HEY GUY! Watch these if you want to see where my inspiration for the epic monologue at the end of the last chapter were from:
Ninjago Version: watch?v=ZQqxuxWrC5o
Original Version: watch?v=YdgmH9Vv2-I
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This is a significantly shorter chapter than the last one. ANYWAY, please read and leave a comment/review! I own nothing.
Chapter 21: What Now?
Even though it was hundreds of miles away, Zane could sense the sudden carnage that was taking place. He and Pixal had just buried Echo's body in front of their father's tree, and made their way to the Land Bounty's jet. But right as he sat in the copilot's seat, he grabbed his head, as if in agony.
"Zane? What is it?"
"I...I don't know, Pixal. I think..." He looked up to Echo's grave, then back to her with fear in his eyes. "I think whomever Echo warned us about just revealed himself. And whoever they are, they just tipped the balance against us."
She turned on the Jet's engines. Zane looked at her quizzically as she seemed determined on their destination. "Where should we go? Back to the Tower? To the Golden Peaks?"
She shook her head, realizing something else."No. We need to go to the old Monastery."
"What? Why?"
"I think it is something you should see for yourself rather than have me explain it to you. I promise you will understand once we are there."
Zane nodded and started their liftoff, unbeknownst what they were heading into.
"Hold on, Lloyd. Just wait a second!" Dareth was gripping tight onto Lloyd's wound to put pressure on it, but it wasn't enough. Cole held the young Sensei by giving him his hand to hold, turning to the Master of Fire. "KAI! I need you here, NOW!"
The red Ninja was still breathing heavily, staring at the roasted corpse of Skylor with malice in his eyes. "KAI!" Dareth may as well have been yelling at a brick wall, until Nya shuffled towards her brother, tears still streaming down her eyes. she put her hand on his shoulder. "Kai..."
Finally, he turned to look her in the eyes. Once he met them, he also began to cry. "N-Nya, Mom and Dad-"
She held up her hand. "I know, Kai. I know, but we can talk about it later. Lloyd needs your help right now." She pointed to Dareth and Lloyd, who was now clearly in excruciating pain. "Lloyd..."
They both ran over to him, Kai lightning a small flame in his fist as he did. "This isn't gonna feel good, Lloyd, but it will make it better." As Lloyd gritted his teeth, he nodded at him to do it, gripping tight onto both Cole and Dareth's arms. The red Ninja pressed his fiery fist onto the wound, cauterizing it immediately.
"ARRRRGH!"
"It's ok, buddy, the worst part is over." Indeed, they looked down to the wound to see that the bleeding had stopped, even though it was still a serious wound in need of medical attention immediately. "We need to get him to the Land Bounty now, Dareth."
"Right, let's go. I don't want to be here any longer than we have to." The two picked Lloyd up by the shoulders, carefully carrying him down towards the mountain's descent. "Nya, let's-"
Cole turned back to see his girlfriend, who was staring at the temple. The only thing that the Dark Army had left behind. "Nya..."
Before anyone could react she raised both arms swiftly and summoned a barrage of water spikes into the air. "DAMN THEM ALL!" With a throwing motion, all 50 water spikes pierced into the structure's base, causing it to collapse on itself until nothing but rubble stood in its place.
Huffing slowly, the Master of Water turned to face the other three, who didn't even seem too phased by her outburst. Inwardly, they all felt the same. Though Dareth was the one to offer words of wisdom.
"I know Nya. I can't say I have been through what you are going through now, but I understand. We lost our friends and students as well, and I promise you, they will pay. But right now, we need to regroup and reorganize. Salvage what is left, and live to fight another day."
"I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF, BROWN NINJA!"
All five looked up overhead to see a flying red carrier with an opening in the back. Kai recognized the one piloting, and the cyborg who had called out to them from the back. "The Mechanic?"
The R.E.X. landed down in front of them, with the Mechanic hopping out immediately and running towards them. But as he was only feet away from them, Nya raised her blade at his neck, stopping him in his tracks.
"Whoa! Hey, it's ok, we're here to help!"
Nya wasn't convinced. "Why THE HELL would you want to help? I remember you from the temple, you two are Dark Army members!"
