Hey y'all! This is the most important one so far! A lot, I REPEAT, a lot goes down in this one. More so than last chapter, at a pretty fast pace.

IT IS ALSO MY BIGGEST CHAPTER EVER SO FAR! Please enjoy, and leave a review! I appreciate your comments and your support.

I own nothing!.

Chapter 20: Return

Misako continued to lie down in the dirt, breathing slowly with closed eyes. Even though she no longer had the element of Water, Maya did her best to help ease her pain. As she did, Kai and Ray attempted to help however they could, though their abilities were limited.

"Dad... have you two been hostages this whole time?"

Ray and Maya exchanged a brief glance at one another before he sighed. "Kai, there is so much you should know; both you and Nya. We have missed so much of your journeys, and..." He began to choke back tears. "...And we are SO sorry! We were taken so that you could be safe, even if it meant we wouldn't see you again."

"Taken by Garmadon?"

"No, son, by the Time Master Krux. But that doesn't matter anymore, not now. He and his brother have aligned their entire legions to the Dark Army, and are now preparing for something. But for what, I do not know."

From behind Kai, a shrill voice interrupted their conversation. "Perhaps you'd like to find out?" He, Ray, and Maya all turned to the cell's entrance to see Harumi. To Kai's surprise, standing behind her were several Nindroids, the large General Killow, and the pirate Dogshank holding the half-starved Emperor and Empress. She opened the cell door and let Killow and a couple of Nindroids through to grab them.

"Let's move it, prisoners! The Green Ninja will be here soon; It's time for the Great Return!"

"What just happened? COMPUTER, REPORT!" Through the blaring alarms, Cyrus Borg was trying to make sense of the situation in the Tower's command room.

"Destiny's Bounty destroyed. Inward explosive force detected. Probability of survivors: Minimal."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only was the project he had painstakingly worked on destroyed on its first day out of the workshop, but if the analysis was correct, then someone on the inside had planted the explosives. He looked to the only other man in the room, Clutch Powers, then back to the computer.

"...Ok. We need to inform the Ninja and get the students to safety. Transfer all data to the secondary new base while I make preparations just to be safe."

"Negative. The Ninja are out of reach. Students are not on premises."

"WHAT? Where are they?"

The screen went black for a moment before coming back online, now showing camera footage from the workshop. Based on the time shown in the upper corner, it was only two hours ago. When the Masters were boarding the Bounty.

As he thought, the footage did show Paleman running onto the ship, before fast forwarding a few moments later to show a large assortment of dark shapes amassing by the rear ventilation shaft. Then, one moved forward into the rear of the ship's hull. Then another, and another. It continued until all of them were on board, and Cyrus realized the horrible truth.

"Oh no..." Without further hesitation, he typed in several command keys, the both he and Clutch hurried out of the room towards the elevator as fast as they could.

Behind them, Gene and Skylor could hear the massive explosion as they used Airjitzu to slow their descent into the dessert. Once they landed, Gene looked up to see the trails of smoke emanating from the falling chunks of debris, falling hundreds of feet away from them. "The Master will be pleased, Skylor."

The Master of Amber smirked before grabbing him by the collarbone.

"Hey!"

"Shut it, Gene! Why wasn't I informed that that there was a second spy in the Tower all along? Why didn't you tell me? And why the hell were the other students on board the ship?" He smirked at her query, as if she was refusing to admit the obvious fact.

"You know damn well why. Lord Garmadon does not know you. He knows me, knows that I am loyal to him rather than myself. I reported on you, but don't worry. You played your role perfectly, even managing to string Kai's heart into a frenzy."

It was true, and she knew it. Although she had remained loyal, Skylor was relatively an outsider to Garmadon's plots. Still, she successfully gave Kai the necessary distraction to mess with his head as they trained their students, planting seeds of the false sense of security that they were ready to move on. But Gene still hadn't answered her last question.

