yeet

Review replies:

Ms. Cipher: It's posted if you're interested! I just posted a second part too :P

Arianna: thanks arianna

KitKat: If you think THAT'S unexpected, look what I have in these NEXT few chapters

MarbleBird: I... know what you mean, but that's worded... really weirdly. xD

Ebony: She might possibly have been. And yeah, it'll probably be fine. I might kill off a few people for being-realistic purposes. Who knows?

Entity: Reena is a bad child, you're right. And poor Kai 1-B doesn't deserve that, he's a good child :(

MNM: I haven't watched the season 9 trailer, or any of season 8 because I'm shunning it and it will probably break my heart if I do (an irl friend has spoiled it for me after all). But if Morro's alive I will totally watch it.

Aurro: Hello! And yes, it's A. xD

The Preeminent had stopped, but her army kept going.

As the time to fight grew nearer, Lloyd waited at the edge of the city, geared up in deepstone and holding Morro 2's hand. The wind master was rightfully nervous as the army approached the city, but he refused to leave his side. He was probably right, after all, in that the safest place during this battle was right here, where the ninja were.

As the bridge was the only way for the ghosts to get into the city, all the fighters were gathered there, from Indigo to Harry, while the civilians hid in their homes. The other Indigo and her family, as well as Sensei Wu, had stayed back at the base, but basically everyone else was here Lloyd's father was at the very front of the group, wearing deepstone armor so he could touch the ghosts and a green cape that flowed out behind him in the wind, because someone (the Nyas who designed his armor) thought he should look really cool. And it worked.

The Preeminent, apparently, was satisfied with watching from afar, as she had stopped and was having her army attack without her. Maybe her plan was to just besiege them until they were starved out and forced to give up. Unbeknownst to her, however, they had a backup plan, which kept them from ever being starved into submission.

"Seven - times - two - is - seventy two." T.E.C.M.I. announced from behind them,, the trash-can-shaped robot resting comfortably on a wooden box.

"That is, in fact, incorrect." Zane 2 informed her.

"Ain't!" The food-making AI argued. "I can do math! I'm a computer!"

"A computer who is bad at math, it appears." A quick journey across the country to the base of Mouth Vetruvius had given the ninja the means to revisit T.E.C.M.I.'s creator, Techi, and her husband Damien. The self-proclaimed 'technopath' was more than happy to lend them T.E.C.M.I., or, at least, that's what Lloyd had gotten out of all her chattering. Whatever the case, she had let them leave with her food machine, and now, with three water masters and an entire ocean, they had a basically limitless supply of food. The Preeminent would be forced to come in and fight them herself.

As the sea of ghosts began to cross the long bridge that linked Stiix to the mainland, Morro squeezed Lloyd's hand and stepped behind him a bit.

"It's gonna be fine, okay?" Lloyd tried to reassure him. "We've got everything planned out, and, even if something happens that we don't expect, we're good at what we do. We've got this." Morro swallowed, then nodded.

"Okay." The ghosts were about halfway across. Lloyd could feel the tension in the air everyone holding their breath as they waited for their cue.

Two hundred feet away.

Fifty feet away.

Ten feet away.

"Now!" Lloyd yelled, and, in perfect unison, both Coles shoved their hands forward. The huge chunks of rock they had placed beneath the city beforehand shot forward, smashing through the supports that held the bridge up. As Lloyd watched, nearly half the Preeminent's army fell, screaming, into the churning sea.

The rest of the army stopped short on the other side, chattering uncertainly. It was a long way from the city to the mainland, and they were now completely cut off. The Preeminent would have to come in closer now.

Unfortunately, the Preeminent was more creative than they were. As Lloyd watched, a single figure pushed his way to the front line, lifted his hands, and began to glow purple. Clouse. Lloyd scowled as a shimmering, purple bridge began to stretch across the gap. It was pretty narrow, not many ghosts could cross at once...

"Dad!" Lloyd yelled. "Are you ready?"

"I'm always ready, son." His father grinned over his shoulder at him. "Clouse never could beat me in a fight, and that's not going to stop now."

"Great. Morros, are you ready?" Lloyd glanced at each of them in turn, and they nodded. "Good. Then we're ready." Giving Morro's hand a squeeze, Lloyd turned back to the still-growing bridge, watching the ghosts start to cross again.

As soon as it reached their side, Lloyd's father took off running across it, barreling into every ghost he could and knocking them off into the sea.

Lloyd watched with a wide grin on his face as his father took on the entire army by himself, he stood at the narrowest point of the bridge, either punching or just slamming himself into every ghost that came near him. They tried to outnumber him, to overwhelm him, but he took them out so quickly that they couldn't get enough there at once to win a fight with him. Eventually, the ghosts managed to knock him off the bridge, but the Morros immediately lifted him back up and he continued fighting.

Before long, the stream of ghosts had dwindled enough that Lloyd's father could begin to press forward, drawing a deepstone sword and hacking his way through the ghosts blocking his path - the Preeminent was far enough away that the ghosts that she recreated would not rejoin the fight for a good ten minutes at least. Clouse was visibly stressed as Garmadon made his way towards him, perhaps realizing that he was the target. With him out of the way, the Preeminent would be forced to fight them herself.

The Morros kept Lloyd's father on the bridge as he hacked his way through swarms of ghosts, but less of them were even making it onto the bridge as he neared the other side. It was hard to tell from the distance, but it looked like they were too scared to face him. This was a good feeling.

Finally, Garmadon made it to the mainland, and was immediately swarmed from all sides by the ghosts waiting there. For a moment, it looked like he wouldn't be able to continue, but then he broke free and spun around, his double-edged sword cutting through and killing all the ghosts in a wide circle around him. The remaining ghosts backed away in alarm. Were they just realizing that he was unbeatable? Instead of trying to restrain him, the ghosts just got out of his way as he strode towards Clouse, who was straining to keep the bridge active. Lloyd couldn't see exactly what happened, but for a few moments they just stood in front of each other, probably talking. Finally, his father decked Clouse across the face and knocked him out.

Immediately, the bridge began to vanish, and Garmadon grabbed Clouse by the arm and began to drag him towards the gap.

"Morro, come on!" Morro 1 yelled, and his double startled before letting go of Lloyd's hand and running to join him as he summoned his dragon. The two took off, flying towards the mainland as Lloyd's father began to cross the rapidly-deteriorating bridge. When he reached the edge, he launched himself off into midair, dragging Clouse with him, and began to fall towards the ocean. As both sides watched with rapt attention, the Morros caught him, having just flown within range to use their powers before he plummeted into the sea.

"It worked!" Lloyd whooped as they flew back within earshot and set Garmadon down on the shore, Clouse dumped unceremoniously next to him.

"Barely. You're heavy, old man." Morro 1 teased as he set down his dragon next to him.

"It's not me, it's this armor." Lloyd's father grumbled. "Well, we've taken out their only means of getting into the city. Well done, son." Lloyd was opening his mouth to reply when a flash of green caught his eyes, and he turned in surprise towards the gap where the bridge used to be before recoiling in shock.

Masses of strangleweed were reaching out of the water, coiling around itself and the remains of the bridge and lifting them up to become a solid platform again.

"Wh- what that-" the blond started, but broke off at the sight of four figures beginning to cross the newly-made bridge while the rest of the army stayed behind. The one in front was a ghost, holding the arm of a second - a human boy. At their easy pace, it was a few moments before they were close enough for Lloyd to recognize them, but when he did, he let out a shout of warning to the others.

"Reena!"

y'all remember tecmi? yall remember my favorite trash can robot?

~FFF