Without the shadow of darkness to conceal him, the Emperor stood in front of them. The face that he wore, sans the glowing purple eyes, was none other than Lloyd Garmadon. He stood with his hands now all behind his back, those strange sickly blades still jutting from his wrists. The crown he wore was equally as jagged and off putting, yet also radiated power and strength. He looked down at the four of them, all staring back at him with confusion written over their faces.
"Is… is that your real face?" Lulloyd gulped, "You… you were, doing shadowy stuff earlier. Are, are you sure that's what you really, look like?"
"Yes," The Emperor nodded his head, "This is the true face of the Emperor. I can see from your own that you are confused at its appearance."
"This… this can't be," Harumi looked down at her watch, "Sun… Sun never indicated he had a sibling."
"He does not," The Emperor informed her, "Sun is the only son of Wu and Misako."
"But…" Lloyd shook his head, "Then, you can't be Lloyd. You can't be us! Lloyd's mother is Misako!"
"Did I not tell you to stretch your imagination?" The Emperor sighed, "Perhaps you truly are not able to grasp what I wish for you to after all."
"Wait a minute," Mage stepped forward, "If… he's Lloyd, and, Sun is Sun then… why does he look like that?"
That question was one that hit each of them. The Emperor claimed he was none other than Lloyd Garmadon. Regardless of the very existence of Sun being of question now, that didn't explain why the Emperor looked like that. The Emperor showed powers and traits that only the Overlord had. Both Lloyd and Harumi had faced him personally, and until now it'd been a solid guess this was the Overlord.
"...The Overlord can only leave the Dark Island if he possesses a host," Harumi muttered nervously, "That… That means that the Overlord is…"
"Right here."
The deep voice the Emperor had came rushing back to him. When the group turned to look at the Emperor, however, his face had completely changed. Gone were the human features that he normally held; in their place was instead a face that Lloyd swore he'd never see again. A protruding snout, deep curved eyes, massive teeth-filled jaws and an oily sheen had come to define the Emperor's face. It was the face of the first stage of the metamorphosis that Lord Garmadon had gone through to become the dark dragon. While the rest of his body remained the same, the face had twisted and morphed into that terrifying visage..
"I have been waiting for so very long," The Overlord's voice came ringing through the Emperor's body, "I could smell your fear. I could sense your terror. It is so utterly… addictingly… delicious."
Suddenly, the Emperor leaned his head down, groaning as he did. With a few sickening snaps, the snout retreated back into his face. The shadows covered his features for a moment, as though hiding something underneath. When the darkness retreated, the face of Lloyd was back, with the purple eyes still remaining.
"We agreed," The Emperor groaned, "That you would not alter our face unless needed."
"I had an impression to make," The Overlord's voice came through the Emperor's lips, "The girl's fear is one that I have not felt for so long…"
"We will have their fear and more," The Emperor responded, seemingly to himself, "Be patient. We will learn all we have to from them, then you may have it."
"W-What the…?" Lulloyd took a step back, "Is… is he talking to himself?"
"...When my dad was being taken over," Lloyd was starting to look as terrified as Harumi, "There, there was a moment where both him and the Overlord were fighting for control. Both of their minds were in the same body. Does… does that mean?"
"Whenever we heard his voice before," Harumi shuddered, "We weren't hearing the voice of Lloyd. That… that was…"
"The Overlord, yes," The Emperor smirked, "He does command a rather interesting presence, does he not? I simply told him what to have us say."
"Us?" Mage stepped forward, "But, you're talking like you're two different people!"
"Yes," The Emperor frowned, "In a sense, we are. Our body is one we crafted from both of our former ones. Our minds are melded and fused irrevocably. While we retain two personalities, we are yet one being… the Emperor."
"No!" Lloyd straightened his back up, "You're Lloyd Garmadon and the Overlord! You, you two were meant to be the opposite of each other! How could you fuse with the Overlord?!"
The Emperor turned his head, shining his purple eyes deep into Lloyd. In an instant, shadows began to rapidly burn around him, rising up from around his feet like smoke from a roaring inferno. The shadows spread up and around him, the force of which produced a gale hard enough to make Lloyd fall back onto his rear. Harumi let out a cry of fear and scrambled backwards, trying to form a Rhotatae disc in front of her. Both Lulloyd and Mage were unable to move as they saw the sheer display of power.
"How could I?" The Emperor asked in a soft voice, "You wish to know what happened to me, to know why I would do such a thing?"
The way that Emperor spoke sounded as though he was barely holding back rage. Lloyd was too terrified to actually answer him. No one wanted to say anything to him. Seeing this, the Emperor slowly lowered the barrier of shadows around him and turned his back to them. With a slick sound, the blades in the Emperor's arms began to retract into his body, the skin healing up as it did. Then, out of his right palm, a large staff emerged. The staff was black and purple like the rest of his body, and the four blades in his arms had merged together into two long points at the top and bottom. When he planted the staff onto the floor, having fully slid out of his body, it was just shorter than he was. The Emperor looked down to them, then he slowly nodded his head.
"You will stay here, in this cell, without question or protest," The Emperor raised his staff up, "Seeing as how your ghostly friend has already attempted to escape, I will ensure that you do not leave this place…" The Emperor focused, then his voice deepened as he stated firmly, "Shadow Control."