"That doesn't explain why you brought every single student onto the ship! If we weren't so lucky, they could have warned the Elemental Masters about the explosives!" She let him go, giving him a chance to rub his collarbone before explaining himself.

"It wasn't my plan. I was just trying to bring Brad along; he was the only student that could have actually posed a threat. He was the most skilled, the best at leading the others. But I suppose it benefitted us in the end: Now, we don't have to worry about any of the Elemental Masters or any of the students." His logic was sound, but she still felt as though she had been lied to indirectly this whole time.

"Very well." Taking out her communicator, she set it to the same frequency as his. "This is Skylor to the Dark Army. The operation was a complete success: The Bounty is destroyed."

"Excellent work, Skylor. We are opening a gateway for you now." Although she'd never admit it, she missed the sound of her father's voice after all these years. "Thank you, Dad." As she switched off her communicator, a small portal formed in front of the two of them.

*Several Hundred Feet Away From Them*

As debris continued to fall, one large chunk of the ship hurled into the sandy ground with a THUD. After a few seconds, it burst open, revealing a weak Karlof with metal skin, and Brad who only had minor burns thanks to the Master of Metal shielding him.

But although they survived, they were anything but alright. The blast did not physically hurt Karlof, but the energy shielding took a lot out of him. Brad, on the other hand, was hyperventilating as he scanned the debris around them, tears beginning to stream down his face.

Several bodies were clearly visible, though almost impossible to identify if they were students. Ash's lifeless form was poetically near Chamille's. Jacob's torso could be seen, while the rest of him was crushed underneath one of the ship's banners. Only a few feet in front of them was the turban that belonged to Gravis. The rest of him was scattered. But none of the bodies that were close to the explosive were spared from disintegration, including Nelson's.

"I... I'm gonna be sick." YOU BASTARD. GENE, YOU BASTARD.

Karlof relinquished his metal form, reverting back to his natural state as he exhaled. "Why... why did they do this?" The young teen walked over and began to help him to his feet. As he did, he saw a small portal appearing hundreds of feet away.

"Because we were a threat! Karlof, LOOK!" The older man turned to see two figures walk through the portal just before it disappeared. "DAMMIT! THEY'RE GONE!" In spite, he kicked the nearest scraps into the sand. Karlof finished getting to his feet as he put a metal glove on his shoulder.

"We have just suffered a major loss, Brad. Do not be consumed by your anger towards them. We need to be smart if we want to bring them to justice. They may have a head start on us, but we know where they are going; the Golden Peaks are only a few miles ahead into the mountain range. Let's go."

The Nindroids pushed the Smith prisoners forwards, while Dogshank had Misako's slumped form over her shoulder. Killow held the Royals in each hand, laughing at their cowardice. In front of the line was the Quiet One, leading them towards the encampment's temple.

Although almost every dark army member moved to the side once they saw her approaching their direction, one not only stood his ground, but proceeded to walk forward towards her and stop her in her tracks. "Quiet One."

"What is the meaning of this General Cryptor?"

The Nindroid General eyed every prisoner behind her before giving her his attention. "I thought ya'd want to know: Vex returned with his new Blizzard samurai, just as he was supposed to. But your own little pet was not so fortunate in completing his task."

She turned to give Killow a concerned look, who returned it in kind before they both faced Cryptor. "Mr. E?"

"His Nindroid Transponder stopped sending a signal. Given its advanced modifications, this can only mean one thing. He was slain, most likely by Zane's hand."

Her fist tightened into a grip, but she didn't allow any emotion to show on her face as the surrounding crowd began to whisper around them. "You don't sound to displeased for someone who just found out their ally was slain by one of their most hated enemies."

"Ha! First correction: Zane is my most hated enemy. Second: E was no ally. He was poor competition at best. A weak imitation you tried to build up into some sort of specialized assassin, but in the end, what did he have to show for it?"

Before she could answer, Ronin and the Mechanic stumbled through the crowd. "Quiet One! We have just been told to tell you that Mr. E's agent has completed his task, whatever that means. Apparently he and one other just came here through a portal summoned by Garmadon."

