The bottom to the Destiny's Bounty opened up, allowing for the Shadow to fly up inside it. As soon as the clamps were in place to hold the Shadow inside the ship, the crew of the Shadow had already leapt down and off to the sides of the holding area. The flaps under the Shadow were still closing up as they rushed towards the entrance of the room, dragging along two unconscious boys with them. They soon were racing through the hallways until they were all on the deck of the Bounty, greeted with the sight of Jay and Kai talking with Monty.
"Get us moving, NOW!" Garmadon shouted at the three of them.
"We're on it," Zane stated flatly, turning to Nya. The two of them quickly raced up the stairs to the controls, firing up the Bounty's jets and causing them to begin soaring through the sky.
"We saw the explosion," Monty walked up to Garmadon and calmly spoke, "I'm guessing it didn't go to plan?"
Lloyd and Harumi dragged Sun and Mage forward. By now, Sun had woken up and was stumbling along with Lloyd, taking some of the weight off him. Mage was still knocked out cold, which made Monty narrow his eyes. Harumi, upon seeing this, shook her head.
"He's fine," Harumi told Monty, "He just, took a bad hit to the chest."
"I can see that," Monty looked around the deck, "Where can we put him?" He asked Garmadon with a groan.
"We have a treatment room below," Sun panted, groaning as he forced himself to stand up fully beside Lloyd, "I will… I will take him there. It is my fault he was injured."
"Don't," Garmadon growled, "It was a trap from the beginning. He likely sensed the boy's power and made sure he wasn't a threat to his plan."
"That does not excuse what happened!" Sun protested, pushing Lloyd away and stumbling forward to grab Mage from Harumi's back, "We… we must get moving. We cannot risk the Emperor catching us. I will take him there and treat my own injuries, then rejoin you."
The Bounty tipped up towards the sky, the jets firing loudly as they went. The deck tipped down, forcing Sun to dig in and steady his already strained body to not go sliding down. Kai and Jay anchored down with the main mast, while Harumi and Lloyd linked arms to stay upright. The Bounty was driven straight up until they had approached the dark cloud layer that surrounded the city's sky. The ship leveled out once they did, allowing Sun to begin dragging Mage back despite his own limb.
Garmadon rushed over to the stairs that led up to the deck shouting, "Get us out of the city! The Emperor will be after us! We'll regroup with the others at the Birchwood Forest!"
"Already on it!" Nya shouted over the intercom, "Let's just hope our cloak stays up!"
"Where's Lulloyd?" Harumi asked, letting go of Lloyd.
"Here!" Lulloyd suddenly leapt out from the door to the below deck rooms, "It, doesn't look like any of the Emperor's chatter is talking about us."
"Then that is all we can hope for now," Garmadon looked over to Lloyd and the others, "Along with what we must now question."
Suddenly, Garmadon drew out his dagger and stalked forward to Lloyd. When he was in front of him, Garmadon spun the dagger up and pointed it right at Lloyd's neck. Lloyd gasped, stiffening up as he felt the tip grazing at him. Monty instantly drew a pistol he reached up and put right to Garmadon's head, while Harumi and Lulloyd took a step back.
"Easy there," Monty reached up to pull back the hammer, "Wouldn't want to make any enemies right now, would we?"
"The Emperor knew we were arriving there," Garmadon growled, not even looking at Monty, "My ninja are in danger, and it seems that danger is following all of you. I am not convinced you all are not working for the Emperor and are being used to trace us."
"Why would we do that?" Harumi raised her hands up, "The Emperor was trying to kill us! He even said he didn't know us! He injured Mage!"
"The Emperor is a man of cruelty," Garmadon replied back calmly, "He would be willing to sacrifice one pawn if it meant he could win the game."
"This isn't any sort of game to us," Monty replied, "We have our own reasons for being here. We're not even after this stupid Emperor guy. We're trying to find the guys that were piloting that big mech your Emperor apparently tore apart. The only reason we're sticking around right now is because the Emperor might know something about them."
Lloyd gulped for a moment, breathing in deeply as he tried to process what was going on. Garmadon waited for a few moments, gauging both Harumi and Lulloyd's reactions. After he looked back to Lloyd one last time, he withdrew his dagger. Monty waited a second more before he lowered his pistol and slid it back under his armor.
"The only reason that I am allowing you to remain on my ship is because Sun believes in you," Garmadon stated coldly, "I used to be a kinder man, but the Emperor has made me unable to show that kindness to people. Once we escape from the city, we will part ways," Garmadon turned around, "And after that, I pray that if our paths cross again, it is only for as long as the Emperor is against us both."
On that note, Garmadon turned and made his way back below deck, likely to go and find Sun. Kai and Jay walked by the group with suspicious looks, then disappeared after their Master. Cole was still nowhere to be seen. This left only the four allies together on the deck, and staring at each other with a wide variety of looks.
"What's going on here?" Lloyd rubbed his neck, "My dad was never like that! I mean… when he was Lord Garmadon he did chuck Serpentine overboard but he'd never threaten me like that!"
"This world is screwed," Monty replied, "Better we just accept that fact."
"Yeah… did, you guys know only Nya had any elemental powers?" Lulloyd asked, "Like… I was just kinda talking to Kai and they don't even know how to use this weird weapon thing either."