The Emperor tapped his staff on the ground. Lloyd felt a flash of movement from behind him. There were several small lights outside the cell that shone on each of them. From the shadow that made them cast, a dark hand reached up to grab them. Lloyd was slammed face-first into the floor, gasping out as his own shadow held him down. Mage's shadow reached up and grabbed his wrist, then began to wrap around his chest until it had covered him in a shadowy straightjacket. Lulloyd had the same blades raised up at him, stopping him still, while Harumi had her hands yanked behind her back and held there. Once each of them was bound, the Emperor pointed one of his hands forward. The four of them went flying back into the opposite wall. As soon as they left the light, the shadows around them disappeared, causing them to simply crash into the wall and slump down into a pile. The Emperor waited for them to begin to move before he nodded his head.
"Effective," The Overlord spoke up through the Emperor, "But not very creative."
"That is not what we should strive to be," The Emperor fired back, "Overwhelming power used with only the slightest of thoughts is that which the enemy should be shown."
Slowly, Lloyd helped to pick the others up. His mind told him he should have been able to dodge what was thrown at him. As he looked down at himself, he felt a wave of haziness. Just as the others had managed to stand up, Lloyd himself fell backwards. Lulloyd leapt over and helped to hold him upright.
"Lloyd?" Lulloyd asked. Lloyd was looking just as pale as Harumi was. Was the Dark Matter starting to affect him like Harumi was?
"It appears that your claims of being allergic to Dark Matter are true," The Emperor turned to leave, "It appears to also be at a slow enough process you can stay where you are. I believe I will leave you there, then."
"You… you haven't told us anything else…" Lloyd protested. Lulloyd helped to hold him. The Emperor stopped just before he was out of view.
"No," The Emperor chuckled, "And I don't believe I will."
With one large step, the Emperor was gone. Lulloyd quickly moved to help find a pot on the floor to lay Lloyd and Harumi. The two looked almost like they had a fever, albeit with Harumi's more progressively down the line. Once they were laid down, Lulloyd moved to sit beside Lloyd, while Mage did the same for Harumi. For a few minutes, the two green ninja lay panting, trying to get their breath back.
"How…?" Lloyd asked after a little while, "This… this isn't like with Monty. This… this is something else!"
"I… I don't know…" Harumi muttered, "The Emperor said Misako, only had one child. Which is Sun. I… I have no idea how he could exist in this world too."
"Maybe, we just shouldn't think about it?" Lulloyd suggested, "You two need to focus on, staying strong."
"We have to know!" Lloyd protested, "We can't just ignore it now that we know... Right?"
Lulloyd gave a bit of a nervous glance. Lloyd slumped back down as he did. There were too many things here that didn't make sense. From the minute they got to this world, there was something wrong with it. The city was corrupted, the Overlord was in power, and Sun was a knight swinging around a sword of light. Sun was the 'Lloyd' of this universe, that was the thought they'd all had. It was easy to see! But… now they had met someone that said he was Lloyd. An Emperor that claimed he was. For some reason, Lloyd didn't feel like he was lying. Lloyd looked across the room at everyone else, trying to gauge what he could say to them. When he realized he had nothing to say, he just closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. Mage looked ready to talk to him, but Lulloyd reached out to stop him.
"Here," Lulloyd noted the way that Lloyd was starting to sleep, "Let's let them rest, okay? We uhm… we can go over here." Mage paused, then nodded.
Harumi gave him a murmur of thanks, just before she herself was soon to follow. Mage stood up along with Lulloyd, letting them both rest. The fear of the situation had likely taken out more of their energy, and now they needed to rest from it all. Lulloyd rotated his legs so he was lying flush against the wall, while Mage put his hands behind his head and leaned up against the wall that way.
Time passed. There was nothing to do in the cell. Nothing there for them to think about, other than the confused reality that was in front of them. Nothing about the Emperor made sense. Nothing at all, here, made any sense at all. All they could do was sit in silence. Soon, Lloyd and Harumi had fallen asleep. That only made the silence worse, and in turn, made Lulloyd feel more out of place.
"...Hey, uh," Lulloyd felt the need to talk, "Are you… doing okay, Mage?"
"Huh?" Mage turned to him, "Well… yeah, I'm okay. I mean, aside from being thrown into walls and getting my powers turned off."
"Oh… yeah, sorry that was a dumb thing to ask," Lulloyd paused for a little bit, "Hey… uh, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"I think you just did," Mage smirked. Lulloyd blushed a bit.
"What's it like… to have… powers?" Lulloyd asked, "Like… you got all those really big powers, what's it like?"
"What's it… like?" Mage blinked a bit, "Uh… well, it's really cool! Being able to do whatever I want is, really sweet! And like, it means I can go around and help everyone. Which means I get to have even more fun."
"Oh…" Lulloyd looked away, "Yeah, uh, cool. Thanks."
Mage wasn't satisfied with that response, "Why'd you ask? You have a ton of cool powers! That whole building thing you do is amazing! And that wholef like, knocking people into the air and just wailing on them!"
"Everyone back home can learn how to build like that," Lulloyd pointed out, "And uh, that's called the Art of the Skyward Dragon. All of my friends can do it."
"So?" Mage asked, "You're the only one here who can! I'd say you're pretty powerful yourself!"
"You… you're just kinda saying that," Lulloyd sighed sadly, "I, I guess I just, wanted to know. I want to be useful to you guys. Everyone here is either strong or smart or has some cool thing they can do and… I feel like I get lost in it all, you know?"
"You organized that entire rescue for my friends," Mage informed him, "You saved them. And you were able to figure out how to fight your way out even if I hadn't made the iron Doom retreat when I did," Mage paused, "Is… this about you getting captured?"