"That's Lord Garmadon, Mechanic. And thank you..." She met Cryptor's confused gaze. "For telling me exactly what Mr. E had to show for it. In his death, he helped us secure the collective deaths of all of the Elemental Master's allied with the Ninja." Several cheerful shouts were uttered from the surrounding Crowd as Kai's eyes widened in shock. "And what did you have to prove yourself again, Cryptor? Oh, that's right! You ALMOST killed one Ninja."

She pushed the Nindroid General to the side as Ronin listened in to his commlink. "What was that? WHAT?" He turned to an irritated Quiet One who was waiting on his report. "What is it, Ronin?"

"Ma'am, the spies just informed us that the Bounty was not only carrying their Elemental friends... It also had all of their students on board as well."

Kai shook his head in denial. "NO! That can't be true!" The Mechanic bowed his head, as if feeling personally ashamed at the deaths of children. Ronin's face had a similar look. But the Quiet One's grin had never been bigger.

"That is excellent news! I'm sure our Dark Lord was pleased to hear this!" She returned to marching forward, but stopped abruptly at the Mechanic's following remark.

"You complete psycho bitch."

Fury in her eyes, she took out her knife and aimed it in his direction. "Care to repeat that, Mechanic?"

He was not deterred nor swayed by her as his own anger began to show. "You psychotic bitch! You are insane! ALL OF YOU! I was never completely comfortable with the kidnapping or Realm invasions, but now, you openly support the deaths of a hundred kids?!"

Ronin began to reach for his wrist slowly as the tension rose. The Quiet One approached the Mechanic, knife held at neck level as she did. "You dare question our work, you pathetic scum? Y'know , we need bodies for the ritual... perhaps you'd like to join our prisoners?"

"NO!" Ronin took out a throwing star and knocked the knife out of her hand, before grabbing onto the Mechanic. Before anyone could grab them, a pair of metal wings popped out of his backpack and they jetted into the sky.

Nindroids started to fire at them, but continuously missed until the Quiet One held up her hand. "Hold your fire, they're not worth it. They're just cowards. Now let's go, Lord Garmadon is waiting."

Lloyd, Dareth, Nya, and Cole had to park the Land Bounty at the base of the mountain range. Due to their haste, they used Airjitzu as the fastest way up the mountain, stopping every time they needed a quick breather.

"C'mon, guys. We are almost there." Dareth looked up to Lloyd quizzically. "How do you know?"

The Green Ninja pointed up, where only a few hundred feet away from them they could clearly see the edge of the Dark Army's field of vehicles. A Nindroid gunship was clearly visible, and the small trails of smoke from behind it indicated torches. "Let's go."

"Yeah, but Lloyd... what's the plan?" Admittingly, he hadn't gotten that far.

"I am going to hand myself over to them, in exchange for Kai, Mystake, and my Mom. You will help them down. I can handle myself from that point, trust me."

The other three looked at each other skeptically, but continued to follow him up as there was no other choice. Once they got to the encampment's edge, it only took a second before a Stone Army scout pointed him out. "Soztu toong!" Several Serpentine, Nindroid, and Stone Army warriors flanked them from every forward angle, resulting in Lloyd raising his arms in a surrendering fashion.

In the center of the encampment, Garmadon had drawn out a large circle. In it's center was the Table of Resurrection, with the three Oni masks and Mystake's body lying on it. The Drak Lord approached her slowly.

"I have done you the kindness of completing this task without any of your friends watching. Any last words, traitor? Perhaps you'd like to beg for mercy." The old woman spit in his direction before uttering out the same words she said in his presence so many years ago:

"Mercy? Never heard of it!"

"So be it." As the crowd around him watched, he chanted ancient words of Dark Magic, causing the masks to circle around the table slowly before a black hue began to encompass it. Mystake's skin began to shrivel as she let out demonic shrieks of pain. Then, the Masks burst into pieces, and her entire form collapsed in on itself, creating an opening on the table's surface from the sacrificed blood of an Oni.

