Monstrox came into the room that Zane and Shox shared. The apprentice sat on his sleeping bag, legs crossed and eyes closed.
"Kid?" Monstrox called quietly. Zane opened his eyes and looked at his mentor curiously.
"What's on your mind, kid?" Monstrox asked. Zane remained silent, turning away. Monstrox sighed and reached out with his sixth sense again.
Doubt. Wariness. Distrust. That's what was bothering him.
"You look a little... unsure," Monstrox said. There was a moment of silence.
"I- are we doing the right thing?" Zane asked so quietly that Monstrox doubted he spoke. The question registered in his mind, though, and the mentor found himself asking the same question. Were they doing the right thing? Well, compared to his criminal history, anything was the right thing. But he felt that what they were doing now, trying to convince the world instead of retaliating against it, was a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, he hesitated for a moment too long. "I see," Zane murmured. "Perhaps they were right. Perhaps this was all a complex lie."
Monstrox's awareness suddenly spiked. "Who was right?" he asked. When Zane didn't answer and glanced warily at him, he sighed. "Kid, I know it seems like we're trying to manipulate you or use you or whatever, but that's not the case. I offered to teach you because I saw real potential in you. Potential that could change the course of magical history." As he said this, he felt the nervousness that accompanies half-truths rise in him. And he knew Zane could feel it. He sighed again.
"I'll be honest with you, kid. Before we met you, we-" he stopped as he felt shame rise in him, hoping Zane would understand, but knowing he'd be disappointed. "We were villains," he continued. "We... attacked. We destroyed. We sought to avenge those who came before us, those who suffered and died at the hands of wizards and normal people alike." Zane remained silent, so Monstrox went on. "When I met you, I could sense potential. Power. I thought you could tip the scales in our favor, make others realize that we're a force to be reckoned with."
"So you offered to train me," Zane recalled, "in the hopes that I would destroy for you. Devastate for you. Harm for you." He stood, walking to the doorway, which Monstrox quickly blocked. "Wait, kid-"
He was thrown aside by a violet energy wave. As Zane ran, Monstrox could feel the apprentice's immense guilt mixed with anger as his footsteps thudded throughout what was left of the ruins' halls. Monstrox got back on his feet as quickly as he could, running after his nephew.
As he turned a corner, Monstrox saw Shox and Hexia on their feet, wondering what was going on. "Kid, wait!" he called to Zane. The other two witches immediately realized what was happening and began to pursue the nindroid. Sensing his mentors behind him, Zane swept his hand behind him in a downward arc, coating the floor behind him in ice and causing the other witches to slip.
Monstrox grew desperate as Zane neared the exit. "Just hear us out!" he yelled. "Give us another chance!" Zane paused and glanced back. "Please." Seeing he had the kid's attention, he kept speaking. "You were the reason we stopped attacking. After training you for a bit, we saw you were capable of more than feats of magic. You seemed so eager, so... good. You seemed like the kind of person who was determined to do the right thing. And... I think that kind of rubbed off on us.
"You see, I used to be angry. Decades ago, I wanted to avenge your father. I thought he was dead, betrayed by the wizards we once called brother and sister. So, I lashed out. I took out all of that anger on the people of Knighton. And I kept getting stopped again and again by those Nexo Knights. Then, after twenty or so years of laying low, I met these two," Monstrox said, indicating Shox and Hexia. "They were angry, like me, so we let people know how we felt by unleashing our anger upon them. Then we met you. We taught you. And it felt... good, so good to feel something other than rage and a desire for vengeance. It felt like I had a purpose other than wrecking stuff, like for once, I could be someone worth looking up to. Like for once, I could be something vaguely resembling a hero. So, yeah, that's my two cents about why I'm me," Monstrox finished.
"Same here," Hexia said. "I'll admit, we made some bad decisions. But I think we can all agree that we're past that. We're ready to try and fix these problems instead of just getting angry about them."
"So yeah," Shox cut in with a shrug. "We're kind of trying to be heroes because it turns out teaching a kid who's new to being a quote-unquote, 'villain' can really give you a fresh perspective on things. Who knew?"
Zane considered Monstrox's request of another chance. He could sense sincerity in his mentors' auras, but he wasn't sure he wanted to continue to be unsure about whether or not he was doing the right thing. But he understood that people could change. And over the course of the previous year, his fellow witches had become something resembling a family to him. Besides, he froze an entire realm for decades. If the Ninja were willing to give him another chance after that, then he should give them this chance. He turned and nodded.
The other witches tried to get up, but kept slipping on the ice still coating the floor. Noticing this, Zane dispelled it, allowing his mentors to stand.