"...Maybe?" Lulloyd looked away from Mage, "...Of everyone to get caught, it had to be more. I… I was the one that got you all into this mess. You… you could've left me behind and then, you wouldn't have needed to get caught. Now you're all set back and, it's my fault."
"So?" Mage cocked his head, "What's being captured have to do with you being strong?"
"The… fact I couldn't actually get away myself," Lulloyd answered in confusion.
"I used to get kidnapped by someone every other week," Mage shrugged, "Doesn't mean that I didn't learn how to use the elements. And hey, you said I was strong too, right? So that means that being strong doesn't mean you don't get captured."
"You all still got caught because of me," Lulloyd protested. Mage shook his head.
"We would have had to get here at some point, right?" Mage giggled, "I mean, it was a big huge dark fortress! That's like, the easiest thing to have to go to. You being kidnapped just means it gave us a good reason to get here sooner."
"How… how can you be so optimistic?" Lulloyd asked, "We're in a big dark cell and, you're just… all ready to get going. I… I don't get it."
"It's not that I'm not worried," Mage pointed out, "But… Harumi told me that if I want to be a symbol, I need to make sure everyone around me sees me smile. You all need my help, right? Then let's not worry about what we can't do and, instead worry about what we can," Mage inhaled, "If I want to bring peace to my world as the Dragon Lord, I gotta make sure that I can handle the pressure that comes with it."
"Wow…" Lulloyd couldn't help but smile himself hearing that, "You're… really mature."
"Thanks!" Mage leapt up to his feet again, "Alright, I'm rested. Come on, let's see if we can find some way to get out of this place! Every prison has a weakness somewhere, we just gotta find it!"
Lulloyd felt his own energy rising as he heard Mage's declaration. Quickly, he got up to his own feet and began to work around with Mage. Mage was right; it wasn't worth him getting down on himself for all of this. He needed to get moving, and needed to help find a way out of here! As Lloyd and Harumi rested, the two of them got to work, even as the cell pulsed angrily around them and the situation couldn't have been more bleak.
Slowly, Lloyd lifted himself up from the floor. He didn't know how long it had been, yet seeing that Lulloyd and Mage were both resting as well, it had likely been several hours. Harumi had turned onto her side and was curled up, shivering a little bit but some of the color having come back to her. Lloyd tried to shift her to wake her up, yet she simply groaned at him in response.
Lloyd looked around the cell, seeing what he could find. He didn't feel great -the Dark Matter really was starting to get to him- but he was still able to move around and think. He slowly turned his eyes to scan towards the cells near the door, at which point he realized that someone was standing there. When he took the time to look a little closer, the image that he saw didn't give him any reassurance.
"Morro?" Lloyd asked, standing up slowly. Morro was leaning with his back against the bars, his massive scarves dangling towards the floor. Upon hearing Lloyd, Morro turned around, his eyes narrowed.
"I was hoping I would get another chance to fight you before it came to this," Morro sighed, "Looks like you weren't all you claimed to be."
Lloyd vaguely recalled the last time they fought ended with Morro being thrown off a train, "What do you want, Morro?"
Morro turned to face Lloyd. When he did, the light of the hallway caught the necklace that he wore around his neck. Now that he was close, Lloyd could see the necklace was a collection of small circular gems of shades of blue and green strung together on a chain. Morro reached up and placed his hand on it for a few moments, then he shook his head and looked to Lloyd with anger in his eyes.
"When I went to go talk to the Emperor, he was angry," Morro hissed, "Angrier than I've seen him in a long time. I don't know what you said to him, but I came here to tell you he isn't what you think he is."
"I don't need to know anything," Lloyd frowned, "He's evil. You can't tell me he isn't."
"You're just as bad as Sun," Morro growled out, "Do you even know what the Emperor has done for Ninjago?"
"He's clearly turned the sky dark and put Dark Matter everywhere!" Lloyd protested, "How can you look at that and say he's somehow a good thing for Ninjago?"
Morro looked like he was getting far too worked up. He stopped for a moment before he sighed, turning away from Lloyd and his hand gripping the end of one of his scarves. When he finally turned back around, he was forcing himself to look calmer than he actually was. Lloyd's words had an effect on him.
"The Emperor has saved Ninjago from turmoil and conflict," Morro leaned in, "He rose up and defeated enemies before they could strike. He removed anyone that would threaten this land. The dark sky is his way of demonstrating his power. Under him, there hasn't been any conflict in Ninjago…" Morro paused, "The only ones that actually cause danger for the people are those that follow Sun."
Lloyd didn't have an immediate answer for Morro. It was true… the streets were only flooded with Nindroids and Stone Warriors because of what they'd done with Sun. They were somehow early in the order of events, and yet it seemed that everything had been taken care of. Truly, in terms of the immediate threat to Ninjago.. Sun was the only one propagating conflict. Morro waited a moment before he spoke again.
"This necklace…" Morro reached up and pulled it from his neck, holding it in the air, "The Emperor gave this to me the day he rescued me. He told me I wouldn't have to live a life that would end in misery. I didn't know what he meant by that, but he told me that he'd watch over me. I had nothing when he found me. Now, I have everything. He saved me from a life of nothing. Would someone evil do something like that?"
"The Emperor what?" Lloyd blinked, "He… saved you?"
"The Emperor found me on the streets as an orphan," Morro explained, "And brought me onboard some strange machine. He told me he'd make sure I was given a life I deserved to live. When I woke up the next day, I was with relatives I didn't know I had. And I stayed that way… until the day the land turned dark, and I was old enough to pledge myself to the Emperor cause," Morro frowned, "You were thinking he forced me into service, weren't you?"