"We're early in the timeline," Harumi pointed out, "All of the worlds similar to Lloyd's follow a timeline. These ninja apparently just finished getting the Golden Weapons before this Emperor attacked. I bet they don't have weapon abilities or elemental powers because the Golden Weapons. Didn't your team lose their powers after they lost the weapons?"
"Yeah, but then why is Nya apart of the team?" Lloyd asked, "That didn't even happen for me until Morro came around."
"Again, this place is screwed," Monty pointed out, "The Emperor clearly dropped in and ruined everything. I bet Nya was recruited early due to all this stuff happening."
"The Emperor is the Overlord," Harumi stated firmly, "Which makes no sense."
"Wait, as in… the Overlord you guys talk about?" Lulloyd asked nervously.
"We both felt it," Lloyd looked at Harumi, "When we clashed our powers together, it was the same reaction that happened on the Dark Island. That… that thing is the Overlord."
"That doesn't work," Monty shook his head, "The Overlord was only freed from the Dark Island by Garmadon meddling with it. And this guy never got the business end of the Devourer's fangs. The only people that would know about the Dark Island would be the ninja, Wu, Garmadon and Misako. Who unleashed the Overlord?"
"I don't know!" Harumi rubbed her head, "There are too many things happening here! This entire world feels wrong. Everything about it is wrong. Not the mention the two we came here for are gone!"
"Let's not worry about this mystery for now," Lloyd looked across the group, "We need to focus on the Time Twins. If they're gone, that means they're on the loose again."
"I was, thinking about that," Lulloyd perked up, "Can I say something?" There was a moment of silence to let him speak.
"While I was listening to all that chatter, I heard that the Emperor doesn't let anyone leave the city. Like, at all. Some mailman got arrested for trying to leave and then broke his way out. If the Twins are on the run, then they're likely still in the city."
"Either that, or they were captured by the Emperor," Lloyd nodded, "Remember? He said he wanted to capture and study us more. Lulloyd's right that they're probably still in the city."
"Then we can't just leave the ninja," Harumi pointed out, "We have to help them so we can have their help trying to look for them!"
"I don't think you noticed yet, but we're currently flying full speed out of the city," Monty pointed over the side of the deck, "So, unless something happens in the next minute to stop us-"
Suddenly, there was a massive blaring of horns. Lloyd and Harumi instantly recognized it as the Horns of Destruction. The four raced over to the side of the Bounty, looking back to see the source. From the massive tower that the Emperor apparently called his own, the sound seemed to reverb out from each cranny it held.
On the top of the tower, a large device rose up. The device, from afar, looked like pieces of the Celestial Clock rearranged to form a strange cone. The pieces began to rapidly spin and shake, sparks traveling up and down its length. Then, from a spot further down the tower, a single beam of purple light shot out to strike it. The entire device turned purple and then sputtered, sending that same beam up into the sky through the clouds. Lloyd watched in shock as the light then began to spread out from the point in the sky, spearing through the clouds as it moved radially outwards. Soon, the light was traveling all the way towards the edge of the city, forming a massive dome that encompassed the span of the entire city. The Bounty was flying right towards it.
"Hang on!" Nya shouted over the intercom again, spinning the ship into a hard left. Lloyd, Harumi and Lulloyd gripped the railing, while Monty extended his hand to give a burst of wind to keep himself on the ship. The Bounty swung to portside as the purple barrier formed in front of them. Nya dragged the ship to a halt, stopping it from colliding with the barrier mere feet before they ran into it.
Moments later, Garmadon and Sun were rushing up from below the deck, Sun having discarded his shirt to instead cover his wounds in bandages and holding his hilt in case of attack. Garmadon, upon seeing the barrier, stomped the deck of the Bounty and then cursed at it.
"The Emperor was planning this from the beginning," Garmadon turned away, "His goal wasn't just to attack us at the tower. We gave him the proof we were in the city!" Garmadon shook his head, "He's raised the energy barrier. We can't get in or out of this city now!"
The group turned to Monty, who looked back at them with an annoyed expression. Garmadon then turned to look at each of them, but said nothing. Sun took the moment to clutch his side and stalk up over to the side of the Bounty, looking out towards the barrier and growling as he did.
"Sun?" Garmadon asked him, only to see Sun extend his light blade again, "Sun, NO!"
Sun let out a shout of anger, leaping up onto the railing and then straight off the deck of the Bounty. He swung his blade directly into the barrier, causing a massive spark and screech at his blade attempting to cut through it. The entire wall began to light up with sparks around the area, and Sun continued to press his blade forward.
With a loud burst, Sun was sent flying back towards the Bounty. The explosion rocked the entire Bounty, causing its cloak to spark and fizzle out. As the Bounty was sent tilting backwards, Lloyd leapt forward and spun into Airjitzu, leaping off the side of the Bounty to grab hold of Sun. Lulloyd raced backwards and struck the anchor mechanism, rebuilding it into a large makeshift fishing rod with the anchor as the main pole. He cast out the chain as a line for Lloyd to grab onto. Monty reached over the side of the ship and focused his wind power, grabbing Sun's hilt as it went flying off in the distance just in time to pull it back onto the ship.
Lulloyd rapidly reeled the two of them in, spinning the rod to deposit Lloyd and Sun back into the deck. Garmadon immediately rushed over to Sun, shoving Lloyd back and leaning in to check if he was breathing. The other ninja, minus Nya still at the wheel, soon came rushing to stand around Garmadon as he checked Sun's pulses.
