The Horns of Destruction, according to my mother, meant that the massive weapon she and the ninja had seen while getting the helmet was finished. We didn't know what it did, but the light of the Celestial Clock gave it form and power. It was sort of like putting something into an oven to cook; Garmadon had put everything he needed together, and the clock baked it all into the massive weapon. Garmatron had just been completed, and Ninjago's balance was officially at stake.
We swam our way back to the island's shores and followed the coast to get back to the Bounty. The walk back gave my head enough time to clear from everything that was bothering me. I felt cold all over, and not just from the fact we were dripping wet by the time we made it back. Kai dried us off, but that still didn't make how cold I felt go away. I wasn't cold on the outside, I was freezing on the inside. The thing I'd been dreading the most was right in front of me, and I was going into it feeling like I had no chance to do what needed to be done.
I was somewhat dull inside when we finally got back to the Bounty. My mother had given me false hope and it'd been ripped away from me in the worst way possible. Not only had we lost Nya, something that I was still processing, but the literal worst case scenario had happened. We were lucky that we escaped the way we did.
We had barely made it back to Dr. Julien when Wu was already reminding me that we were going towards the final battle, and going fast. The Golden Dragon technique relied on me being able to focus, which I guess is why I was still producing green beams despite having the dragon. The less I focused, the harder it was for me to use it all. But I didn't care about my new powers, I only cared that Wu was saying everything rested on my shoulders, on me, and that I'd already failed. I could have stopped all of this, and I hadn't.
That left me where I was, standing there on a beach surrounded by my friends and family, all telling me that it was too late to turn back. No matter what I chose, it had to be to go and face my father. I tried to tell Wu I couldn't, but Misako just said that I had to, that I didn't have a choice. It didn't matter anymore what I wanted, what I needed, or anything but the fact my dad had taken Nya, and I didn't have the chance to say no anymore. It was written that I'd go and fight this battle, so I obviously had to. That was what both Wu and Misako were saying to me then.
The ninja, however, said something different. They said that they would be behind me. That I had their elements, their friendship, and their trust. They knew that I had a lot to think about, understood me better than my own mother and uncle. I don't know what it was about how they said it, each offering their powers to me, but it made me think there for a moment. About something more than what was 'written in the scrolls.'
My dad didn't want to fight me, but he claimed he had to. The evil inside him was what made him do it, and that meant I had a chance. I didn't want to fight him, but I'd spent so long avoiding the decision to go and fight, I didn't have the right mindset anymore. I wasn't thinking about this in the whole picture. I couldn't let this be the end of everything. But, I couldn't let that decision be because Ninjago depended on it. I had to make that decision, because I depended on it. If I ran away now, I'd be throwing away the trust the ninja put in me.
The ninja pulled me out of a life of trying to imitate my father and doing serious bad things because of it. They took me in, and showed me that it wasn't about being seen, or recognized, or whatever it was I thought it was about. It was about doing good, doing what was right. And what was right wasn't easy. Kai had to give up his own pride just to see that I was more than just that bratty kid they were keeping at their house. Zane had to come to grips with his father, and his identity as a person. Cole and Jay both had to overcome hurdles that were holding them back as people just to see who they could really become. I had to stop thinking about all this, like I was some separate person from the Green Ninja. I was a ninja, like them. Ninja never quit. It didn't matter how easy, how hard, or how painful it was. I had to do it.
That was when I committed myself to the final battle. Nothing Wu or Misako said had done anything but make me unsure of myself and what destiny had in store for me. The ninja had shown me what I had to do. Lloyd Garmadon, and the Green Ninja didn't need to be two seperate things. I could be both. I wasn't going to be this idealistic figure that they all wanted from the Green Ninja. I was going to be who I needed to be. And that was what led me to telling them that I was ready, that we had to suit up and do this.
We immediately rushed our way to the camp we'd been continually breaking into since we came to the island. We figured Garmadon would be there, and we had to fight him. So we were confused out of our minds when we arrived to see nobody was there. The signs of life in the camp, well as alive as the Stone Army was, were gone. Worse, the massive weapon the ninja had reported seeing was gone. We were confused, obviously, but what scared us more was when the Falcon led us to the tracks of the weapon.