"What?" Lloyd asked, confused. The fact the thought had crossed his mind, however, meant that Morro was able to read it off his face and scoff at him.
"You'll clearly never understand," Morro walked away, "I just wanted to make sure I got a chance to talk to you before the Emperor got serious about interrogating you."
"What?" Lloyd tried to lean in and talk more to the retreating Morro, "Wait a minute, what do you mean by that? What is he going to do to us?!"
Morro stopped just before he was out of sight, "Nothing that you don't already deserve." Despite Lloyd's protests, Morro walked away with that line, the sound of the door to the wing opening and shutting accompanying it a few moments later. Once more, the four of them were left alone.
Lloyd slumped against the wall. So much of this didn't make sense. There wasn't any logical reason for Morro to be as young as he was. The Emperor had apparently saved him, meaning he knew what would happen to Morro. The Emperor also knew about Chen, the Twins, and had the foresight to get both Borg and Kozu under his ranks. Now that it was clear the Emperor was Lloyd, that made sense in some ways, since he would know himself about all that… but, the questions just kept piling up on top of each other!
Once more, Lloyd checked on Harumi. She didn't look good, but it wasn't getting worse. The Dark Matter here was more like a slow killing disease. He already wished it'd been him that played the bait for the plan to get in here. Harumi had been forced to go through a wall of the stuff. The fact she was still breathing and wasn't corrupted was a sign of how powerful she truly was. It was a sign of how strong her will and body was overall.
Lloyd took the chance to look over at his other two companions. He'd only known them for a few months to a few weeks, yet each of them felt like he'd been fighting alongside them as long as he had his team back home. He'd seen so much in just so little time, met so many people so quickly, and found himself in places he'd never envisioned before.
His thoughts drifted to Lulloyd. At first, he hadn't been sure what to think of him. He seemed unsure, young and somewhat nervous to just be around other people. He had a very strange relationship to his very strange father, and the line between if he was a ninja or a warlord in training was so blurry he often forgot to look for it. Yet he'd risen to every task he could. He slipped into the background at times, but he had never failed them before. Despite how long he'd been away from home, he never once complained, nor did he show anything other than pure and raw determination.
Slowly, his gaze was drawn to Mage sleeping beside him. He'd known Mage for a much shorter amount of time, but the respect he gained for him was far more than that. Somehow, he'd managed to bring together an entire world of tribes, stop a war, redeem his now best friend, stop a madman from ending the lives of everyone and broker a sort of world peace. Even when his world had been falling apart, he held on and kept going. He'd done some questionable things, and was clearly not as mature as he needed to be, but in a sense that was forgivable. With how much Mage had accomplished, Lloyd wondered just what true strength he was hiding under his small and oddly shaped body.
And finally, he looked to Harumi. The girl that had hated him the first time they met. His relationship with her, at first, had been complicated. Now, after fighting alongside her, he saw her as a friend. More than just a friend, he saw her like anyone else on his team. She was smart and quick to figure things out none of them could, while also keeping her cool during terrifying situations. She was truly worthy of being called the Green Ninja. She really was an incredible girl.
There was one member of their group missing. Monty was currently locked up somewhere else. Just like Mage, he couldn't help but respect Monty. He'd had his entire life ripped away from him, his arm twisted by destiny, and still managed to carve out a place in the world for himself. His crass behavior almost seemed like a natural reflex to apply when the world was a s cruel as it was. He was powerful in battle and straight to the point. Even if he didn't think he liked Monty, he was an almost invaluable ally.
Lloyd leaned up against the wall. It was natural of him to find allies when he was in tough places, wasn't it? Even when the situation was dark, he always found ways to bring people together. Though, if he was to have a team, he'd need one more. He had already gotten used to fighting alongside all five of his friends back home. His… friends back home.
"Mhmh…." Harumi stirred in her sleep, lifting her head up to rub at it, "Lloyd?"
"Harumi!" Lloyd exclaimed, helping to sit Harumi upright, "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine… I woke up a little bit ago…" She slowly rubbed at her eyes, shivering at bit, "...Where you thinking about something?"
"Huh?" Lloyd paused, "Uhm… yeah, kinda. I was just getting lost in thought about how we've all become a group like this. Like… a ninja team."
"Don't say that," Harumi sighed, "That means Monty is apart of us."
"I wasn't much better than he was when the ninja first took me in," Lloyd pointed out, "Haven't you seen Zane's pink gi?"
"He had to buy it back from a collector Ronin sold it to in my world," Harumi chuckled softly, "He has it on display in his big school."
"Yeah, that sounds like Ronin," Lloyd chuckled, "He's the same guy, even back home." The two of them shared a smile, but Lloyd's quickly fell. Harumi, seeing this, cocked her head and leaned in towards him.
"You miss home too?" Harumi asked forwardly. Lloyd just nodded his head slowly.
"I… I know it's been a really long time since we've gone home," Lloyd muttered, "Master Wu is probably freaking out. It's been what… four, five months now? Heh. We spent a lot of time just kinda bumming around with Ronin, then even more at the Summit…"
"I… want to go home too," Harumi gripped her fist a bit on his outfit, "...I really just want to go home and relax with Carn. Forte is probably freaking out too. Ren's keeping everyone together, just like she always does…" She trembled a bit, "I… I want all of this to end, Lloyd. I want to save our worlds and then, go home."
