my brothers."
"Lloyd?"
Lloyd sits up, turning around to face Harumi. He wipes his eyes, pulling his knees to his chest. "Hmm." Lloyd humms.
Harumi hesitates before coming to sit across from Lloyd on the roof. The two sit awkwardly across from each other, not knowing what to say but wanting to talk. "I can't figure you out." Harumi finally says, sounding reluctant.
Lloyd laughs, laying back down and staring up at the clouds. The warm afternoon sun beating down on him. "Right back at you." He sighs.
"You love me, then you hate me, now…" Harumi huffs, leaning back on the palms of her hands.
"You lied to me." Lloyd says, softly. "You lied to me and killed my friends - my brothers. And now we're teamed up to stop Garmadon…" The blond laughs, looking at Harum. "I have no idea what I think of you anymore."
The two sit silently, enjoying the sunlight and maybe each other's company. "Then why do you need me?" Harumi finally says.
Lloyd gave a huffing sort of laugh. Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out, too. Lloyd thinks. "I don't know, Harumi. Why did I trust you? Why did you lie to me? Why are my brothers dead?"
"Like I told skylor, trusting me was your mistake." Harumi says, her tone unreadable.
"Oh yeah, because everything's my fault, huh?" Lloyd scoffs.
"Don't even start-"
"I didn't start anything!" Lloyd says, indignantly.
"So the serpentine's nothing?" Harumi retorts, her eyes clouding with anger. Lloyd might not trust Harumi, but he does trust in her anger, her bitterness, her hatred.
Lloyd stands up, walking towards the door to go back inside. "The Great Devourer was nothing?!" Harumi yells after him, her voice cracking with memory. Lloyd stops, his hands balling up into fists.
"You don't-!" Lloyd starts, suddenly the building shudders violently. Lloyd stumbles, falling to his knees. Harumi screams as the noodle shop trembles, the concrete cracking. Lloyd wobbles over to the edge of the roof, peering over the ledge and down the street.
A dozen or so bikers stand gathered around the shop, trying to bust down the locked steel door. Garmadon stands in the middle of the street, lobbing balls of dark energy at the crumbling building. Lloyd curses to himself, grabbing Harumi by the arm and pulling her inside.
Lloyd runs down the hall and back into the sitting room where the rest of The Resistance sits, panic in their eyes. Dust reigns down from the ceiling as the building sudders again. And Lloyd switches to leader mode, as Jay would call it.
"Alright, we gotta get out of here, the SoGs know we're here." Lloyd says, letting go of Harumi and grabbing his mother.
"Where do we go?" Dareth asks, holding onto the table for dear life.
"Who cares?!" Lloyd says, already heading for the door. "We just need to go!"
The Resistance members nod, running down stairs. The steel door flies open, and dozens of gangsters run into the noodle shop, led by Killow and Ultra Violet. "Damn." Ronin says, and no one even chastises him for his language.
"Go, go go go go go!" Lloyd says, grabbing on to as many of his friends as he can and dragging them back up the stairs.
"Which way now?" Nya says, clutching Lloyd's forearm.
"There's the roof?" Skylor says, half heartedly. "I mean, we already jumped out a hundred story window, the roof of the shop shouldn't be too bad."
There's little complaint, so they all run towards the roof, throwing open the door only to stop dead when they see who - or what, is waiting for them. The stone colossus towers over them, staring down at The Resistance with menacing, violet eyes.
Garmadon stands on the stone giant's shoulder, smirking at the group. "You know, if you want to successfully sneak into my home and steal my most prized possessions," He says, looking down on The Resistance. "Jumping out a window screaming wasn't the smartest choice when it comes to stealth."
No one responds to Garmadon, their silent words being carried by the winds and the heat of their glares. "Aw, so quiet today." Garmadon continues. "And here I was looking for some company for my daughter."
It takes all of Lloyds self-restraint not to say anything. Instead he balls his fists, shaking with rage. "Well, I can see none of you are in a chatty mood, so might as well get right to the fighting." Garmadon says, and as if on cue, the stone colossus brings it's stone fist down on the building.
The structure shudders and pieces of concrete go flying. Garmadon commands the stone giant to bring it's fists down once more, over and over until the building's on the brink of collapse. "Having fun, are we?!" Garmadon laughs, his eyes glinting with malice.
"Split up! He can't hit us all if we split up!" Skylor yells, and The Resistance scatters across the roof, stumbling as it shakes.
The door to the roof swings open, and Killow, Ultra Violet, and dozens of gangsters stand in the doorway of the crumbling roof. "You've got to be kidding me!" Ronin shouts, running as the colossus brings it's hand down again.