The opening began to leak a black smoke, followed by the long horns of one Oni with a staff. "I... Am Omega. You... Are Garmadon." He let out a bow of respect, and suddenly the evening sky became almost pitch black, and several hundred wisps of smoke flew out of the opening behind Omega. "We Oni are at your service."

The wisps flew towards the crowd, each hitting the ground and popping an Oni out of thin air. Within seconds, thousands of Oni were within the Dark Army crowd. Garmadon grinned and nodded at Omega, before using his power of Destruction to obliterate the table.

"Alright, that's enough of that. Now, where are... ah! There. Quiet One, well done." The approaching acolyte of Garmadon bowed out of respect for her master, making space for the henchmen to drop the prisoners into the circle.

After Killow had thrown them on the ground, the Emperor clamored to his wife. "Harumi! Please, please don't do this!" She snarled at the old man's pleas, bringing her knife close to his throat.

"It is FAR too late to beg now, false ruler. Your reign has been over for a long time, but what you symbolize: purity, peace, tranquility... these make you both EXCELLENT sacrifices of flesh for our ultimate ritual. You shall be the first, I think. Won't you agree, my Lord?"

"Quite, Quiet One. The Honor is yours."

"Thank you, My Lord." She smiled maliciously at the Emperor. "Harumi, ple-" The blade went through his brain before he could finish, to the Empress's horror. "NO!" As the bleached-haired girl took the blade out, she stood up to wipe off the blood.

"I at least owe you a clean death, after all..." With her black cloak, she wiped off the last of the blood, then raised the blade back into stabbing position as she turned back. "Now, let's finish thi-"

What happened next shocked everyone. With reflexes unbecoming of an old man, Ray shoved the Nindroid off of him just long enough to lunge forward, grab the blade out of her hand, and jam it up her throat. "I'm sorry."

The widened eyes of pain and shock on the Quiet One's face showed that she hadn't expected this. As Ray was grabbed once again by Nindroids, She stumbled until she fell onto her back, laying next to her adoptive father, the last thing she ever saw being the unamused look of Lord Garmadon.

The Dark Lord simply tsk tsked as he stepped into the growing pool of blood that was beginning to encompass the circle, then used all four hands to crush the Empress's head. "Such a shame. The Quiet One was a key player, as was Mr. E. But their sacrifices will not be in vain. Ray, I believe you must now pay for your treachery. You and your wife."

The two were shoved forward by the Nindroids as Kai was held back by the Vengestone chain. He struggled to move forward, yelling protests through each attempt. But his yells stopped once he saw Skylor and Gene both approach his parents. They weren't wearing any restraints.

"SKYLOR! GENE! What are you doing?" The Master of Amber took out her long blade as she took another step forward, looking at Kai in the eyes as she did. "Why, isn't it obvious Kai? I'm doing my duty to my people." With Gene right next to her, she began to raise her blade slowly.

Realizing she would never have another chance to say so in this life, Maya turned quickly to her son. "Kai, I love you. We love you. Tell Nya we lo-" And before she could finish her sentence, Kai saw the agonizing scene of Skylor's blade slicing the necks of her parents, blood spraying onto both her uniform and Gene's face.

"Dark Army, I have come to bargain! Let your hostages go, and take me instead."

The soldiers all chuckled and hissed in amusement, as if Lloyd's statement was completely ludicrous. Simultaneously, they all shuffled to make an opening between the crowd, revealing Pythor and Aspheera.

"Oh, my dear boy, you are in no position for such threats. I think we will just take you as well!"

Through a low snarl, Lloyd realized his haste was his weakness. "Guys, I was wrong. Run!" He had expected to hear protests, or for them to unsheathe their weapons in preparation to attack, but instead he heard all three of them mumble in low tones, as if they were struggling. He turned his head to see all three of them frozen in place, standing in plain positions.