"No, Nya, they're not." She turned her head to her brother, who was also eyeing the Mechanic, but with a calm demeanor. "They protested against the Ritual just before you arrived, after they were informed about the students' deaths. The Nindroids even tried to kill them."
The Mechanic let out a nervous chuckle, arms still raised in the air. "Heh, see?"
"BUT, that doesn't excuse them from over 5 years of associating with the Dark Army."
He lowered his arms slowly, sighing with the sense of regret. "You are right, yes. Ronin and I were associated with Chen's faction long before they aligned with the Dark Army, but only as handymen! I fixed trucks, and Ronin was a delivery-boy-for-hire. We were told by Harumi that we wouldn't have to kill anyone. But She didn't tell us that they would be doing so."
"So then why are you here?"
"Ronin and I want to fix our mistakes. We can't wash away the horrible deeds we helped put in place, but we aren't going to sit back as the Dark Army takes over Ninjago. After we fled, Ronin took the R.E.X. to the crash site of the destroyed Bounty..."
The others stared at him in anticipation. "AND?"
"And... they weren't lying. Hundreds of dead kids, and a large handful of dead Elemental Masters." The four hung their heads in silence, the worse being confirmed. "However, we did find two survivors." He looked back to the R.E.X. where Ronin and Karlof were helping a bandaged Brad out of the craft.
Nya dropped her blade and ran over to them with Cole "BRAD! KARLOF!" They widened their arms and embraced the two, grateful for their survival. Ronin smiled and looked up to the Mechanic, who nodded back before facing the other three.
Through slow huffs, Lloyd looked to Dareth and Kai before facing him. "Thank you, Mechanic. I think I speak for all of us when I say that. And you're right, you may not be able to wash away all of your sins..."
The cyborg hung his head in shameful agreement. From several feet away, Ronin did the same.
"But that doesn't mean you two don't deserve a second chance." They both looked up with hopeful glee as the young Sensei extended his arm. After a few moments, the Mechanic shook it, a smile on his face.
"Alright. Dareth, Kai, if you two wouldn't mind getting me onto their ship. Mechanic, could you and Ronin take us down the mountain to the Land Bounty?"
"Of course!" The group boarded the R.E.X. as Ronin began its engines, allowing it to hover above the surface. Once they were strapped in, the craft began its descent down the mountainside. Just as they approached the base of the mountain and landed next to the vehicle, Ronin stared quizzically at the computer beeping.
"Umm, guys? You're Land Bounty is sending a signal to us. But it's not here, its heading in the northwest direction."
Dareth unstrapped himself and approached the computer as well. "That's the jet! Zane and Pixal are sending a signal to us; It looks like they're headed towards-"
Nya's voice cut through. "The old Monastery. We need to go there. Ronin, you and Mechanic follow us as we drive there."
"Uh, ok... But why?"
In Ninjago City, chaos was unleashed. After Borg Tower was destroyed, the gargantuan Garmatron II beamed down thousands of Dark Army soldiers at every entance to the city, blocking off any hope of escape. Within the hour, the entire population of the City was at the Overlord's mercy.
But to the surprise of his Subordinates, the Overlord did not commence an attack or order the executions of any high-profile individuals. Instead, he beamed himself and his inner circle of generals and faction leaders down to the old Royal Palace, which was now an empty complex left abandoned after the Ninja helped it's reconstruction.
The Overlord toured the Palace's great halls, roaming through each room with precise attention to detail as he did. His top two Generals, Kozu and Cryptor, followed him closely as he did. The rest (Samukai, Kruncha, Knuckal, Aspheera, Pythor, Char, the four Serpentine Generals, Chen, Clouse, Morro, Nadakhan, Sensei Yang, Krux and Acronix, Killow, Ultra Violet, Omega, and Vex) Were all waiting for him in the Throne Room, staring at the three thrones that stood in place.
Once the Overlord arrived in the room, all heads turned towards him, causing an instant shuffle to the side as they made way for their leader to walk up to the throne. Kozu and Cryptor joined them once their creator passed through the small crowd, making his way up to the throne. Only feet away from them, he stopped, looking at the throne on the right hand side of the center one. Nadakhan floated forward with a slight aura of nervousness in his approach. "Overlord... What now?"