"I know these guys want me dead but this is ridiculous!" Lloyd says, turning his fall into a roll as he stumbles.
The thugs run at the group, and The Resistance dawns their weapons. Nya pulls out her spear, Lloyd his sword and Harumi her dagger. While Skylor holds a hand out to Nya, who takes it hastily, transferring her water powers to the redhead. Pixal pulls out two silver shurikens, slicing the bikers who get to close. Ronin looks around briefly before picking up a pipe that was exposed by the colossus and it's merciless stone fist. Misako and Dareth aren't that lucky, and get into fighting stances.
The bikers charge at The Resistance, and the smaller group yells in turn. Running at the gangsters. Water sprays all around the roof, soaking the thugs. Harumi slices viciously at the gangsters, her movements fluid and graceful. Lloyd and Nya work back to back, attacking in perfect sync.
Fighting the gangsters isn't as easy as it should've been. Especially sense The Resistance has the upper hand with the Oni masks. But seeing as they have to continually avoid being squished, and being beaten to a pulp by bikers, the odds aren't in their favour.
Liv watches the whole battle from her mind, biting her lip anxiously. "Come on, guys. Get out of there." She says to herself.
"We need to retreat," Lloyd grunts, slamming the hilt of his sword into a biker's chest.
"You don't need to tell me twice." Ronin answers from across the roof, bashing a thug with his steel pole.
The rest of The Resistance members nod, and they begin to back away from the thugs, rolling away from the colossus fists and running towards the edge of the building.
"Oh?" Garmadon says. "Leaving so soon, are you?" He says, hopping down from the collusess shoulder and landing solidly on his stolen feet.
"We need to get the hell out of here!" Skylor says, dodging the colossus fists, the bikers blows, and now, Garmadon's dark energy blasts.
"Calculating the fastest escape route now." Pixal says, dodging a piece of concrete that was hurled at her head as her eyes glaze over.
"Do not let the Green Ninja escape!" Garmadon yells, hurling as many orbs as possible at Lloyd. The colossus slams it's fists down, trying to crush Lloyd beneath it. The blond rolls away, tumbling to a stop. The bikers run at Lloyd, the boy swings desperately with his sword, but the thugs quickly overpower him.
"Lloyd!" Misako yells, kicking a gangster in the chest. Her yell attracts the attention of the rest of the group, and they quickly turn to see a ring of thugs gathered around Lloyd
Despite their earlier argument, Harumi's eyes flash with the same blinding panic she'd felt when Lloyd jumped off that building onto that skytram that fateful night. And without a second thought, she yells, running towards Lloyd with her dagger slice long gashing across any biker that dared come near her.
Nya and Skylor ran to aid Harumi and Lloyd, but the colossus slammed it's fist down in front of them. Nya's scream cuts through the battlefield as she falls. "Come on, Nya!" Skylor says, grabbing the raven haired girls wrist and pulling her up.
Pixal, Ronin, Dareth and Misako run up towards Skylor and Nya. "Are you all okay?" Pixal asks.
"Yeah - yeah, were good." Nya breaths, popping her shoulder.
"Yeah well, let's wrap this up." Dareth says, gesturing towards Garmadon, who was advancing on Harumi and Lloyd. The colossus brings it's fist down once more, and the building shudders. "The noodle shop can't take much more of this."
The group runs to help Harumi and Lloyd, who despite their argument and anger towards each other, were now fighting side by side, taking out bikers with shocking efficiency. The two blonds nod when the rest of The Restsiace come to their aid, and they all fight in a ring, defending themselves against the Sons of Garmadon.
Garmadon's cackling is hard to ignore, and his orbs of dark energy are getting harder and harder to avoid. The rumbling of Skylor's noodle house has become more fervent. The building won't hold much longer. And neither will The Resistance.
"We have to get out of here now!" Misako yells.
"That's what we're trying to do! Kinda hard when we're busy trying not to be crushed to death!" Harumi says in retort, slashing a thug with her dagger.
"All the possible escape routes are blocked!" Pixal says, throwing one of her shrunken at a biker. "We need another plan!"
"Did someone say they need a plan?"
The battlefield froze, slowly turning around to face the new people joining them. The elemental masters stood behind The Resistance members, grinning brightly. "Griffin Turner?" Nya says, smiling.
Griffin winks at her, and in the blink of an eye, he's right in front of her, taking out several gangsters. The colossus brings it's fists down on the new arrivals, but Karlof catches it. His metal body glinting in the late afternoon sun.
"No!" Garmadon bellows, hurling orbs of dark energy at the elemental masters. The orbs stop in mid air, Gravis's hand outstretched in front of the violet spheres. With a flick of his wrist, the orbs turn around and slam right into Garmadon, sending him carrening across the rooftop.