"We're working on it…" Lloyd sighed, "...I, guess I don't have a good comeback for that yet."
The two of them went silent for a few minutes. The possibility of this adventure dragging out even longer than it already had was very real, especially with them not knowing where the Time Twins were. With the Iron Doom in pieces and the Emperor's iron grip on the city, it was clear to see that they didn't have a clearly posted goal in sight. If the Twins got away, their adventure would just continue. They'd go to more worlds, they'd have to fight even harder, and they'd likely keep picking up people to go along with them. Somehow… somehow it felt like they weren't going to stop this adventure anytime soon.
"If, they do get away again, then we'll stop and go home," Lloyd smiled to Harumi, "We need to tell them we'll be okay. They need to know that. We'll make sure they know that. How about that?"
"If they do get away again," Harumi sighed, "We'll have failed pretty badly at actually being ninja." That statement made the two of them smile together.
"We'll do this," Lloyd reached out and formed a fist with his hand, "Because we're ninja. And what do ninja do?"
Harumi couldn't help but chortle as she fistbumped him back, "I'm not even going to say it."
"Good, cause otherwise I would have told you to quit it," Monty's voice came from beside them.
Both Lloyd and Harumi shakily got to their feet in shock, turning to see who it was. None other than Monty, wielding the SoS, was standing in front of them. He had no guns on his person, and his cape had been stripped from him. He had perhaps the most angry expression the group had ever seen from him, and that was even accounting for his normal state of being.
"Monty?" Lloyd looked around, "How… how did you?"
"You think I'm not used to getting Ronin and I out of prisons?" Monty scoffed, "I learned how to get out of deepstone cages after Chen died and left me locked in one for months. Once I picked the lock on my cuffs, it was pretty simple."
Harumi stumbled her way over to wake up both Lulloyd and Mage. The two of them blearily got up, muttering apologies about how they'd failed to find a way out of the cage. Soon, the four of them were standing by the entrance, with Monty looking at each of them before he growled and waved his hand at them.
"Step back," Monty brandished the SoS, "I'm getting you out of there."
"Where did you find your sword?" Mage asked. Monty gave him a bit of a less angry frown at the sword being called his.
"He's got all our weapons, and your dragon, Lulloyd," Monty pointed out, "They're in a room about ten floors down. I didn't have time to get them, but he took this thing somewhere else," Monty raised the SoS, "It must have been his personal room or whatever. Some great stuff in there. We'll have to come back later for some of it."
"Has the Emperor found out about you getting out yet?" Lloyd asked. Monty paused for a moment, then worryingly nodded his head.
"This entire palace is connected to him, I'm sure he has," Monty wedged the blade of the SoS into lock on the door. He focused, then thrust his hands forward. Wind gusts were shot straight into the lock, breaking apart the pieces inside and rattling it until he was able to jam the blade in further. With a crunch, the lock broke and allowed the door to swing open and the four chained friends to come with him.
"Alright," Monty waved his hands, "Cuffs."
Lloyd nodded. Monty, using an extremely precise cut on the SoS, was able to cleave apart the cuffs on Lloyd's right hand, allowing him to break off the rest of his with another slash. He did the same for Harumi and then for Lulloyd. When he came to Mage, the sword bounced off the cuffs, making both Monty and Mage stare at it in confusion.
"Probably figured you're the most dangerous one," Monty sighed, "We'll just have to deal with this later. We need get moving before-"
"Before you run into trouble," From the floor itself, the Emperor's form slowly rose up like a demonic sight, "You were right indeed, Monty. I knew of your escape from the moment that you did so. I was simply busy with other things at first."
The group, sans Monty, immediately tensed. Both Lloyd and Harumi charged up balls of power, while Lulloyd looked around for something to build. Mage looked around the room, trying to piece together what he could do and, seeing nothing, pouted and tried to yank his chains a bit. Monty, however, calmly glared at the Emperor and then down at the SoS.
"Actually," Monty narrowed his eyes, "This is exactly what I wanted."
"Oh?" The Emperor narrowed his gaze, "Tell me… what exactly do you want?"
"A challenge, basically," Monty held up the SoS, "If I win, you let us go. If you win, we stay. Simple as that."
"Hrmm…" The Emperor looked down to the SoS, "Do you believe the blade of destiny is able to save you from my ability?"
"I think so," Monty nodded, "I don't cast a shadow."
The others blinked, then looked down. It was true; Monty was so translucent that he didn't cast a shadow. Given the Emperor's power had been, so far, the ability to manipulate people's shadows into weapons that gave Monty a very distinct advantage. Still, hearing his plan was enough to make them all quickly give him a confused look.
"Monty, are you sure about that?" Harumi looked towards the Emperor, "He's stronger than all of us!"
"Yeah," Monty nodded, "But I also know his secret."
Suddenly, the Emperor raised his hand. The Dark Matter in the floor reached up and threw the occupants of the cell back inside, leaving Monty standing firm. The Emperor looked Monty up and down, even as he extended his hand. Slowly, that massive double bladed staff slid out of an arm far too short for it. He planted it into the floor in front of him, then gave Monty a small growl.
"I accept your challenge then, ghost," The Emperor declared, "You may have the first strike."
"Monty…" Lloyd gripped the bars, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Yeah," Monty brandished his blade, "I got this thing on my side. He can't get the best of me."