"Sun!" Garmadon leaned in to listen to his breathing, "What were you thinking, Sun?!"
Sun coughed, slowly opening his eyes, "Ah… I… I guess the barrier is made of the Emperor's power…"
"Of course it is, you foolish boy!" Garmadon slowly helped to sit Sun upright, "Were you hurt?"
"No more than I already was," Sun grinned painfully, "I will survive."
"Sensei!" Nya's voice came up over the intercom, "Our cloaking device is down!"
"What?!" Garmadon stood up quickly, "We must get it back online, now!"
"Wait, we're not cloaked?!" Jay gasped, "But, that means the Emperor can see us!"
"Good to know," Monty growled.
Nya spun the wheel of the Bounty, turning them back around to fly into the city. Garmadon ordered Jay to go begin repairs on the cloaking mechanism, to which Zane offered his services. In the meanwhile, Kai and Cole readied their weapons, a tonfa and mace respectively, putting their backs to one another and looking around the skies as they did. Harumi and Lloyd did the same. Lulloyd rebuilt the anchor mechanism, while in turn Monty drew two pistols and readied himself for what was to come.
A few minutes later, the cloak began to shimmer once more. The Bounty was guised once more, and soon enough the ship was gliding through the skies as soundly as ever. The tension that it left on deck, however, was still present. They all looked to the skies. Jay soon raced his way up onto the deck as well, wiping some sweat off his brow, his uniform stained with oil from the repairs. All around the ship, they waited, waiting to see what could be coming for them.
"Do… do you think they didn't notice?" Lulloyd asked.
"I wouldn't say that."
The voice that Lloyd heard came from all around them. Garmadon immedaitely drew his dagger out and held it to his chest, while Monty's eyes widened. Nya and Zane were still working the ship, but Kai, Cole and Jay -having drawn a glave- were each around the main mast. Nya, having heard noise as well, stopped the Bounty and moved to try to race out the door to the stairwell.
"Gah! It's stuck!" Nya shouted, yanking on the handle. When Lloyd turned to look, he saw that the entire door was completely pinned shut. More specifically, a large bar of metal had been jammed through the wall and door itself, making pushing the door open a monumental task. Zane, also inside with Nya, stepped back and ran forward, kicking the door and being knocked backwards as the metal refused to budge.
"What the?" Harumi turned to race towards the stairs, but Monty fired his gun to make her stop. When she did, she looked down to see that a small dart had struck the ground right where her body was about to be.
"We're being watched," Monty hissed, "Something's up."
"I know that voice…" Lloyd gulped, "...We're in trouble."
"I know it too," Monty spat, "It's the absolute last person I'd want to see right now."
"So you know who I am? Well then. It's a pity you won't get a chance to tell anyone."
As soon as the voice came again, another dart came flying out from nowhere, this time towards Jay. The blue ninja yelped and ducked down, narrowly avoiding it striking his neck. He rubbed his neck where it would have struck, chuckling nervously as he did. Before the other two ninja could help him, they two were forced to duck as more darts came flying at them.
"Where are they coming from?!" Lloyd quickly raised his hands up, focusing a large shield around himself. Harumi quickly did the same, merging their shields together and expanding it to help cover the others. Garmadon quickly waved for the three ninja to run under it. While they did, the only two that refused to do so were Monty, whom didn't need to, and Sun, who stood firm and looked around.
"Not him again…" Sun held his sword out, extending the blade of light, "I thought we'd gotten rid of him for the last time."
"You may have thought that," This time the voice came from the top of the mast of the Bounty, "But you should know you can't always rely on what you see!"
The figure dropped down, landing just in front of Sun. He raised his hand up in front of him, then blew powder directly into Sun's face. Sun sputtered, his eyes watering as the powder caused his vision to start to go spotty. The figure crouched down and lifted something up overhead, something very sharp. Sun swung his sword wildly out in front of him to try to deflect it, and the figure lunged forward to strike him with it.
At the last second, a flash of gold and a gunshot went off. Monty had shot over with the SoS in hand, blocking something in the air. The figure was holding a chain with throwing knives on each end of it, and one end was wrapped twice around the SoS. The gunshot had gone off on the ground right where the figure's foot had been. The figure looked to the blade he was tackling with, his eyes widening.
"The Sword of Sanctuary…" The figure growled, "How did you steal it from the Emperor?"
"You can tell me that," Monty spat, "Morro."
Lloyd and Harumi dropped their shield, allowing them to turn to look at the figure. Clashing with Monty was none other than Morro himself. He looked rather young, perhaps thirteen at the oldest. His hair was his natural parted black hair, without the green streak inside. Three large green scarves were wrapped around his body, two crossing in an X around his torso and one on his neck, all three billowing several feet behind him. Underneath the scarves, he wore a light set of plate armor around a skintight black suit, all of which was black and purple. Across the piece over his left breast was a large symbol of four flames wrapped around a hand. His body was a bit smaller than Lloyd remembered, and certainly smaller than Monty was used to.
"So you know my name," Morro chuckled, "Well, ghost or not, this won't go any differently for you!"
Monty yanked his chain back, trying to pull the SoS out of Monty's hands. Unfortunately for him, Monty refused to give up his weapon under any circumstances. Instead, Monty raised his hand up and blasted Morro right in the face with a shot of wind. The action snapped Morro's head back, causing him to stumble back and lax the chain. The knife and chain fell from the SoS, giving Monty time to raise his other hand up to show a loaded revolver.
