*twitch voice* SURPRISE! I'm BACK!

Review replies:

NinjagoMLP: :D

Ninjachief: I mean... The plot was okay. Good, even. But my writing style has improved quite a bit since then, and now it makes me cringe to read my old stuff. Bansha's army is a bit out of commission at the moment, fortunately for our heroes.

Ebony: Lucky for Indigo and Bansha, isn't it? If the city hadn't collapsed at that moment...

Nicktastic: No idea :)))

Rosalina: Like I said to ninjachief, the plot is pretty good, but the writing could be better. I plan to fix at least the first 10 chapters or so.

Samantha: Ayyy congrats! :D

Windy: Yes... reunited... :))

Amber: :))))))))))))))))))))))

Chapter 20

Much to Lloyd's surprise, absolutely nothing bad happened on the way back to the base.

Or much of anything, really. There was almost no talking, the party returned to the base in near silence. While they were waiting for the submarine Nya sent to arrive, both Bansha and Indigo looked a bit nervous, though, when Lloyd asked, they waved him off and said they would explain later. Finally, the sub arrived, and they all crammed into it – both Coles, Morro, and Indigo had to possess small objects so there was enough room.

Once they were back, they began to fill everyone in on what had happened since they split up. Well, most of them. Sensei took Morro and Bansha to get the bullet out of the blademistress' leg. In the meantime, Lloyd and Indigo took turns explaining to each other, as well as the rescue party, exactly what had happened since Morro 1 and Indigo had been left behind in Morro's base. A couple times, Lloyd noticed his dad hurrying out of the room. Was he sick or something? He should ask when they were done talking. If something was wrong with his father, he should be the one to help.

TheDarknessReturn

"…then we got out and hid, but Charlie shot Bansha and then the city collapsed." Indigo made expressive gestures with her hands to illustrate. "She fell into the water. I don't know if she can swim or not, if she can't, she's probably dead. Bansha and I ran. A few hours after that, I ran into you guys." The ghost girl let her hands fall to the table. "Obviously, you know the rest."

"So there are other fighters." Kai mused, drumming his fingers on the table. "Maybe we should contact them. So we can work together."

"I think they'll be pretty salty about me and Bansha being here." Indigo shook her head. "They never believed us about the whole other timeline thing."

"Well, they'll probably believe you once they see all the doubles we have." Jay B pointed out.

"True." Morro's girlfriend frowned. "I dunno. You could try."

"Well, what should we do now they Morro's dead?" Kai B asked.

"He's going to come back, probably pretty quickly." Cole A said. "We might've missed our chance to do anything. We should've stayed, tried to cause more chaos while we were at it."

"We couldn't risk anyone getting captured again." Garmadon spoke up quickly. "That would make us have to do all that over again."

"We caused significant damage, and we showed Morro and his subjects that he's not invincible." Kai B slammed his fist into his open hand. "That's enough for now." Garmadon chuckled softly.

"No," he murmured. "Not invincible at all." Lloyd B gave him a curious look, then turned back to the others.

"I think we should try to take Stiix." He announced. "It's weak, Morro blew up their base and half the city. Bansha and her army must be mostly dead, it should be easy to take over!"

"Good plan!" Zane B nodded. "Nya can use the sea to defend it against any attacks. And all we have to do to get rid of the remaining ghosts is a heavy, unexpected rainstorm."

"Sounds good to me." Nya B grinned. "With me defending it, there'll be no way for him to take it back, anyone he sends will be wiped out in seconds!" Kai smiled as his sister slammed her fist down on the table. Well – she wasn't his real sister. His real sister was locked up somewhere, in Bansha's base. Except… wait. Bansha's base was destroyed. If Nya was in there… where was she now?

"Whoa. What happened here?" Kai's head snapped up to see a soaking-wet figure standing in the doorway across the room. A figure with shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes. And a blue-and-red ninja gi.

"NYA!" He yelled, scrambling to his feet and running across the room towards her. He tackled her in a hug and knocked her to the floor, wrapping his arms around her neck as she laughed and not even caring that he was getting himself all wet. "You're- how did you- how are you-" he stammered until she cut him off.

"When the city collapsed, my cell splintered and I escaped into the ocean. I used my powers to get here safely. Who needs a submarine when you have water powers?" She chuckled. "But… why are there so many doubles of people? Who are they?" She pointed to Jessica and Indigo.