With that, Monty rocketed off. His feet were surrounded with wind, sending him flying along the ground. He cleaved the SoS up before he approached the Emperor, causing the blade to strike that massive staff the Emperor held. As soon as it did, the Emperor raised his hand out to grab at Monty's head. When it passed through him, Monty solidified one of his fists and sent a wind-fueled uppercut into the Emperor's chest.
The Emperor didn't seem to take kindly to that. Monty turned to see that the lights were coming from small slots in the wall, meaning they cast shadows. The Emperor turned towards them and extended one of his hands. The shadow there began to rise up and form what looked like a spear that shot out from the floor. It went right through Monty's chest, who looked down at it and rolled his eyes.
"Hmmph," The Emperor nodded his head, "So it seems that you cannot be hurt by shadows."
"Should've gotten that from the first minute of the fight," Monty sighed.
"That was just a test," The Emperor suddenly spun the staff so it was being pressed flush with his back by one arm. The other three raised up and charged up a blast of dark power. Monty turned to look into the SoS, then rocketed up towards the ceiling with wind. He flattened his own body to it, letting the purple beams fire down and off into the hallway. Before Monty landed, he took another look into the SoS and then raced right for the Emperor.
This time, the Emperor tried to pull a move from Lloyd's book and charge up a ball of power to burst right in Monty's face. Monty swung his body out of the way just as the emperor thrust it forward with two hands, surprising the dark warrior. Monty spun the SoS and readied to cleave right into the Emperor's chest. The Emperor let the blast he'd prepared loose, swinging his body backwards and avoiding Monty's strike. Monty tried to blast wind from his foot to swing himself down and around to strike, yet the Emperor instead thrust his other two hands forward and blasted out beams, sending him out from under Monty and letting him stand upright.
"I did not grow to become the Emperor by failing to master the blade," The Emperor growled, "I wonder… why do you dodge my attacks?"
"Reflex," Monty spun the SoS tauntingly as he stood up.
"Mhm… no, there must be a reason," The Emperor narrowed his eyes, "You have reason to fight like you might be hit. I simply must find it."
"Oh, really?" Monty held the sword out in front of him, "Let's test that."
With a burst of wind, Monty rocketed forward like a missile. When he struck the Emperor, the tip of the SoS was being held between two blades. The Emperor had split his staff down the middle. Monty watched as the blades on each end actually split in half, then traveled down the blade like going through mud, until he had formed two half-sized double bladed staffs. He twisted them both in opposite directions, forcing Monty's arm back. He held out the two staffs, causing them to begin to oddly shrink, until only the four blades remained. He took one in each hand, letting the blades begin crackling with purple energy.
"Hmmph," Monty nodded, "I'm guessing that staff is apart of your body, isn't it?"
"More or less," The Emperor informed him, "The blades are my personal weapon, much like Sun's own flashy sword. The staff portion is something I simply create from my own body."
"So you've got three modes then," Monty looked down into the SoS, "Let's play, then."
Monty let the Emperor come to him. Much like Lloyd and Harumi had seen when in the Security Tower, the Emperor came down on Monty in full force. His four blades never gave pause in their strikes, forcing one after the other in a dance of sorts right onto the SoS. Monty, however, slid his body left and right, allowing his eyes to track the motion of the SoS itself. The sound of metal clashing on metal rang out in a symphony of battle, making the four in the cell watch in anticipation and trepidation respectively.
"You fight well," The Emperor nodded, "For a ghost."
"And you fight pretty well too," Monty replied calmly, "For a fake."
The Emperor swung his four blades out, throwing Monty back. Monty came to a halt, hovering slightly in the air to put him on the same height as the Emperor. Slowly, he reached into his ghostly armor, pulling out what looked like a photo. He held it up at the Emperor, smirking at him as he did.
"Recognize this?" Monty asked confidently.
While the Emperor had no reaction, Lloyd did. His hands gripped the cell bars. That picture Monty had was one that he had. One that was currently shattered in its picture frame. An image of Sensei Garmadon, and Lloyd Garmadon. Lloyd had taken that photo before leaving Chen's island. It was a photo that was one of his remaining memories of his father. A picture that the revived version of his father had smashed so cruelly to prove a point to him.
"...What about it?" The Emperor asked.
"Harumi," Monty turned to her, "Remember what Garmadon said to us about the past?"
"What?" Harumi blinked, "He… he said that… you mean what he said about the Great Devourer bite?" The Emperor's eyes shot to her.
"Exactly," Monty tossed the photo at the Emperor, "He had this in his room, buried under some weapons. I think this can only mean one thing."
Harumi's gears were turning. The Emperor stared darkly at Harumi, his gaze penetrating deep into her courage. When she looked up at him, she felt her thoughts trying to stop out of sheer terror. Yet the thoughts had already come to her, and she already knew what Monty was trying to say.
"N-No…" Harumi shook her head, "That can't be it. That can't have happened!"
"What?" Lloyd turned to her. Monty, however, was the one to answer.
"How do you think the Green Ninja was able to fuse with the Overlord?" Monty spat, "He showed me that whole Overlord trick when he locked me up. I think it's pretty simple as to why he's the dark one and not Garmadon."
"Be careful of what you speak, boy," The Overlord spoke through the Emperor darkly, causing Lloyd's spine to run cold, "You may not like the answer you come to."
"Really?" Monty spun the SoS again, "Tell me, how'd that bite feel, Lloyd?"
Suddenly, Lloyd's brain was working overtime. He shot his gaze at the Emperor, then to Monty and finally Harumi. Harumi didn't react to Monty's words, which he could only take to mean they were true. The Emperor's face fully twisted into that twisted snout of the Overlord, his teeth showing and snarling at Monty. Monty, however, just stared him down.