Now, the Garmatron wasn't the scariest weapon that we have ever seen, or even the biggest thing connected to the Overlord -for those of you who were in Ninjago City during the Golden Master, you know what I'm talking about. At the time, though, it was massive. The Garmatron used to be a large tank that had the sole purpose of launching dark matter into Ninjago before it became the tower most sources document. It was big, and most important about it was it was going right for the coast.
I actually am kinda glad it wasn't there when we got to the camp. The run over to the coast gave us time to talk and relax together. Dr. Julien made his way back to the Bounty, and I admit he was able to run for a lot longer than a lot of guys his age could. I remember him telling Zane that he'd see him back at the Bounty. Dr. Julien was confident that we would win. It gave me a bit more hope that what we were doing was going to work, and we could win this battle.
The ninja and I ended up reminiscing over the stuff that led us to this point. Jay started asking if this was going to be our last fight together. If none of the others had said anything, I would have probably lost all the confidence I'd pushed myself to have. I hadn't thought about the alternative. We'd faced death a lot, but since becoming the Green Ninja I'd been facing death a lot less. Or rather, the death I'd been facing was a lot more manageable. It really didn't help the others started chiming in saying they felt it too. If they were already so sure that they were going to lose, what hope did I have?
If we were going to look back at our adventures together today, we'd have way more to talk about. But, something about the way they all talked about our time together, made me happy. It reminded me that not even a year ago, I would have never thought I would be where I was. Misako insists it was destiny that brought me there, but hearing them all laugh brought my spirits up a little bit. The ninja just had to take out my awesome treehouse. Even Wu joined in when we joked about how we all thought he was a goner when the Devourer was unleashed. That was a nice feeling. Now we can't even laugh at how many times Wu has decided the self-sacrifice option is the only one.
Of course, nothing on that island could stay happy for long. We got our first taste as to what Garmadon was going to do to Ninjago when we saw Nya. I know most people in Ninjago don't remember what it was like being under the dark matter's influence, but I remember when I saw Nya. She was completely grayed out, like all of the colors had been drained out of her. Her eyes were that same sickly color the Overlord had, and she barely even spoke. She snarled at us and growled, almost like an animal. Seeing her felt… wrong. It felt wrong to the very core of who I was. That was what was going to happen to Ninjago if I didn't act.
It didn't help that the ninja decided to stay behind to fight her. Now, I'd never gotten to spar with Nya much, so I never knew how strong she was. With the dark matter influencing her, it was like all her inhibitors were off and her full strength was out. It was the first time I'd seen her do Spinjitzu, and she managed to knock Kai over in the blink of an eye. Nya was a beast. It was terrifying to think that everyone I knew in Ninjago, everyone that I cared about, it was all going to turn into what Nya had become.
Misako and Wu continued with me to the beach. When we arrived, all of the Stone Army was there, along with all their vehicles swarmed around the Garmatron. When I saw it, it was horrifying. I had that same feeling of sickness in my gut when I saw Nya. It was made out of dark matter, something that was the complete opposite of who I was. I didn't need my mother to explain it was going to tear Ninjago apart to know I had to stop it. It was even easier to see with the fact my father and the Overlord were on top of it.
I gave one last plea to father, telling him with all the conviction I'd summoned up that I didn't want to fight her, but I would if I had to. I'd convinced myself finally it wasn't about destiny, it was about doing what was right. Me saying that seemed to break my father for a brief moment. He dove into a speech, another bit from my father I will never forget. He said he couldn't do what was right, because the evil flowing through him would never let him. He lost his family, his home, and everything because of it. The only way he could be with us, was to make everything just like him. That we had made our decision and now… and now he'd make his.
His words nearly broke me all over again. Had he really been doing all of this, just for me? The venom had taken away his family, his status, and his home. It wasn't like he asked to be like that either, Wu had indirectly caused this very situation. My dad didn't have a choice. It was why he left me on the Bounty, why he only came back to save me and nothing more. He'd fought through the evil out of love for me, but he couldn't fight it anymore. Misako's words weren't enough to bring him back, either.