As the shot went off, Morro did a backflip in the air. He landed with his feet on the main mast, then reached up and undid the scarf on his neck. He thrust the scarf up, causing it to make a mechanical noise as it shot up like a rope to wrap around the supports of the sail. He let himself go swinging through the air until he landed on top of the window to the cockpit. Nya and Zane rushed up to the window just in time for Morro to give a yank on his scarf, causing it to go limp again and him to wrap it back around his neck. He raised his hand and spun the chain with the two knives, causing it to wrap around his arm. When it was fully wound, it flashed and turned into a necklace he caught and gently placed back around his neck.
"The Emperor sends his regards!" Morro laughed, "And don't worry, I'll make sure you get them!"
Morro reached under his scarves, pulling out a grenade that he threw onto the window to burst out into smoke, followed a second later by Harumi's Rhotatae discs going soaring right for him. The smoke cleared with the wind a moment later, but by then he was gone.
"Morro?" Harumi looked back to Lloyd, "How?! He's, what?!"
"This timeline is screwed, stop asking questions!" Monty spat, "Sun, can you fight?!"
Sun slowly raised his head up, showing that his eyes were puffy, inflamed and clearly weren't going to work, but he nonetheless raised his sword up, "I can fight so long as I draw breath."
"Who is this Morro guy this time?!" Lulloyd asked nervously, "He doesn't look like the one the Twins have!"
"Morro is a member of the Emperor's Hand," Sun replied calmly, "He is, more specifically, the Emperor's assassin. He has been trained to know each art of killing from the shadows. If he shows himself, it means he wishes to just toy with us."
Suddenly, more darts came flying out of nowhere. Lloyd summoned a shield to protect himself, while Harumi fired off small discs to knock some away. Lulloyd looked around, then he struck the aft deck of the Bounty to turn it into plates he rapidly made into crude shields to throw out to the ninja and Garmadon. Monty watched darts go through him with a snarl.
"The Emperor said that Kruncha and Nuckal were members too," Lloyd turned to Garmadon, "What is this Emperor's Hand?!"
"As the Emperor has four hands, so does he have the four he has granted power to and trained to be his personal protectors!" Sun shouted, thrusting his sword around to try to intercept darts, "Kruncha and Nuckal are one of them. Morro is another! They each specialize in different things! Kruncha and Nuckal are bodyguards! Morro is his assassin!"
"That's right!" Morro's voice echoed from around the group, "I'm so glad to hear you remembered me, Sun. Keep me in your mind so I know the last thing you ever think about is who managed to finally take you down!"
"Every single fiber of my nonliving body is telling me to shoot him," Monty growled, "Wait here." Before the group could stop him, Monty threw the SoS to Lulloyd with a stern, "Keep it safe," Before his body suddenly phased through the floor and disappeared.
"U-Uh… okay?" Lulloyd looked down into the sword's glint, "Uhm… so, how does this-"
Lulloyd saw a flash in the blade, then reacted by dropping his body to the ground and raising his shield. Morro appeared in the air in a flash, his knives back out and being driven down onto the shield. Lulloyd rotated his arms down and then up to throw Morro off of him, causing Morro to fade into the air. When Lulloyd leapt back up to his feet, he looked down at the sword.
"O-Okay, I can see why Monty likes this thing so much…" Lulloyd gulped, "W-What are we supposed to do now?"
"We mustdraw Morro out so we can fight him," Sun swung his sword out again, "I have defeated him before. We must corner him so we can overwhelm him. He works only from the shadows, in the open he is weak!"
Suddenly, Morro appeared behind Sun. Sun, hearing this, spun his sword around, his ability activating to leave a ribbon of light in the air. The ribbon instantly burst apart in a massive burst that Sun had to shield himself from. Morro leapt backwards and disappeared in the flash of light Sun produced once more.
"Easier said than done!" Kai growled out, his tonfa spinning to knock away darts, "Where are these things coming from?!"
"Is Morro the Master of Wind?" Harumi shouted.
In an instant, a massive burst of wind suddenly ravaged the deck of the Bounty, pushing all of the group towards the portside. The wind increased as they all struck the railing, threatening to send them right over. Lulloyd, seeing this, made a split second decision and plunged the SoS into the Bounty, spun around it and jumped forward. Harumi, seeing this, grabbed Lulloyd's legs and spun him so he rotated perfectly around the hilt of the SoS. When Lulloyd let go, he was sent flying forward so he could grab the crude shields he had made and rapidly fashion them into a makeshift fan that pointed off to the bow. The wind struck the fan and redirected it away, letting the group and stumble forward away from the railing.
"Monty commanded the wind!" Garmadon growled, "Where is he?!"
"Right here," Monty shouted from on top of the Bounty.
The group looked up to see Monty was standing on the roof of the cockpit. In place of his normal sidecape, he now wore a massive black and red cape that flowed several feet behind him on the ground. A large section was propped up around his head, curling upwards a few inches. He had his arms crossed, in one hand a shotgun and in the other a semi auto rifle. He lowered his head, and suddenly with a burst of wind the cape violently flapped out behind him. Harumi saw Monty's hand open just slightly, commanding the wind to make his cape flap behind him.