"Clever," The Overlord hissed, "But not clever enough."
"That… that would explain it…" Harumi shook her head, "Somehow… somehow he was the one that got bit by the Devourer. When… when he somehow saved Garmadon from it. He was infected with the Devourer's venom… which… which would mean…"
"When that boy came to my island and asked for us to fuse," The Overlord grinned, "His body was already to recieve my darkness."
"But… but that doesn't make sense!" Lloyd shook his head, "How was Lloyd about to be there and, do that! How'd he get bitten?! This doesn't make any sense!"
"Don't think too hard on it," Monty sighed, "Let's just worry about beating him right now."
Slowly, the Emperor's face began to snap and crack again, bringing him back to the look of simply Lloyd once more. He adjusted the crown on his head -which now seemed to look like it was apart of his body somehow- then he reformed his full double bladed staff from his blades. He leveled the point at Monty, his eyes narrowed as he did.
"You have truly angered me, little ghost," The Emperor hissed, "I will now take from you whatever passes for your existence from you."
The Emperor suddenly began to spin his staff in a circle. As the group watched, his arm seemed to unnaturally twist and snap back into place, causing the blade to whirl like that of a rotor. Dark power began to spark around the ends until a solid circle of power was crackling at the edge of it. The wind that it kicked up was enough to make the four holding onto the bars stumble backwards. The crackling that it produced began to come together, slowly crawling out line lines towards the center of the spinning whirl to charge up a blast.
"Fancy move," Monty, unabashed by the sight, rolled his eyes, turning to look at the SoS, "I'm sure it's probably even easier to-"
The SoS showed nothing to Monty.
"What?" Monty blinked in shock. The little moment of hesitation was enough for the Emperor to raise the whirling blade over his head and bring it down over his shoulder with a demonic bellow. The action caused a massive burst of dark power to go right for Monty, consuming almost the entire hallway. Monty, stunned at the SoS' refusal to show him anything, was forced to flatten his body to the opposite wall. The Emperor's eyes narrowed as he saw Monty flatten the sword to the wall too.
"So… you need to hold onto things to use them, don't you?" The Emperor grinned evilly, then vanished. Monty, by reflex, looked down into the SoS again, yet the blade was still an unreflective dull gold. When he did see the Emperor in its blade, it was because he was behind Monty, reaching out to grab his wrist and then hurling him overhead.
"What is wrong, ghost?" The Emperor laughed, "Your blade is not working for you?"
Monty tried to get up and mount another attack. He sent a burst of wind right towards the Emperor, trying to knock him over. The wind wasn't strong enough, and instead the Emperor brought his staff down to try to impale Monty's arm. Monty turned out of the way, yet the blade cracked the floor and sunk into it.
"It's working just fine!" Monty lied angrily. He leaned to look into the sword, yet it showed nothing. Nothing at all. He looked up towards the Emperor, who had reached his hand out to blast a beam of dark power at his arm. Monty was forced to dodge normally, yet this gave the Emperor time to retrieve his blade and clash it into the SoS. Monty was forced into a lock with him, forced to hold onto the SoS lest he risk losing it.
"Something is clearly not fine, ghost!" The Emperor hissed, "Where is that bravado I saw earlier? Where is the face of one that would tell the world of my past, and then dare to challenge me for my rightful place in it?!"
"Rightful?" Monty growled, straining to actually hold a clash with such a powerful being, "I can't stand people that try to act all high and mighty. You remind me too much of someone else. Kinda like Sun."
"You know nothing of Sun," The Emperor growled, "You know nothing of what happened to me. This world rejected me. It cast me aside and left me to die. I stand here before you now because I had the strength to seek out the only other being that was able to understand my pain!"
The Emperor threw Monty back. Monty held up his guard, clearly winded and unsure of what to do. He frantically turned his gaze to the SoS, yet nothing was showing back at him. The blade was refusing him. The Emperor straightened himself up and held up one of his hands. As he did, two small purple spots were revealed. The spots of none other than a snakebite.
"You think I feel anything for that world that cast me out?" The Emperor shouted, "Anything for a people that never cared for me? Let me tell you a story, ghost! When I took the chance to rid them of hardship, of the pain that my father would cause, I was poisoned. The world struck at me for trying to save it. So I said to hell with the world! Everyone would come to hate me, to despise me. And as if to say that to my face, I wasn't even born. I was now in a world where I. Never. Existed. So I found the one thing that would understand me. The one being, cast out beyond everyone, one that would finally see me, and would allow me to share in his power!"
The Emperor slammed his staff with all four arms into Monty's guard. The SoS failed to respond to this, forcing Monty to take it head on. With him actually having to hold it back to keep his sword, the ghost began to shake. The Emperor slid to the side and swung his staff, striking Monty's hand and sending him into the bars of the cell. HIs face cracked as it turned to the face of the Overlord.
"You look at us like some sort of abomination!" The Overlord raced forward and grabbed hold of Monty's sword to sling him around again, "Something that shouldn't have existed. So we shouldn't have. But it is us, us who shouldn't have existed. They will see us as evil, then let us be evil. Together, here, on top of our palace, of our throne, their cries cannot reach us. They will never understand us. Let them squabble to take us down. They will never understand who we became. Who we are!"
Monty tried to see what was coming next. Nothing. The Emperor crashed the staff into Monty's hand, causing his entire arm to feel numb. Monty tried to phase through him, yet the Emperor spun his staff like a saw, knocking Monty and sword across the room again.