My dad firing the Garmatron, however, was what brought me back from it all. He didn't hesitate after he poured his heart out to us. He didn't even give me time to say anything else. Of course, the weapon had to warm up, and the Overlord pointed out how my dad had gone full monologue and ignored that fact, but it didn't change the fact he decided that his evil was stronger than us. He was going to chose the evil over me. I had to stand up to that.
And I did. I ran as hard as I could up the Garmatron. I had less than ten seconds to stop the firing. When I landed there, the look of shock on my dad's face said I could do it. I had to save Ninjago, I had to stop the Overlord. It was becoming bigger than just my dad and I, it was about the very fate of Ninjago now. And I was ready to stop it.
Then Kozu grabbed me. Kozu was stronger than anything I'd ever felt before. I'd gotten out of grapples and grabs by the ninja, but Kozu wasn't a human with pressure points and places to attack. He was made of stone, and when he lifted me up he picked me up I couldn't even move. I did all I could to fight, but it didn't matter if I broke free or not. He'd bought the time he needed to fire the Garmatron.
The first shell firing felt like nothing I'd felt before. I'd lost before in training, and even gotten my butt handed to me as a kid. But those were setbacks that involved just me. As I felt the Garmatron rumble from firing, I knew it. I'd lost. I'd failed to save Ninjago. I was ashamed of myself, and I felt my body go cold. My mother's scream was enough to tell me what was about to happen. I knew before the shell even hit Ninjago that we had already failed.
As if to add insult to injury, my dad fired it again. The second time felt even worse, since I was right there. I couldn't think of anything else other than the sheer horror of knowing what my dad had just done, twice. I could only look on in terror as Kozu just held me there, almost like I had a front row seat to the end of the world. And for all I knew… it was.
Wu, however, snapped me out of it. I had to focus, I had to do this. Kozu's grip was strong, but that didn't mean I couldn't get out. I had to rely on more than my own strength. Kozu wasn't putting pressure on me, so I was able to focus. I poured all of my power into Kozu. I felt him shaking as my power poured into him. I let so much off I think I created a beacon. I was a second from getting free, and ending the damage that came next.
I half wonder if my dad had intentionally built in a trap door just for that moment. Given that he'd been trained by Chen, it seemed plausible. He ejected me right out of the Garmatron, as if to tell me that I wasn't able to do anything. Wu and Misako got me up. I tried, I'd given it my all. Wu offered me some comfort in saying he knew I did. Miasko simply reminded me that the balance of light and dark had shifted. It was the perfect twist to the knife already in my chest.
My dad, however, wasn't able to take the time to think like we were. The Overlord showed his true hand and told him that he'd planned to doublecross Garmadon from the beginning. With the power that he'd gotten from hitting Ninjago twice, the Overlord took control of my dad. The ninja arrived just as my dad started screaming as the Overlord possessed him.
Having known what it's like to be possessed and have things happen to your body you don't want, I have even more nightmares about what happened to my dad. My dad wasn't just being possessed, his body was being transformed. The Overlord said it was a metamorphosis (I have Zane to thank for telling me what that meant since I'd dropped out of school). My dad's body twisted about atop the Garmatron as the Overlord took control of it. I watched as each of my dad's hands turned into massive animal claws, his body grow scales and cover him, and most horrifying, watch his face burst open and form a dragon snout. Even my dad's red eyes turned into two glowing twisted purple orbs. When the Overlord finished, the only thing I could even recognize about him was the helmet on his head.
The prophecy of the Green Ninja said that I had to face the 'dark lord.' I realize now that never meant my father. Misako says that it always meant my father, and destiny simply had a twisted way of making sure I did. To me, the Overlord was the one that I always had to fight. He was the one that I was always going to have to finish the First Spinjitzu Master's business with. As my father was taken over, the sickness in my gut sorta cleared my head. My father was taken from me. The Overlord had taken him from me. The Overlord was the dark lord, and I had to face him.