"What is he doing?!" Sun asked, "I cannot see him!"
"Morro!" Monty shouted, "Show yourself!"
There was a sound of several slices behind Monty. Monty turned around to see Morro standing there directly across from him, mimicking his pose with his arms crossed. His three scarves billowed out hard behind him, Morro's palm also open to make his billow. The two stared each other down as cape and scarves both billowed in opposite directions, flapping harder as the two stood off together like that.
"...I, forgot Monty really likes his capes…" Lloyd muttered.
"I'm the only one that's allowed to have this look," Monty reached up and tossed the upper part of the cape aside to instead focus all his billowing on the massive one that reached down his back, raising the shotgun and rifle, "I think you should get rid of those scarves."
"You wish you looked half as cool as I do," Morro grinned, "But then again, I shouldn't have to compete with the dead. You lost before you even began."
"Why don't you go ahead and show everyone those nice little toys you're using," Monty looked behind Morro, "It's obvious to anyone who's seen them before."
Morro grinned heavily, then bowed to Monty and raised his knives up so the chain shimmered in front of him. Behind him, a sound of buzzing formed, then a massive wall of drones all appeared behind Morro. Each drone was circular, with a slot the perfect size of the darts Morro had fired out at them. Each one was unmistakably designed with the Nindroid's purples and blacks into them, with a targeting eye on each identical to the standard issue drone. Morro raised himself up and grinned as all of their red eyes framed him against the dark sky and purple barrier crackling in the distance behind him.
"So you figured it out," Morro laughed as the drones all lined up behind him, then shimmered to hide themselves from sight, "They're my personal drones given to my courtesy of the good inventor. They'll make sure I can keep this battle as personal as possible. I like to deal with people one on one, as a way to thank them for being willing to stand up to me."
"Awh, those won't work on me though," Monty growled, "So you better get some new plans in mind before I riddle you with more bullets than those drones could put in me."
Both the shotgun and rifle went off, sending the bullets right towards Morro. Morro reached backwards and grabbed an invisible drone to put in front of him. The drone became visible as the bullets struck up and caused it to spark up and fall apart. Morro reached into the holes the bullets made to grab a dart, kiss it, and then take it between his teeth and blow with the power of wind to send it going towards Monty. Monty thrust his hand to the right to blow his cape out of the way from the dart, making the dart go off until it struck the Bounty's mast.
"Then let's see whether or not your friends down there can stand up to me like you can," Morro smirked, "After all, the dead shouldn't trouble the living!"
Suddenly, Morro ws gone again. Monty threw the rifle and shotgun backwards, and instantly Lloyd perked up. He spotted the gun bag sticking out the underside of the Bounty stairs and acted on it. Just as the darts began to fly again, Lloyd hit the ground and rolled to grab the bag and yank out several boxes of bullets. He then twisted into Spinjitzu, catching the two guns in it. A few seconds later, the two guns went flying perfectly out and right back to Monty. Monty turned around, caught them in each hand, then spun back around so his cape billowed out elegantly behind him while he let the rifle lose into the air, causing several drones to break apart and go sparking towards the ground.
"What are supposed to do?!" Harumi flung Rhotatae discs into the air, yielding no such results.
"J-Just keep going!" Lulloyd spun the SoS in the air to deflect darts as he saw them coming for him, "Just, just hold out! We'll think of something!"
Kai reached up with his tonfa, swinging to knock a dart away before it hit him. Jay raised up his large glave and did the same, a long pole that came to a large blade on the end with several ribbons attached slicing at darts themselves. Cole raised up his mace and did the same, forcing Jay and Kai to back away from him as he did.
"Where's Morro?!" Monty shouted, throwing the rifle back and switching to the shotgun, "How is he hiding like that?!"
"He isn't hiding!" Garmadon shouted, "He's preparing for a strike! He isn't hidden, just waiting for his moment!"
"Then we must find him and not give him that moment," Sun, still blinded, swung his blade around, "We must make certain that we do not-"
Suddenly, Morro appeared behind Sun. Monty, seeing this around his cape, spun around with his shotgun to fire at him. The deck was splintered behind Sun, but it was too late. Morro had shot forward with that strange weapon and sliced Sun's arm with the end of his knife. He laughed just as he disappeared again, leaving Sun to groan out and reach up to feel the cut.
"What was that about?" Lulloyd asked, raising the SoS up, "Come on, come on, tell me where he is already!"
Lulloyd was given just that, and sadly it was for Morro about to appear and attack him. Lulloyd, however, saw something with how Morro moved. He rotated his body back to have Morro's knife fly right by his body, leaving him to stop himself from falling over by Harumi grabbing his hand to pull him up.
"G-Guys!" Lulloyd looked to Harumi, "He isn't disappearing! He's moving faster than we can see it!"
"What?" Harumi used a disc to shield from a dart, "How?!"
"His wind power, maybe his weapon?!" Lulloyd shook his head, "He's here somewhere! He's just moving super fast!"
The group looked around. Morro was nowhere to be found. Only the endless onslaught of darts was there to greet them. The deck was soon littered with them, and it left the group all in defensive positions, save the ghost who continually retrieved guns reloaded by Lloyd to shoot down drones that were in the air at complete random.
"Sun?!" Jay suddenly shouted. Sun had collapsed down to one knee, holding a hand to his chest. His breath was coming in small wheezes, and his lips were starting to look pale. Jay raced over and dragged Sun under the entrance below deck, gently propping him up to look him up and down quickly.