Shade pops up next to Skylor, smirking before disappearing and taking out the rest of the thugs. Tox sends out a puff of green gas, and if any gangsters were still up, they were surely down for the count now.
Karloff pops up next to Lloyd, gestring for the group to follow him. "No, no no!" Garmadon yells, trying to run after the fleeing Resistance. He stops dead in his tracks, unable to move. Neuro grins in accomplishment that quickly shifts to confusion as he enters Garmadons mind.
"Come on, Neuro!" Tox yells, gesturing wildly at the elemental master of the mind. Neuro stares at Garmadon a moment longer before running after the rest of The Resistance. However, Garmadon himself may not be able to chase after the ninja (Via Neuro and his mind tricks), the stone colossus still can.
The ground shakes as the stone collouses's heavy feet run down the streets of the city after the fleeting Resistance. The large group runs across Skylor's noodle shop, building up speed as they jump to the next roof. Gravis uses his powers over gravity to help Dareth.
"How did you know we were in need of assistance?" Pixal asks, leaping across to the next rooftop.
"Let's just say we had our ears to the ground." Griffin says, speeding down the fire escape and down an alleyway.
It's not really an answer. But it's good enough for now. The ground trembles as the colossus races after them, and Lloyd runs faster. At the end of the alleyway, a dump truck waits for them. The window rolls down, revealing Paleman Jr.
"Get in!" He yells, and the back of the truck opens up. The Resistance and elemental masters climb into the back of the truck, panting heavily from their mad dash to safety. Once everyone's inside, the truck door closes, and the engine roars as Paleman Jr. drives away from the colossus's clutches.
The dump truck pulls into an old garage depot, and the large group exits the truck, laughing breathlessly. "I can't believe we made it!" Skylor says, relief shining in her tired eyes.
"You guys have terrible timing!" Nya chuckles, stretching out her arms.
"I think you had perfect timing!" Dareth says, giddily running around the garage depot like a child on christmas morning.
The elemental master and The Resistance talk and laugh, having just escaped what would have surely been their demise, Skylor, Ronin, Dareth, Misako, Pixal, Nya, Lloyd and Harumi were in pretty good spirits.
"What's she doing here?" Tox asks, side eyeing Harumi.
Lloyd groans in exasperation, and he quickly turns away from that conversation. Having heard it too many times in the past few days. He spots Mystake out of the corner of his eye, and the blond walks over to the elderly woman.
"HI, Mystake." Lloyd says, bowing slightly in greeting.
"Hello, young Garmadon." Mystake says, smiling kindly. "It is good to see you again."
"It's good to see you, too." Lloyd says. Mystake takes his shoulder, leading him up the stairs to the upper level of the garbage depot and into an office overlooking the bottom floor.
"I am aware that you seek knowledge about your friends." Mystake says, pouring him a cup of tea. Lloyd's eyes widen, staring at the elder with curious eyes. He doesn't even ask how she knew that. "I am here to provide answers."
Lloyd nods slowly, eager to hear what the eler has to say. Mystake past him the tea cup, and Lloyd sips it hesitantly before the smell registered to him. Mint. The blond takes a bigger gulp of the mint tea, letting it warm his insides. He sighs in content, ready to listen to Mystake.
"I am aware that you and your friends are under the false assumption that your brothers have left this world?" Mystake says, her eyes glinting mischievously.
"What...do you mean?" Lloyd says, looking back down at the elemental masters and picking out Nya, laughing with Skylor and surprisingly, with Harumi.
"Left this world they have, but they are not gone." Mystake says, pouring herself a cup of tea and taking a long slurp. Lloyd's mind races, trying to make sense of what he's being told. "Your brothers may not be here, but they are not dead. They still walk across the 16-realms."
Lloyd's heart does a weird summersault sort of thing. "You mean to tell me…" He says, slowly. "That for almost a week, I thought my brothers were dead...but they're...not?"
Mystake nods, sipping at her tea. Lloyd blinks, his brain coming to a complete stop as he processes Mystake's words. He has no idea if he should break down in tears of joy, or sprint downstairs and tell Nya and the others.
Probably both.
I had way, way too much fun with this chapter. Like way too much fun. I just couldn't keep the elemental masters away for much longer and couldn't keep these kids in misery. And I had to find something to do with these Oni masks, so now The Resistance has an actual plan to save Liv and stop Garmadon.
Next time: Harumi finally finds her place in The Resistance against Garmadon, the truth about the Ninja is revealed, and the plan to save is finally, finally put into action.
GreenGirl~