Wow. That's gotta be a record, how much people were screaming after that last chapter. Except maybe for the time I killed Lloyd. But then again, some people didn't believe that and SOME PEOPLE celebrated it, so...

Review replies:

Ebony: Yeah,.. someone might. :33

MLGbillcipher: yyyeaahhhhh... I mean... her life isn't exactly 100%... at this exact moment... xDD I'm not exactly 'sensitive' to swearing, but I highly dislike it, so...

ninjachief: I said in some ways... like that it more closely follows canon... and has better cliffhangers... and isn't cringy like my old writing... anyway. Morro 2 is a piece of crap.

TheAmberShadow: Indigo is 100% done with being chained up and used as bait/a bargaining chip. I mean... each dimension has 16 Realms. It's a parallel timeline. And there are rumors that a new ninja is joining the team in season 8, + rumors that Lloyd is getting a gf, so... hard to say. Tommy Anderson did say recently that he was too young to get a girlfriend, though, so... like I said, hard to say.

Zena: Of course you do.

Samantha: Nahhhh. Then I'd have to change the rating and less people would read this. :)

Kat: Wait... you hope Lloyd is okay? What? Who are you and what have you done with Kat?!

rideofthevalkyrjur: Ayyyy, I didn't know you'd read this! :D He might die... eventually... or not...

Leb: Wow. I would drink beer if it was legal. I like the taste. (don't kill yourself)

Glacier: bruh

Chapter 9

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Pause. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Pause. Morro tapped the rhythm of the footsteps of the guards pacing outside with one finger, counting their steps as he tried to keep his mind off his predicament. And, more importantly, Indigo's. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Pause. This was worse than the last time they had been imprisoned. Then he could at least trust that she wouldn't be hurt. Tori was crazy, but she only wanted her as a bargaining chip. This Morro, though, he had no idea what he was capable of. No idea what he would do to her. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap. Pause. Tap-tap-tap- wait. Something was different. The footsteps were coming towards his cell. He looked up as the door was opened, revealing two masked guards.

"Get up." One ordered, and he obeyed. They took ahold of his wrists and lead him out into the hallway, heading down the passage. Morro clenched his fists, trying to summon a gust of wind, but nothing happened. The dungeon must be completely lined with Vengestone. After a minute, they brought him into a room, entirely white except for the black chair in the center of the room. It was into this chair that they pushed him, strapping him in by means of cuffs on the arms and legs of the chair. With his wrists and ankles secured, he could barely move, much less fight back in the event that he was attacked. Without a word, the two guards left, closing the door behind him and leaving him in the silence. The first thing Morro did was struggle, testing the strength of his chains. Very strong. There was no way he was breaking through these. Next, he looked around the room. There were two doors, one that the guards had exited through, and one unidentified one. There was also a camera in the upper right corner of the room, a little, blinking red light signifying that it was on. He glared at it for a moment before turning back to the door in front of him and beginning to tap out a rhythm with his finger. It was about ten minutes before something happened, and he was just contemplating trying to sleep when the door opened, admitting the other version of himself before swinging shut again.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The ghost kind said casually. "Your girlfriend made quite a fuss when she overheard my plans for you."

"Where's Indigo?!" Morro demanded, leaning forward in his chair to glare at him. "What did you do to her?!"

"Indigo? Is that her name?" Morro 2 raised an eyebrow, avoiding the question. "How quaint. A cute name for a cute girl."

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Morro hissed. "Where. Is. Indigo?!"

"In my throne room." The other him began to walk around him so he had to crane his neck to look at him. "She's fine. I only had to rough her up a little to get her chained up."

"You hurt her?!"

"I just dragged her around, chill out." The other him rolled his eyes as he walked around in front of him again, starting another lap around him. "Dating you, I'm sure she's been through much worse." Morro just scowled at him.

"What do you want with me?"

"Information." Morro 2 replied. "And since your girlfriend was very uncooperative, I decided to ask you."

"You'll get nothing out of me." Morro leaned back in his chair, staring at the ground. The other Morro shrugged.