"What are you doing guys? Run!"

Through gritted teeth, Nya choked out "We... mmph… can't."

Aspheera and Pythor let out a laugh as black smoke began to appear between them. "Y'see Lloyd, it's always good to make new friends. And one of our new friends has this unique ability to freeze people in place. Please allow us to introduce to you Omega, leader of the Oni." As Aspheera slithered backwards, large horns emerged from the black smoke, then a full figure.

Omega looked eerily similar to Mystake's Oni state, but with a larger head, horns, and a staff to symbolize his dominance. As he lifted his staff to raise the three he had frozen in place into the air, Aspheera used her own staff to restrain Lloyd and carry him through the air. "Now, let's go. It's time you do your part on behalf of the Dark Army."

Kai was still crouching over his parent's lifeless bodies as he heard the clamoring get louder and louder. Eventually willing to look up, he realized that this nightmare was about to get worse in the only possible way.

They captured Nya.

The Master of Water struggled, just as Cole and Dareth were doing, through her invisible bonds as Omega set her down in the circle along with him. She was the first of them to notice who he was crouching over. "N...No. NO. NO! MOM, DAD!" As she stood in place, her face flushed and tears began to stream down her cheeks. Dareth and Cole took notice of them too, as well as Harumi, the royals, and Misako, who was still (barely) breathing.

Lord Garmadon nodded at Omega in an approving fashion. "Well done. You can let the girl go, however. Like her brother, she is now too distracted."

The Oni leader opened his palm, causing Nya to gasp as she fell onto the ground. Immediately picking herself up enough to move, she crawled next to Kai. After a quick smirk, The Dark Lord turned back to the crowd. "And Lloyd?"

"Right here, my Lord!" The thick voice of Pythor cut into the air, calling for the attention of the Crowd as Aspheera brought forth a struggling Lloyd. But once he saw the shell of his father standing over his Mother, he froze in place. "What did you do to her?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Aspheera's restraints on him dissipated, dropping him to the ground as he ran forward. He picked her head with one hand so she could clearly see him. "MOM, Mom, it's me. I'm here. I'm going to get you out of here, I'm going to get you all out of here, just hang on!"

"Ungh… L-Lloyd?" With all of her remaining strength she brushed her hand against his cheek. "It's too... It's too late for me, son. I will be gone soon. With y-your true f-f-father. With y-your Uncle. I..." Her hand began to slip, until Lloyd pressed it against his face, tears beginning to form.

"I-I-I... Love y-you... son." With her final words, her eyes rolled backwards, her head slumped, and her body went limp. Unlike Kai or Nya, Lloyd just stared at his mother, as if unable to process it.

Cole closed his eyes in denial. Dareth's eyes widened beyond belief. The surrounding Dark Army members chuckled in cruelty at the sight, and Lord Garmadon placed the Golden Armor, Dragon Armor, and Realm crystal in the circle's center before walking towards Lloyd.

"YES... I can sense your anger, Lloyd. It is boiling within you, but you are too uncertain of what to do with it. No matter... I know someone else who will." He turned to face the encompassing army around them. "THE VESSEL IS READY! IT IS TIME FOR THE GREAT RETURN!"

The army raised their weapons in the air, chanting "THE GREAT RETURN!" once before Skylor and Chen approached the end of the circle. Clouse, now holding Harumi's spellbook, began an enchantment. Aspheera shot a purple beam into the air, reciting the same enchantment as she did. Sensei Yang was the third to repeat it, opening his palms to the sky where the purple beam was shot opening a dimensional rift in the air.

Garmadon looked to Chen and nodded. The New Anacondrai leader raised his staff in the air towards the open rift, summoning each element within it. "I call upon Metal! Gravity! Speed! Nature! Sound! Shadow! Light! Time! Wind! Water! Earth! Poison! Smoke! Form! Energy!" As each element was said, energy drew from within the staffs crystal and shot through the rift. Once he was done reciting, Skylor stepped forward, her fist lighting up blue and red.