"I… I am fine, Jay," Sun's voice was weak, "I… just feel a bit lightheaded."
"What's going on?" Harumi looked over to Sun, "Sun, you look like you're-"
Suddenly, Cole and Kai both fell to their knees. Harumi turned to see that the two of them had small cuts on their backs, ones that even they didn't seem to notice they had. They were both breathing heavily, yet their exhales were ragged. Harumi looked around the Bounty frantically, trying to find where Morro was. Lloyd did the same as he backed up towards Harumi and put their backs together defensively.
"What's going on with them?" Lloyd asked nervously, using a katana to knock away darts.
"It looks like they're suffocating, but not in the normal way!" Harumi looked to Sun, "He looks more like he's losing oxygen in his blood!"
"And you would know this, why?" Monty shouted down from the top of the ship.
"Because I know things!" Harumi snapped back at him, then looked down to her watch. She rolled across the deck along with Lloyd to quickly scan Sun with it. When the results came up, her eyes widened.
"He's not just losing oxygen… he's literally leaking it!" Harumi pointed at her watch, showing a symbol of Sun's body with red lines around it, "It's like his body is letting oxygen diffuse right out of him!"
"It cannot be that bad," Sun laughed gently, only to wheeze at it, "I… I can still fight!"
"No, no you can't," Harumi pointed at her watch again, "At this rate, he won't have enough oxygen for his brain in a few minutes!"
"I do not need my brain to fight!" Sun shook his head, "I only need to know where to point my blade and the will to wield it!"
"It must be Morro's blade," Lloyd pointed out, "Sun was cut by it right before this happened!"
"That's his weapon ability then, I think," Harumi shook her head, "They have abilities in place of Spinjitzu or Rhotatae. Those skulkin had that doubling power, now Morro had this oxygen power."
Monty landed in front of the Sun and the others, throwing both the cape and guns aside. He used his wind to suck his gun bag over and instead replace his larger cape with a smaller side black cape. Once he did, he tossed the gun bag back to Lloyd and drew pistols once more.
"So we have a time limit now," Monty growled, "Great. Then we need to get up and find him, now! This is one giant open air ship, if he isn't inside it he had to be hiding somewhere!"
"Nya!" Garmadon shouted towards the cockpit, "Trim the sails!"
Nya and Zane, still trying to free themselves from their entrapment, nodded. Nya hit a button, causing the sails to rise up, removing the ability for Morro to hide using the main sail .The group waited patiently to see what exactly this meant. For a few moments, nothing happened.
Then, a warning siren sounded on the deck. The Bounty lurched to the left, and smoke began to rise up from the back of the ship. Nya and Zane both grabbed the wheel and yanked it until the ship was righted, causing the group to slide around as they did. When Garmadon was able to rush over to look at what was happening, his eyes widened.
The portside boosters were crackling with flames, the jet itself spurting wildly into the air. Several drones had flown straight into it, causing it to burn brightly in the air. An automatic fire suppression system kicked in, but the damage was already done. The Bounty lurched in the air several times, barely able to stabilize itself.
"Oh, GREAT!" Jay spat, "I just fixed that one like last week!"
"Morro is going to make us dead in the air," Garmadon looked over to the still gasping Sun, "We must end this fight quickly!"
"Obviously," Monty growled, "We just need to find him."
"If you're looking for me," Morro's voice came from above them, "You need to pick up your pace!"
Morro's knives plunged down into the deck an inch away from Lloyd's foot. Morro dropped down and yanked them up, just in time to catch Garmadon's dagger on the chain. Morro spun his arms in a circle to wrap the chain around the dagger, then tried to yank it out of Garmadon's hands. Garmadon immediately reacted by using one hand to lunge forward and grab Morro's face to slam him down into the deck.
Monty reared his pistol out to fire directly where Morro lay. Morro, letting out a grunt of effort, reached down to grab one of his smoke bombs and smash it into the ground. Monty's gun went off several times, but when the smoke cleared, only bullet holes were left in the deck. With a quick burst of wind, Monty dispelled the smoke.
"Wait a minute," Lulloyd, who had been tending to the fallen two ninja, looked over to Monty, "Monty! Why, why did he just use smoke there instead of that disappearing thing?!"
Monty looked down to where Morro had been pinned, "He couldn't have been using wind there either, otherwise the smoke would be gone. What's he using?"
Sun gave a hard gasp. The group looked down to him, clutching at his chest. He smiled warmly to the others, but his body showed no such reason to. Cole and Kai slumped down into the deck. Darts were still flying everywhere, but the two of them were spared. Harumi and Lloyd cowered down, while Lulloyd gently handed the SoS back to Monty, who slid it onto his back with a mutter.
"Wait," Lulloyd blinked, "In the SoS, I saw Morro moving. He, he can't just be hiding, can he? He… he has to be somewhere he can see us!"
Darts flew out further. The thinking bits of this were coming together. Lloyd and Harumi shared a look, while Lulloyd and Monty did the same. Together, Lulloyd and Monty looked out around the Bounty, taking time to think about what they had discovered. It was Harumi who finally had her eyes widen.