The more evil the Overlord had, the more he would grow in power. All of us knew that. I had to fight him. In an instant, all of my doubts, my fears and everything that had been holding me back seemed to clear up. I didn't feel any hesitation. I had to fight the Overlord. The final battle, it was going to happen right there and then. The Overlord said he was going to attack Ninjago City. Just hearing that, I knew that once he had that, it really was over.
We foiled his first attempt to attack the city by taking the chance to knock Kozu right into the cannon where the shell went. I will admit, it was the same level of satisfying as kicking Pythor in the face to see Kozu shot all the way to Ninjago. Kai commendered a turret to blast away the Stone Army's bikes, while Jay and Cole took out the other vehicles that had been giving us trouble. That left the actual army itself. Wu, Misako and I fought our way through them, knowing now the goal was to get to the Overlord. I got back up to the top of the Garmatron, and stood right before the Overlord.
A feeling of calm washed over me as I stared him down. I said exactly what I was thinking: all this time the prophecy was about him, and that it was always leading to this moment. He of course said he'd spent thousands of years planning this very moment, but I wasn't having it. This, as far as I knew, was the final battle. I was going to take him out, and take him out for good.
I blasted him with my power, and he punched me all the way off the Garmatron down to the beach. I focused as hard as I could to pull all the power the Temple of Light had given me. I blasted the Overlord with my power, and he responded in kind. With a body, now he was able to show the true strength he always had. His darkness was the very opposite of my light. When our powers clashed, I felt his power in my arms. I wasn't pushing against him, I was holding his darkness back. He was stronger than anyone I'd ever fought.
He tried to trick me by cutting of his attack and starting a new one. I pulled all my power I had and blasted him straight in the chest all the way back into the jungle. Before I could celebrate, though, he was flying through the air and crashing into the ground in front of me. Having been thrown into the ground twice already, the third time was enough to make me mad. We traded more blows, and the more I fought him, the more I realized that he really was powerful. The ninja stayed out of the fight, and I'm glad they did. He was stronger than all the four of them combined, and just after a few attacks, I'd already used more power against him than ever.
I knew I couldn't do it forever. He was an ancient being, and I was already tired from just a few beams. He taunted me, saying that he was able to do it for eternity. I don't know how long he and the First Spinjitzu Master fought, but I believe it. I couldn't keep up with him like I could with the ninja. He was right that the ninja couldn't help me. Just one of those beams and he'd likely put a hole in their chests. I almost believed him, when he said I was all alone.
Something, however, felt off to me. Something about his attacks, about how he threw me around. I've been toyed with in a fight before, and I knew that wasn't it. I knew that something else was happening with him. As he cornered me, away from my friends and family, I realized something. Something was holding him back. And when I realized that, I realized who I had to help me.
When my dad started to break through the Overlord's image, I felt something inside me. It was like hope in me burned so hard it was scalding my chest. My dad was in there. The Overlord had taken his body, but not his mind. Not yet. When we once more traded blows, I knew that I could take him. Alone, I'd never beat him. But, if my dad was with me, I could do it. I could beat the Overlord.
As if to add to my nightmares, each time my father broke through, his voice got weaker. It got more distant. He said he'd never let the Overlord take his son. My dad had fought so hard against himself to come and rescue me. Now, he was fighting against all evil. I screamed at him to fight. I needed help. I needed him. Everything that had happened to me, it was because of him. Everything good, bad, confusing, horrifying, heart aching, all of it was him.
So, when the Overlord stamped down my father's spirit, right in front of me, it snapped something in me. It gave the Overlord that moment to attack. All I remember was feeling my body suddenly wrapped up in dark power. It was like I'd jumped straight into boiling water with cuts all over my body. The first scream was all I got out before I was already passed out from the pain. I was awake just enough for him to wind me up for a throw, and then send me soaring across the beach. I wasn't even awake when I hit the dirt for the fourth time.
In the time I was passed out, the Overlord used his new form to open a portal to Ninjago City. He could finally cross the boundary, and after Dr. Julien sacrificed the Bounty to stop him from blasting me apart with the Garmatron, it fed him up enough to want to do the job personally. Kai tried to jump in after him, but he missed. The Overlord, Nya, and the entire Stone Army escaped to Ninjago, leaving us stranded on the Dark Island.