"I have learned from your words, your actions. Each of you beat him, like he was nothing more than some sort of pest to put out! None of you would ever consider that fate was always against him! Against us! When the world cast me out just like the First Weapon Master did to him, I found him. The being that was meant to be pure of light, was corrupted by darkness. And that darkness brought us together. In a way none of you will ever find to each other!" Dark Matter erupted from the floor to wrap around the SoS like vines, trying to pull it out of Monty's grasp. With a desperation, Monty grabbed it with both hands and pulled. When he turned to the Emperor, his face was twisted between the Lloyd's and the Overlord's own.
"We are power. We are might. We are darkness. Ninjago is a place of light? Then let it be covered in shadow for what it did to us!" The Emperor raised his staff.
"We are the Overlord of this world! We are two and one! We are more than any human could ever be!" He crashed it down into the SoS.
"Let our reign be endless. Time can no longer harm us. Time ripped him apart. It ripped everything apart!" The SoS was yanked from Monty's hand, disappearing into the floor. The Emperor reached down and grabbed Monty by his arms and raised him up.
"I am! I am! We are the EMPEROR!"
Dark power, the pure unfiltered evil that could only be countered by the light was sent right into Monty's body. Before he could phase out of his grasp, it was sent right into him. For the first time since the group had met him, Monty screamed. His body convulsed as the power ripped through him. It burned and tore whatever it found. It scorched and ruined him. When the Emperor dropped him, Monty simply crumpled. With a tssk, the Emperor picked him up again and then slung him towards the bars. His body went through them, his arms clanging violently as they prevented him from going all the way through.
"MONTY!" The four of them shouted. They quickly grouped around the ghost, checking to see if he was alright. For a moment, they were checking to see if he was alive before realizing what that meant. Monty was sizzling and twitching still, and his eyes were firmly shut. The Emperor slowly walked over to them, the staff of his disappearing into his body as he did. The four looked back at him, but the Emperor gave them no such consolation.
Then, Monty coughed. He slowly raised his arm and groaned, pulling himself upright. He rubbed his head for a few minutes, then, seeing everyone's caring gazes, scoffed and stood up. He took a few steps forward through the bars, then stood in front of the Emperor.
"I don't say this to a lot of people," Monty spat, "But good try."
"Hmmph," The Emperor sighed, "I had hoped my powers would work on a ghost. It seems I need to develop them further to truly send you back to the Cursed Realm."
The two of them stared at each other for a long while. Monty, without the SoS, wasn't able to fight to nearly the same extent. He had no guns, no tools and the Emperor had taken hardly any damage. In a sense, it was a bleak situation to be in. The four were still in the cell, unable to leave, while Monty was all that stood between them and the Emperor.
".. Uhm…" Mage looked towards the Emperor, "I just figured out what we can call you."
The Emperor turned, "What do you mean, child?"
"Well… you just made it sound like you were two different people, but you're also the same person, right?" Mage grimaced, "So… it's weird to call you the Emperor if you're two people, right? So… let's call you Overlloyd!"
The entire room was silent. Mage wasn't sure what they all thought. Then, someone began to laugh. The laugh was scratchy and hoarse, yet filled with mirth. Each of them looked around, unsure where the sound was coming from. It was only after exhausting each of them they realized the sound was coming from the Emperor himself.
"S-Stop that!" The Emperor shouted, "Stop laughing!"
"That's your name now!" The Overlord cackled, "OVERLLOYD! It's perfect! It fits you like nothing else!"
"Silence!" Overlloyd shouted. Despite this, the Overlord caught laughing.
"It… does have a nice ring to it," Lulloyd muttered, "Kinda works since they're both the Overlord, right?"
Overlloyd shot a harsh glare right towards Lulloyd, making him wilt. He held that sharp gaze for a long while, then he growled and turned away from them all. He stood with his back turned to them, trying to reclaim some of his dignity. After a long few moments, he snarled.
"Do not think that a rechristening me with a new name will mean you leave my clutches," Overlloyd spat, "You will suffer my full wrath for your indignation you have forced upon-"
Suddenly, there was the sound of a massive alarm. Overlloyd spun around, his eyes widened and his body tense with anger. His four hands began to charge up with dark power just to show the state of his rage. He took a few steps forward, then slammed one hand into the dark matter wall.
"What?!" Overlloyd spat, "What is going on, General Kozu?!"
"There appears to be an intruder in the palace," General Kozu spoke through the walls much like Overlloyd had, "He is heading right for your location!"
"I don't have time for that!" Overlloyd spat, "I must teach my prisoners the true meaning of-"
Once more, Overlloyd was cut off. The door to the wing went flying past him, nearly cleaving his head off as it did. The action caused the five prisoners to turn to look towards the source. When they did, they saw a massive flash of white knightly robes and a glow of yellow that illuminated the dark cell wing far more than any other light could.
"You…" Overlloyd snarled, "How have you come this far?!"
"You will soon find out!" Sun declared, raising his sword up as he turned to the captives, "Do not worry, my friends! Your knight has come to your rescue!"
Author's Note:
The information continues to flow! This was a chapter that underwent a lot of last minute edits, but I think it came out as I wanted it to. I wanted to quickly remind everyone that I have a tumblr, the link of which you can find in my profile, or by going to bionicstars! I'll be using it to drop some behind the scenes stuff and information on hiatuses and more, so please give it a follow if you're interested in Enter the Ninjaverse!