"Not see us… hear us!" Harumi looked up, "Which would mean-"
Lulloyd was already on it. He darted out across the deck, Monty right behind him. Lulloyd reared his first back and struck the side of the bounty, causing the entire top bit of railing to turn to bricks with hinges. He rapidly rebuilt this into a large extendable grabbing hand, which he shot over the side of the Bounty. There was a massive shout as Lulloyd raised up the hand, revealing Morro caught in its grasp.
"Hiding on the side of the ship," Monty smirked, "Clever. The darts meant we couldn't even get close to that."
Morro shouted in anger, putting his hands to the strange hand and blasting it apart with wind. As he did, he extended his scarf to wrap around something in the air. The second the scarf was tugged, it turned invisible. Morro was about to be dragged away from the group, but this time Monty shot out his hand with wind and knocked the current Morro was using in the air. Both he, the scarf, and a drone the scarf had hooked to all came crashing down on the deck.
"You used your scarves to pull you fast enough to look like you were disappearing," Lulloyd blinked, "I uh… wow."
Morro gasped as he picked up his weapon, desperately swinging it towards Monty. The ghost calmly drew the SoS and spun the blade with wind at the tip, causing it to knock the knife away before it could lock around the SoS. An instant later, Garmadon's dagger hit the ground beside Morro and Garmadon appeared to shout angrily and tackle Morro down to the deck.
Morro shouted in rage, wind gusts blowing out from his hands, causing the sails above to rattle. Monty casually stepped forward, then slammed the butt of his pistol into Morro's face. The pain caused Morro to cry out and his wind to slowly calm down. Garmadon reached over to grab his dagger, then twisted Morro around to lay on his back. He put the dagger to Morro's throat, growling at him as he did.
"Turn off your ability," Garmadon ordered, "Do so now if you value your life."
"Why should I listen to you?" Morro chuckled dryly, "After all, you're all just going to be taken in by the Emperor soon. Perhaps I should let them die, just to show the Emperor that I'm still worthy of being in his good graces?"
"You won't be in any graces if you don't listen to him…" Lulloyd pointed out nervously. Monty nodded his head, still casually holding a pistol at Morro.
"Just so you know, I'm still really tempted to shoot you," Monty let his small side cape flap out, "I'm the only one that is allowed to have the flair around here. Call me about it when someone sends you to the other side. And for the record, that can still be me."
Morro looked down and over to the side for a minute to Sun, looking like he wanted to pass out with all his being but was fighting it. For a few more moments, Morro thought, then he slowly raised his hands up and nodded. With a small hum, his knives glowed for a brief moment, then Sun suddenly gasped in air. He hacked as he beat his chest with weak hands, trying to force the air in and out of his body as he did. Kai and Cole likewise sat up, doing the same thing. Before anyone could say anything, morro just grinned.
"Don't think that I did this because I have any sort of compassion for you all," Morro looked over at Sun, "That one's the Emperor's prey. I was just doing what I was ordered. I was never told to kill you… just make sure that you all were still in the city."
"What?" Garmadon pressed his dagger towards Morro again, "What did you say?"
"He said the Emperor now knows you didn't escape the city before his barrier!" Cryptor's voice came from the starboard side, "And now he knows exactly how to approach you all!"
The group turned to see Cyptor hovering in the air; or, to be more particular, Cyrus Borg inside of a suit of armor to look like General Cryptor. Cryptor reached his arm out, causing a cable to fire out and wrap around Morro's arm. Before the group could react, Morro had been reeled back. Morro began to blow wind from his feet like Cryptor's jets, letting him hover beside the masked inventor.
"We'll make sure to let the Emperor know of your abilities," Morro bowed, "And to bill you for the drones!"
Monty raised his guns, but Cryptor formed an energy shield on his left arm, making the oncoming bullets useless. As Lloyd charged up an attack, Cyptor detached the shield and flung it right for Lloyd. The shield struck him in the face and sent him stumbling back, before a magnet caused the shield to fly back to Cryptor and land on his arm.
"Let's call this round a draw," Cryptor nodded to Morro, "And take our leave. Shall we?"
"I think we shall," Morro laughed, "And don't try to follow us. In fact, let's make sure you can't follow us!"
Morro and Cryptor both burst out into the sky, flying away. In their place, a massive wave of Nindroids, perhaps a hundred strong, came flying towards them. Seeing this, Garmadon looked to the cockpit, but Nya had already reactivated their cloak and sent them soaring away. As the Nindroids fruitlessly chased them, it left Morro and Cryptor to hover together and watch the disappearing ship leave.
"So… why are we not attacking them?" Morro asked curiously.
"Because the Emperor has ordered it so," Cryptor hit a button on his arm, causing the head piece to retract and reveal Borg's head, "He has some rather, uhoh, urgent matters to attend to. Those newcomers are unlike anything we've seen before! Oh, what I would give for the chance to study them!"
"You mean to dissect them," Morro sighed, "I know what you want when you 'study' things."
"Oh, I wouldn't do anything permanent!" Borg assured Morro, "I have several devices that can ensure they keep breathing long after that point. Why, I even have been working on a life-extending machine! I was thinking of calling it Conagher! It's the name of a lovely assistant that I had for awhile. Such a shame he stumbled upon my, personal quarters."
"Let's leave that silly silence to you," Morro wrapped his hands up in his scarves, "I'm just looking forward to getting another chance at those guys."
"Never to fear, my dear boy," Borg grinned, "We'll get our chance soon enough, I'm sure!"