"We'll see about that." The door was opened again and a green-clothed figure was shoved inside, collapsing at the foot of the chair. Morro's heart stopped. No. That's impossible. "Still think you're not going to tell me anything?" Morro 2 grabbed the boy's shoulder, lifting him to his knees. It was impossible, but somehow true. Lloyd – his Lloyd – sat hunched on the ground in front of him, staring up at him in silent terror. A cloth in his mouth kept him from talking, while ropes around his wrists kept them bound behind his back. Why didn't he make a sound? The evil him must have threatened him with something… Morro 2 grinned at the sight of his widening eyes, shoving Lloyd back and slamming him into the wall. "You seem like the type who cares about others more than yourself – all you 'good guys' are – so I thought I'd test your reaction against my other prisoner." The ghost king chuckled. "Seems to work well. Now…" The other him grabbed Lloyd by the collar and hauled him upright again, causing the blond boy to stiffen and flinch away. "I can do whatever I want to him, and neither of you can stop me. Or, alternately, you could tell me what I want to know. Your choice." Morro hesitated as Lloyd shook his head no, staring into his wide, frightened blue eyes…

…wait a minute.

"Lloyd's eyes are green, not blue!" Morro exclaimed, looking up at the other Morro with narrowed eyes. Morro 2 looked momentarily stunned, then let go of Lloyd's collar and folded his arms, when 'Lloyd' hit the floor, he vanished in a puff of… almost glitter.

"Well, your attention to detail is impressive." The ghost king admitted. "But I do have other tricks up my sleeve."

"Such as?" Morro tilted his head.

"Well, I'm not sure if this is what you would consider a trick, per se, but… when interrogating, it's always fun to get back to the basics." The other Morro cracked his knuckles. "Torture."

TheDarknessReturn

Broken. All of them.

Morro pressed his mangled hands against the stone floor of his cell, his breathing shallow as he squeezed his eyes shut. When the other Morro had failed to trick the information out of him with that… illusion of Lloyd, he had broken each of his fingers, one by one, all the while yelling at him to give up what he knew or he would continue. At each refusal, he broke another finger. He seemed to enjoy his cries of pain. When he had no fingers left to break, the other him began hitting him, punching him in the face and stomach until he was bruised and swollen. Finally, frustrated, he had sent the guards to bring the barely-conscious ghost to his cell. They obeyed, none too gently, of course. T

o distract himself from the pain, he thought about the thing that looked like Lloyd. It looked and acted so real… except, it didn't make any sound. Could it have been some kind of hologram? That was the only explanation he could think of. Letting out a pained breath, Morro squeezed his eyes shut. He should try to split his hands, then rest. Ghosts heal quickly, if they were undisturbed his fingers would set within about a week.

Problem was, he seriously doubted they would leave him alone.

TheDarknessReturn

Morro brushed his hands off on each other as he ascended the stairs, trying to get the feeling of that pathetic excuse of a wind master off his skin. Sniveling whelp. A pity he wasn't fooled by Reena's trick, that had seemed to at least almost get him to talk. Perhaps a threat to his girlfriend's safety would persuade him, but it might be hard to get him to believe she was real after he had tried with an image of the former green ninja. As the king entered his throne room, the first thing that caught his attention was a whimper coming from the back of the room. Turning his head, he noticed Indigo hunched against the pole she was chained to, her hands pressed over her ears as she squeezed her eyes shut. Morro rolled his eyes, spotting the source of her fear leaning lazily against the side of his throne.

"Reena, stop tormenting the poor girl." He called as he approached. The illusionist glanced up, then sighed.

"Fine." Indigo shuddered, then opened her eyes cautiously, looking around for a moment before her eyes landed on him.

"You!" She exclaimed. "What did you do to Morro?!"

"Exactly what I said I would, my dear." He flashed her a smiled, which only served to infuriate her more.

"First, don't call me 'my dear'. Secondly-"

"I'll call you what I like."

"Secondly, only a complete coward would beat and torture his enemy when they can't fight back. Not that anyone thought you were otherwise, but-"

"Shut up!" He snapped, wind gusting through the room and making her freeze. "Or I'll shut you up myself. Is that clear?" he hissed. She nodded slightly. "Good." Turning to Reena, he said in a calmer voice, "Blue eyes? Really?"

"You expect me to have all of our enemies' eye colors memorized?" The teenager threw her hands in the air, lowering one to brush her black bangs out of her face.

"I expect you to be able to make a convincing double." He crossed his arms over his chest. "There's a reason I keep you around."

"I can make a convincing double of you." She pointed out. "That's the only reason you're not dead right now." He pondered this for a moment.

"True enough." He decided after a moment. "But still. If not for your blunder, we might know where they're hiding by now."

"So drag his girlfriend down and knock her around a bit." Reena suggested. "She's real enough."

"Yes, I thought of that, but he might not believe that."

"Huh." The dark-haired girl frowned. "Well, I'm fresh out of ideas."

"I'll think of something." Morro settled into his throne, glancing at Indigo, who quickly looked away, before turning back to the large room in front of him and smiling.

It was good to be king.

Have I mentioned evil Morro is a piece of crap

~FFF