"I call upon Water! Fire! and Amber!" Small traces of each element withdrew from her fists, but she hadn't lost her power, just momentary strength. As she stepped back, Garmadon approached the rift.

"My gift to you, Oh Great One! I offer you a piece of... Destruction!" A deep purple trace drew from his upper right arm into the rift. "And finally, from beyond the known realms... I give you the dark raw essence of... Lightning!" His forearms grew a brighter orange as he shot four separate continuous beams of red Lightning into the rift.

...

And a booming voice began to echo around the entire encampment as the rift opened further.

"MY TIME HAS COME..."

The voice was deep, raspy. Too deep for anyone to initially recognize, but Dareth knew it only meant trouble. He looked to Cole, then to Lloyd kneeling over Misako's shriveled body, then to Kai and Nya crouching down against the bodies of their parents. The entire army had encircled them in the center before the Temple, cutting off any route of escape. Ignoring the Ninja, Lord Garmadon continued to shoot the red lightning into the rift as it grew larger.

"FOR MILLENIA, I'VE PREPARED. I GREW STRONGER."

The voice was getting louder, now clearly heard by everyone on the mountain. Cole looked towards the relics to see the Golden Armor and Realm Crystal levitate off the ground, into the epicenter of the circle midway between the ground and the rift.

"WHILE YOU RESTED IN YOUR CRADLE OF POWER, BELEIVING NINJAGO'S PEOPLE WERE SAFE, AND PROTECTED."

Omega prodded at Kai's head in a mocking tone. The Master of Fire angrily snarled back before Nya shook his shoulder, drawing his attention to the scene before them. The Realm Crystal began to turn black instead of blue. As the Armors began to enclose around it as it still levitated, it shot a beam of energy into the rift.

"YOU WERE TRUSTED TO LEAD NINJAGO. BUT YOU WERE DECEIVED."

Gene walked to the edge of the circle, standing behind Lord Garmadon with a smirk. Ray's blood was still fresh on his face as he held the blade, sending chills down the collective spines of Dareth, Cole, and Nya. Kai was too focused on Skylor, who stood at the other end of the circle by Chen, with an equally sadistic grin on her face, and malice in her eyes.

"AS MY POWERS OF DARKNESS HAVE BLINDED YOU."

Lord Garmadon shot the last of the red lightning in, clearly tired from the effort. But without skipping a beat, he walked forward towards his son. "It's time, Lloyd." The Green Ninja acted as if he had not heard him, still staring at his Mother's dead eyes. The Dark Lord grabbed Lloyd's arm, hoisting him up and dragging him towards the center near the Armors and the Realm Crystal.

"YOU ASSUMED NO FORCE WOULD DARE OPPOSE YOU."

Dareth, Cole, Nya, and Kai were helpless as they watched Lloyd be picked up into the air by the shell of his father, inching him closer to the Armor. With a triumphant grin on his face, the Dark Lord eyed Lloyd down.

But he hadn't expected Lloyd to kick him in the Jaw, knocking him off his balance.

Before any of the Dark Army members could break the circle to stop him, the Green Ninja picked up the vengestone chain that was wrapped around his leg and smashed it into Lord Garmadon's back, sending him crashing into the Armors. In the total space of a millisecond, he touched, the armor, a black beam shot down from the rift, and a bright light absorbed the lifeless bodies of Harumi, the Emperor and Empress, Misako, Ray, and Maya, as well as Garmadon, the Realm Crystal, and the two Armors.

And then the white light disappeared, leaving trails of smoke within the circle as Lloyd tried to get a bearing on his surroundings.

"But now..."

The voice now came from Garmadon's form. The figure no longer looked the same, however. Although it still had black skin and four arms, the outer armor was Golden. Both the Golden Armor and the Dragon Armor had melded with the figure's physical form, and the Dragon Blade had turned completely black, into the Dark Blade. The dark figure looked up to Lloyd, and opened his eyes. They were purple. "Finally."