"It's a long story." Kai sat up, getting off of her. "I'll explain in a minute. I just… man, I'm so glad you're back."

"My turn!" Jay A ran over and knelt next to her, hugging her and nuzzling her hair as she giggled. She kissed him on the cheek, then turned to the others.

"Has everyone been okay? Any more lost limbs?"

"Almost, at least." Lloyd A chuckled, looking down at his leg in a cast. "I'll heal."

"Good." Nya stood up, shaking out her wet gi. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change. Walking around completely soaked is hard, even for a water ninja. Is all my stuff still in the same place?"

"Yeah. Except the stuff I stole." Kai nodded.

"And the stuff I stole." Jay A mumbled. Nya laughed.

"At least some stuff is there. I'm gonna shower and change, then you can tell me what the heck's going on. Okay?"

"Okay." Jay A squeezed her one more time, then let her go. "I should go change too."

"And me." Kai added. "Walking around with wet clothes is no fun, especially for a fire ninja."

"Since you three are leaving, let's postpone the meeting for a few minutes, 'kay?" Lloyd A said. "Give Kai and Jay a few minutes with Nya."

"That's a good start, anyway." Kai nodded, hurrying off down a corridor to get changed. They might be living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by an evil tyrant… but he had his sister back. And that was all that mattered.

TheDarknessReturn

"Dad?" Lloyd finally caught up to his father, who had just hurried off and vanished again. "Dad!" He said again, as the older man didn't appear to have heard him. His father jumped, then turned around.

"Oh, Lloyd." He smiled, but it looked forced. "Did you need something?"

"You've been acting funny." The blond said bluntly, getting straight to the point. "Are you okay?"

"Funny?" His father raised an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You keep, like, mumbling to yourself and hurrying out of the room. You did it four or five times during the meeting. Are you sick? What's wrong?" His father stood there for a few moments, looking stunned, before shaking his head slightly.

"I… confess I've been a bit overwhelmed." He shrugged slightly. "Not to mention annoyed at you running away."

"Yeah… sorry." But you know what he did to Morro, and tried to do to Indigo, so I would do it again if I had to."

"Lloyd, those two are expendable. You're the green ninja, you're more important."

"'Expendable'?!" Lloyd straightened up to his full height, clenching his hands into fists. "They're my friends!"

"But they are not as important as your safety."

"I'm the green ninja, but I'm a person too! I have thoughts and feelings! I can't help it that I care about them!"

"Then control your emotions. Center yourself."

"I couldn't just leave them there!"

"Why not?"

"Morro was hurting them!"

"They will heal. Even if he killed them, they are ghosts. They would reform."

"Oh, so I can just jump off a roof and it'll be okay because 'I'll heal'?"

"No, because we need you unharmed."

"I'm not more important than them just because I'm the green ninja!"

"Yes you are."

"And why is that?! Morro and Indigo are elemental master just like me!"

"But neither of them is the green ninja." Lloyd groaned loudly, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Something is definitely wrong with you! You never act like this! I know you care about Morro and Indigo, why are you acting this way?!" His father glanced back and forth, then sighed.

"I should tell you something. But… let's go somewhere more private first. Come with me." The elderly man started down the hallway, and Lloyd followed, frowning. His father lead him through the base until he reached the room he shared with Wu, glancing back and forth down the hall to make sure no one was nearby before beckoning his son inside.

"So what's this thing you need to tell me?" Lloyd asked as his father walked over into the corner and stood, facing the wall with his hands clasped behind his back. "Dad?" his father sighed.

"That wish you made with Nadakhan… it didn't make me immune to everything."

"W-what?" Lloyd said in surprise, alarm rising in the pit of his stomach. Was he hurt? Was his invincibility wearing off? Had he been injured when Morro knocked those rocks down on him? "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Dad replied, not turning around.

"So…" Lloyd trailed off for a moment. "What aren't you immune to?" His father was still for a few, long moments, then spun around, staring him in the eyes – his father's, instead of their normal grey, were a shocking green. In a voice not his own, he hissed a single word.

"Possession."

be honest- how many of you had any idea something was wrong before the last section of the chapter? (Zena and Chan, you don't count, I told you)

~FFF

P.S. If you listen closely you might hear me snickering