"Uh, am I the only one who's wondering how he did that?" Shox asked, causing Zane to stiffen.
"Don't press him," Monstrox said, despite his own curiosity. "He can tell us when he's ready and if he wants to."
"Okay, anyone got any ideas for our first move?" Clay asked the wizards in the room.
"Train," Winston pitched. "We don't want to risk being overpowered."
"Locate their hideout," Diana suggested. "Then they'll have nowhere to run."
"Okay," Clay said as he took notes. "Anything else?"
No one spoke. Ed debated whether he should tell about his vision or not. After a moment, he figured they'd find out sooner or later about the ruins, so he might as well just spill it.
"I think they're hiding in some sort of ruin."
"How do you know?" Winston asked.
"Vision," Ed replied.
The other wizards stared at him, wide-eyed. "You had a vision?" Clay asked. Ed nodded.
Clay began processing the recent information. First, their team should probably get some practice in before heading off to fight professional supervillains. Second, ruins indicated the witches were in one of the older settlements of Knighton. They'd probably want to be as far away from the public eye as possible, so it couldn't be one of those tourist-magnet ruins. He'd have to check some maps later. Third, something big was going to go down in those ruins. Visions were rare among magicians, and foretold major, life-changing events.
"What happened in the vision?" Clay asked, hoping to gain as much of a glimpse as he could into this upcoming battle.
"Well... I, uh, didn't see much of what was happening," Ed replied, shrinking in his seat.
"So, what could you see?" Diana asked.
"I... I saw myself die," Ed answered slowly. As he said it, he felt as if a mental wall had collapsed, flooding him with grief and fear as he realized just what that meant.
He was going to die. The reality of that settled in his stomach as his teammates looked at him with expressions of shock, pity, or a mix of the two.
"I... I am so sorry," Diana said to him.
"It-it's okay-"
"It is not okay," Clay interrupted. "I am not letting you die."
"No one can change destiny," Ed said solemnly. "Visions always come true."
Clay gave them the 'determined leader' look. "Then we write our own destiny."
PIXAL arrived at the Monastery gates, intending to talk to Zane. Unfortunately, when she entered, she discovered the Monastery was empty. She wandered the halls, reminiscing about all of the adventures the team had been through (and survived). Eventually, she reached the end of a hallway, one that she realized she had never been down before. Curious as to what was in the rooms along the hall, she opened the nearest one and stepped inside.
The room she entered had a desk, a candle, a rug, some scrolls, some ink, and a brush. PIXAL unrolled one of the scrolls and began to read it, soon realizing who had written it: the First Spinjitzu Master. Hoping the FSM wouldn't be too upset at her for reading his scrolls, PIXAL continued as her curiosity overpowered her hesitation.
I can sense something coming... something ill, divisive. Margaret assured me everything would be fine, but... I know she senses it, too. The tension between William and Julien continues to grow, and with it, I fear, the divide between "wizards" and "witches". Wilbur and Wanda are taking sides as well. I often wonder what could have been had we not parted ways. Perhaps these fights could have been avoided. Or perhaps our parting was meant to be. Brother and Sister. Creation and Destruction. Oni and Dragon. I hope my niece and nephews can reach an agreement. If not, then I fear for the future of Knighton. Unfortunately for them, I have my boys to care for and powers to gift. May the Oni and Dragon bring you peace, sister, and may they bring peace to your children.
As she finished the passage, PIXAL began processing the information. She concluded the following: the FSM had a sister who lived in Knighton. His sister had a connection with the four other people mentioned: William, Julien, Wilbur, and Wanda. The FSM and his sister had parted ways sometime before this incident.
Sensing that this information could be useful, PIXAL held onto the scroll in order to show the Ninja later.
Upon her return to the former palace, PIXAL went to her workshop in hopes of testing one of her projects. As she entered the workspace, she noted that her father could likely provide some helpful insights to her project. She flicked the lights on, illuminating the room, and in particular, two humanlike androids lying on workbenches in the corner, both powered off.
She approached the deactivated nindroids in anticipation, turning to the one that wore a ninja hood and was dressed mainly in black, purple, and silver. Reaching for his power switch, she hesitated a moment, then flipped it.
The nindroid awoke, opening his eye and getting off the workbench. "Greetings," he said. His tone was flat. Empty. Emotionless. "My name is-"
He was cut off as PIXAL deactivated him with a sigh. She placed him back onto the bench, jotted some notes down in a journal, and powered on a computer, hoping that next time, she would get it right.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I appreciate it a lot. The next chapter won't be up for a while, since this story was tied for 3rd place in my recent poll. I'll still try to get a chapter out before finishing one of the other stories, but it'll be quite a while from now. Once again, thanks for reading!