"I... have... returned."

Dareth was the next to get to his feet, now freed from the Oni's dark magic. He pointed at the form in front of Lloyd, yelling what his sensei was too afraid to say out loud.

"It's the Overlord!" And everything stirred into a frenzy.

Kai grabbed a sword from a nearby Hypnobrai soldier, running straight for Skylor. Nya spun into a water tornado and kicked Omega off balance, proceeding to spin through the crowd of Dark Army members. Cole shot rocks at several other Dark ARmy soldiers, managing to knock Aspheera onto her back. Dareth used Airjitzu to get on top of the Anacondrai Serpent and cause several Fire Fangs to shoot at its head, knocking it unconscious.

But Lloyd just stared in horror as the Overlord raised his four fists into the air, turning them into a blue haze. Oh no. He absorbed the Realm Crystal. He has it's powers! Indeed, the Overlord shot a Realm-breach beam into the sky thousands of feet above them summoning a portal from the Cursed Realm.

As the fighting continued around them, Lloyd seemed to be the only Ninja to notice the GARGATUAN sized aircraft come through the breach (Imagine it looking like the spaceship Sanctuary II.) Manned by ghosts and Skulkin warriors, the final gift to the Overlord by Lord Garmadon was complete:

The Garmatron II.

While the ground troops stayed to continue fighting the Ninja, all of the vehicle owners within the Dark Army ran to board the vehicles. Motorcycles and other land-vehicles latched onto any chopper or jet that they could, before the fleet flew into the air to board their new Capital ship. Around Dareth, the Serpent and Fire Fangs were them beamed up into the giant craft as well.

The Master of Fire shot a large beam fiery beam at Skylor, who shot an equally powerful one back. Matched in power the two pushed against each other, each trying to outdo the other. But Skylor saw Gene approach from the side, ready to help. "NOW, GENE!" He looked to her, then to Kai, before taking out a throwing knife. "Sorry, Skylor. But I stand a better chance in the Overlord's ranks without any competition." Before she could yell out in protest, he through a knife into her stomach, causing her to break focus and get burned alive by Kai's flame.

Her screams broke Lloyd out of his trance. He grabbed his sword from the ground, rushing towards the Overlord. The Dark Master was not impressed. He quickly blocked the first strike, dodged the second, and spun around the third before slicing his Dark Blade into Lloyd's lower gut, looking him in the eyes.

"You were deceived."

Lloyd dropped his sword and stumbled backwards, gripping onto his flesh wound as Dareth came to his aid. Both of them and the others looked towards the triumphant evildoer, who extended all four arms in a gloating manner.

"And now your Ninjago... shall fall."

As a light beamed the newly reborn Overlord up into his craft, others beamed up every other Dark Army member into the Garmatron II as well. On their master's command, the Skulkin gunmen on board shot several long-range Darkmatter ballistics towards Ninjago City, before flying forward to leave them in their failure.

After they passed the line of sight for the Ninja, the citizens of the City looked up to see the projectiles coming, running into a panicked state as the Commissioner and his forces attempted to calm everyone. But even they stopped once the projectiles flew over them, ramming straight into Borg Tower. The Commissioner took off his hat and watched in horror as the monumental building that stood for peace for over five years was eviscerated. "Cyrus... I hope you weren't in there."

Another police officer walked closer to the Commissioner as they turned to see the fast-approaching Garmatron II. "What do we do now, sir?"

"We do what we must to survive. Serve, grovel, even allow unjust imprisonment." He turned back to the rubble of Borg Tower. "And we pray that the Ninja will save us."

AAAAAAAAAAANNND THERE IT IS! The big one! This, and one other chapter I've actually been writing since I began "A Knight's Journey," because I had an exact vision of how I wanted it to go.

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THE OVERLORD'S MONOLOGUE IS FROM? Leave a comment if you do!

PLEASE REVIEW!

I will update whenever I can.