"So…" Lloyd looked across the table of his four companions, "We need to make a decision here."
It was several hours after the chase by the Nindroids. The cloak had hidden them from their pursuers, and currently the ninja were running repairs on the Bounty. Mage, having dragged himself from the bed rather recently, looked around the room with a bit of confusion.
"What do you mean?" Mage cocked his head, "We're obviously staying to fight this Emperor guy, right?"
"That's the thing," Monty sighed, crossing his arms, "We don't know whether or not the Time Twins are out there anymore or not."
"They have to be," Lulloyd pointed out, "Why would they leave?"
"They haven't left," Harumi nodded, "There are no spikes in dimensional signatures to show that. But… we can't exactly leave either."
"Dareth's place is inside that palace," Lulloyd pointed out, "So… we're kinda stuck here, unless we find another dimensional constant to use. That's, right, right?"
"Yes," Lloyd looked around, "What we need to decide is how long we want to stick with these ninja."
"I vote we stay!" Mage raised his hand, "They clearly need our help! These guys are fighting a big bad! We gotta be there to help them!"
"I vote we leave," Monty frowned, "The Emperor is something that they need to deal with. The Time Twins are out there, and if they're scared and running wild, we need to stop them before they get really desperate and try something."
"...I agree with Monty," Lulloyd mumbled, "These ninja don't want us around. And… we're just going to get caught up with them right now. We had our most success when we were laying low until we were called out, right? I...I'm not saying we ditch them. But, we have to consider ourselves here."
"Harumi?" Lloyd asked. Harumi was deep in thought, and when she looked to Lloyd, her expression was sad.
"I don't know, Lloyd," Harumi looked down, "I want to help them, but I don't think we can. They're fighting a losing battle. If we go in with them, we might get dragged down too. We haven't even been able to spend one minute looking for the Twins. We need to consider the threat they pose to this place. And… we just have to consider our own mission."
"...I was really hoping that this was a little more decisive," Lloyd hung his head, "I don't know what to do either. I want to help them, but I don't think they want our help. Garmadon has already told us once we get out of here, he's leaving us behind."
"Then let me weigh in on this meeting," Sun's voice came from the hallway. The group turned to see Sun standing there, leaning up against the frame of the door, his body still covered in bandages and his eyes filled with exhaustion. He stumbled forward and planted his hands on the table, then looked down at the floor for a moment.
"Sun, you should be resting!" Harumi pointed out, "You've taken a beating, twice now. You can't keep going like this."
"Indeed I can, since I am right here," Sun looked up, "You are talking about whether or not to aid us, right? Not just with escaping the city, but with the Emperor, yes?"
"Yeah," Monty leaned back, "What about it?"
"I want to be apart of this," Sun put his hilt on the table, "Fight beside me."
"Sun…" Lloyd looked down, "It's not that we don't want to, it's that-"
"You have your own demons you must slay, I know," Sun shook his head, "You have made that clear. You stay because of obligation, not of need. This is me formally asking you to stay and fight alongside us, for as long as it may be that we can do so."
"Why?" Monty raised his eyebrow, "Why should we?"
"Because we can help you find these Twins you are insistent upon," Sun shook his head, "And you all have incredible abilities. Each of you can do things that we have never seen before, even with how strange our abilities must come off to you. If your claims are true, then I am one of you. We hail from the same bloodline, one that traces further back than our forebearers. I was willing to put my trust in you because I know the blood that you carry must therefore be as righteous as I have strived to keep mine. So far, you have not let me down. I must ask you, as someone that wishes to ally alongside justice, to fight with us."
"And do what?" Lulloyd asked, "You… haven't told us any plans."
"For now, help us to remove the barrier in this city," Sun looked up at them all with a fiery gaze, "Then, help us to complete the plan that your arrival complicated. Help us to infiltrate the palace and take down the tyranny that lives there. With our power combined, our strength as one, we can drive a blow to the Emperor to pierce his wicked shadows with light!"
"And the Twins?" Harumi asked.
"If they are a threat, we will deal with them. They are at their lowest point, if what you say is right. They are the smallest head of this beast. We must cut off the larger one so we may more safely find them. If you were to leave now, the others would surely capture you," Sun bowed his head, "That is what I believe."
"Do you think you can win now?" Mage asked, leaning forward in his seat hopefully.
"Yes," Sun bowed his head, "If I have you by my side, then I believe we can. Please, my new friends. Let us right the evils of this world together, so we may have the light once again."
Slowly, the room looked around to each other. There was a shift in the air of the room now that Sun had arrived. Even beaten, weakened and trembling, he burned with a passion and air that none of them could deny, even the one that did not feel such things anymore. As they each took in what Sun said, they all slowly turned to Lloyd. Mage smiled warmly, Lulloyd rotated his head, Harumi blinked to him, and Monty just sighed. Lloyd thought for a few more moments, then he turned to Sun.
"If it's for the good of this world… we'll fight with you," Lloyd stood up, walking over to Sun to extend his hand, "But once we defeat this Emperor guy, we need to find our Twins, okay?"
Sun gripped Lloyd's hand firmly and shook it. A warmth burned from a grin on Sun's face, one that Lloyd couldn't help but smile to, even in the dim light of the room and the darkness of the skies outside.
"Then follow me, my friends," Sun declared, "We have an Emperor to depose!"