WAR OF DARKNESS CHRONICLES
Book One: Changes
Part Two: Redemption
Chapter VI: Hero
Wednesday April 18, 2018…
"I'm Kat Felina with Ninjago Cable News outside Ninjago History Museum, where a truly disturbing scene is unfolding. Bandits have defeated and tied up the famous ninja and are demanding an as-yet unspecified ransom for their release.
"It is concerning how easily these bandits overpowered our heroes; are their best days behind them? What does this mean for the future safety of our world? More on the situation as it unfolds. For now, back to Pat in the studio."
Where did it go wrong?
Morro, Wu, Misako, and Garmadon watched the news on the living room TV with horror. The ninja had responded to a seemingly simple museum break-in but quickly found themselves surrounded and overpowered by masked bandits. It was clearly a trap for the ninja, but to be overpowered so easily?
"Maybe I should have gone after all," Morro said.
He had decided to sit out the mission for two reasons. It looked like an easy enough task, and he wanted to spend a bit of time with Sensei Wu today. Besides, he joined the team in foiling a bank robbery last week.
It was Morro's first public appearance since joining becoming a part of the ninja's family. Many raised questions about his motivations and whether he had really changed so quickly, but the ninja vouched for him with a stern statement of "mess with him, mess with us."
"You might have been captured too," Wu replied.
"And since you weren't there, you can now go and rescue them," Garmadon chimed in.
The Master of Wind nodded. "I suppose that's what I'll do, then."
Morro walked out of the living room and returned a minute later with a wooden staff.
"Call NCN," Morro announced with his signature smirk. "Tell them to keep the cameras rolling—they don't want to miss this."
"Go show 'em, Morro," Misako cheered.
"'You just stay and hang out with Sensei,' you said. 'This'll be an easy mission,' you said."
Jay was not happy with the predicament in which the ninja had found themselves, and he was more than happy to voice his disapproval.
The ninja were tied up at the bottom of the steps in front of the Ninjago History Museum, their two dozen or so captors forming a perimeter around them and daring anyone to get close. The leader of the bandits was on the phone with the mayor of Ninjago City, apparently negotiating a ransom for the ninja. Police had formed a buffer zone between the bandits and civilians gathering to see the scene.
"Lay off him, Jay," Kai snapped.
"What?! Lloyd told Morro he could stay behind—Morro! Ya know, the one who has more fighting experience than any of us and whose power rivals even Lloyd's? That's the guy Lloyd said could stay behind. And now we're TIED UP!"
"It should have been an easy mission," Lloyd finally spoke up. "But for some reason, I feel like I have absolutely no strength today."
"Same here," Cole said. "It's like using my powers even a little bit totally drained me."
"I have also felt this effect," Zane agreed.
"Me too," Jay chimed in.
"I didn't—what's up with that?" Nya asked.
"Don't know," Lloyd said.
"Maybe it's just not a great day for the guys," Kai quipped. No one laughed.
After a minute of silence between them, Lloyd spoke again.
"And I stand by my decision, Jay. Morro and Sensei Wu deserved some time to themselves."
"I know…" Jay replied, looking down. "Sorry if it seemed like I was blaming you. Just a frustrating situation here."
"It's alright," Lloyd smiled warmly. "Let's just think about how we're going to get out of this."
"Guys…" Cole spoke up. "We might not have to. Feel the wind picking up?"
"Aw man," Kai lowered his head. "I can't beat him in a spar and now he's about to rescue me? I'll never hear the end of this…"
"No, you won't," said a voice at the top of the museum's steps.
The ninja and their captors all looked up and saw Morro standing boldly in front of the Ninjago History Museum, his surroundings blowing about in the windstorm he had created.
"Capture the cursed one!" one of the bandits shouted, and all the bandits rushed at Morro.
Morro calmly walked down the steps as he effortlessly blew his attackers away with a constant gale. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he engaged the bandits in close-quarters combat.
Every bandit who dared approach Morro received several bruises all at once as he dispatched bandit after bandit. When ten of them were down, the remaining bandits started to back away. Morro took this opportunity to go after the leader, who had hung up on his call with the mayor to join the fight.
Morro smirked. "None of your goons have been able to lay so much as a finger on me."
"You're not the only one who's good in a tussle," the bandit leader growled as he pulled out a short sword that resembled a pirate's cutlas.
The bandit leader attacked as his underlings fled the scene (many were picked up by the newly emboldened police, but a few got away). His attacks were fast, but Morro's technique was much sharper that his opponent's blade.
After memorizing his opponent's attack pattern and weak points, Morro used his staff to leverage the bandit's sword out of his hand and crack him over the head in one fluid motion, instantly knocking him out.
Cheers erupted from spectators all around as Morro used the bandit leader's blade to cut the ninja free of their bonds.
Kat Felina broadcasted again to NCN viewers as police began detaining the defeated bandits.
"It's Kat coming back to you from Ninjago History Museum. In an amazing display of heroism and combat skill, Morro has just appeared out of nowhere to rescue the ninja. Any doubts about the sincerity of his turning a new leaf should be put to rest after today—oh, here he comes now!"
Kat stopped the ninja as they were leaving the scene,
"Morro, by tomorrow morning everyone in Ninjago will be calling you a hero. Any thoughts?"
She held the microphone up to the ghost, who simply replied, "I don't care about that; my family needed me."
With that, the ninja walked away from the crowd and summoned their elemental dragons (Lloyd had taught Morro how to summon his own).
When the ninja returned home, Lloyd was tackled in a hug from his mother barely a second after he walked in the door. While the other ninja snickered and jeered at the scene, they each understood that they were fortunate to have escaped the incident with only a few bumps and bruises.
"She was right, you know—the reporter," Sensei Garmadon piped up. "They'll all call you a hero now."
"You are a hero," Misako said, releasing her son and facing Morro.
"Indeed," Zane agreed. "We would be in quite a predicament if not for you."
"I…" Morro hesitated, then he sighed. "I'm not a hero, not really."
Lloyd scoffed. "Come on, Morro. You saved our lives, you deserve—"
"It was just the right thing to do," Morro interrupted sternly. "And that's all there is to it."
Morro began to walk toward the hallway where the bedrooms were located, but turned around in the doorway.
"My family is safe," he said. "That's my reward."
He disappeared into the hallway, and the door to his bedroom could be heard shutting as he no doubt wanted to decompress alone as he often did after a mission or intense training session.
No one stopped him, no one asked why he declined to make much of his heroics. Everyone understood: his family was safe, and that was all that mattered to him.
However, the ninja remained troubled about the inexplicable exhaustion many of them felt upon the slightest application of their Elemental powers (getting home on their dragons had nearly done them in, especially Lloyd). Unraveling the root of this issue would take highest priority first thing the next morning.
I hope you will accept my apologies for such a long delay between updates. I also hope you enjoyed these two chapters. This sort of wraps up the "Morro and ninja bonding" arc, and things will start to get… interesting… in the next chapter.
Stay tuned…
Have a blessed day.