I didn't wake up for almost three hours, according to Wu. The entire time, the ninja sat around me, all afraid that I'd actually died. When I did wake up, I was woozy from the pain. I even asked if I'd actually won, as silly as that was. I only had to move an inch to feel my right leg was broken. It didn't hurt when I stayed still, but the second I moved it, it burned like fire. I was completely broken by the pain. I forced myself to my feet, just so I could see what happened.
While I was walking, I found a piece of the broken Bounty in front of me. On it, was a painting of the Ninjago symbol for destiny. Seeing it stung, and given I was already hurting all over it was a hard sting. Yet while I used it to hobble to the water, I wondered why I was still alive. The Overlord had tried to kill me while I was passed out, but he had stopped. He had been so adamant about the final battle, why would he let me live?
That was when I realized that this was only the first final battle. The battle we'd all been preparing for, hadn't ever meant to be on the Dark Island. It was always going to be on Ninjago, the island where I grew up, where we were told to protect, and what we had all let down. The final battle wasn't just one battle, it was more than that. We'd survived the fight, now we just had to continue the battle.
It was time for me to truly become the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master.
"Let's stop here," Lloyd informed Zane, "I'm still figuring out how to describe the next part."
"You've gone through quite a lot already in just seven chapters," Zane pointed out, "Though, I do agree it was a smart decision to focus just on these events. A good amount happened in just one day, after all."
"Yeah," Lloyd chuckled, "It really did."
A silence drifted over the room. The subject they were talking about was anything but light, and after the breakdown Lloyd had after the last chapter, Zane was waiting to see any signs of stress in Lloyd. He ran an analysis on Lloyd, and found, strangely, his heart rate was normal. Lloyd seemed to be perfectly… fine.
"Does the battle with the Overlord not stress you as discussing your father?" Zane asked carefully.
"The Overlord took over my father," Lloyd stated firmly, "He changed the entire battle. Nothing was the same after that. It's, easier to talk about bad guys that were just bad guys. I don't see the Overlord as my dad. After he made my dad into… that, it wasn't my dad I was fighting anymore."
"I see," Zane nodded, "I can certainly say that many will be interested to hear what happened on the Dark Island while Ninjago was being attacked."
"Yeah… actually, I wanted to ask," Lloyd looked up, "You know that pot we started on when the Bounty crashes next?"
"Yes, you stated you believe that it will crash in the next few hours," Zane nodded, "Kai is currently waiting to win the entire pot."
"Well… there's a reason I asked you to record with me away from the Bounty today," Lloyd eyed Zane, "Jay and Cole should be finishing the test drive of the new engines by now, right?"
"Yes," Zane agreed, "But, I do not understand why…"
Zane's eyes flashed with messages, specifically an incoming video call. Lloyd crossed his arms and waited with a little grin on his face. Zane answered it, listening to it intently. As he listened, Zane's face fell into a frown. After a few more moments, Zane inhaled.
"It appears you've won," Zane sighed, "Jay has managed to crash the Bounty while landing. Apparently, the new jets have a far slower deceleration than intended."
"I knew it!" Lloyd pumped his fist, "Yes! I'm so going to Mother Doomsday's tonight!"
"Good for you," Zane smiled genuinely, "You prediction was able to out predict even my own calculations. Well done."
"A gut feeling can overrule even a computer," Lloyd continued to grin, "By the way, I do want to keep going after the Overlord. We'll be getting to the Golden Master after this."
"I look forward to it," Zane stated, "I have enjoyed hearing our stories through your eyes. It has given me much to think about in terms of how I acted and the situations we encountered in our adventures."
"Well, I'm going to go find Kai and get him to give up the pot! Send him a copy of that message with the timestamp for me, alright, Zane?" Lloyd asked.
"Of course," Zane blinked, sending the message the second he did, "It is done. I assume you are going to see him…?"
Lloyd was already gone before Zane finished. Zane simply smiled and stood up, following after Lloyd in case Kai decided not to make good on their bet.