"For the past six years, I have been plotting my return. Ever since that puny Blue Ninja had the stupidity to kill himself just to throw me back into my dormant state. But during those six years, I spoke directly to Garmadon. My most trusted confidant. Through his work, your forces were merged together to create the ultimate power in Ninjago!"
He turned his head to the throne on the main one's left hand side. "Of course, none of it would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of The Quiet One. It was her genius that inspired this alliance in the first place. If all had gone according to plan, she would be standing here right now. And I would have absorbed the Green Ninja's essence and power, instead of Lord Garmadon's."
He turned back around to face his cohorts. "Were they here now, they would both rule by my side as equals, and together, our triumvirate would bring Ninjago to it's knees. But they have been damned in the ritual to bring me back, and are beyond ressurrection. And so..." He raised all four arms, and his hands began to glow with a dark purple energy. To the surprise of the faction leaders, he spun back around and shot four purple lasers at the two thrones to the side, incinerating them to dust immediately.
"It is up to me alone to bring a new order." He stepped forward and turned to sit in the throne, resting his two lower arms on the armchairs as he put the upper to against each other in a pyramid shape.
"BEHOLD, my friends. Today dawns a new era; One of complete control to those who deserve it, where the strong are on top. I grant all of you complete dominance over your prospective homesteads, and all of you are to be my Supreme Council. You are equal to one another, and will answer to none but me. GARMADON IS DEAD, and in his place, I reclaim my title as The Overlord, Dark Master and Emperor of Ninjago!"
The 23 members of his new Supreme Council all bowed down to their Master, knowing that the Order they will create will bring them all their just desserts as they smiled wickedly, ready to bring their own taste of change.
Zane and Pixal were already walking up the steps to the Monastery when they saw the vehicle half of the Land Bounty and the R.E.X. stop at the base of the stairway. Once the rest caught up with them, it took the two Nindroids all of 0.01 seconds to notice their friend's expressions of regret and pain. Zane ran back down the stairs to help Dareth and Kai carry Lloyd.
"What happened? Where are the others?" The lack of eye contact the group made only put him further on edge, causing him to shake Lloyd slightly. "Mystake? Lloyd, where is she? Where's your mother?"
"They're dead, Zane. As are many others, including the other Elemental Masters and Students. Brad and Karlof were the only survivors." Zane and Pixal both looked down the stairs to see the two walking up with Nya, all of whom Pixal ran down to hug.
"Brad! Thank goodness you got out in time!"
The young boy hugged her back. "I didn't, really. Karlof shielded me from the blast. We were the only two survivors."
"And Gene and Skylor?" Kai's fist tightened in anger, answering the question before anyone else could. "They managed to escape back to the Golden Peaks, but we put up a fight after their little ritual. Gene escaped, but Skylor won't be bothering us anymore."
Although he was bothered by Kai's mildly sadistic tone, Zane chose to focus on the bigger part of his statement. "What ritual?"
Dareth opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Nya interrupted. "We will have time to tell you later. First, we should get to the Monastery."
Even Ronin and the Mechanic looked confused by her statement. "What are you talking about? The Monastery is nothing but ruins, everyone knows that! Hell, Skales made that pretty clear whenever he gloated about his first encounters with the Ninja."
Pixal looked at Nya with a serious expression, to which the Master of Water nodded back in approval. "Yes, it is time to show them. Our worst fears have been realized."
*MINUTES LATER*
Once the group made it to the top of the stairs, Zane helped set Lloyd down by the tree, where they had cremated Wu and buried the remains of the First Spinjitzu Master. After all he had been through today, Lloyd wasn't ready to face them, even if it was simply the idea of facing them. Tears began to stream down his face almost immediately. "I'm sorry... I'm SO SORRY... I FAILED YOU."
He looked up after feeling a hand touch his shoulder, to which Cole's face gave him a reassuring look. "No, Lloyd. You haven't failed anybody. This is not your fault; We did everything in our power to prevent this, but they've been a step ahead of us the whole time. Your Uncle, your Grandfather, and hell, even your actual father would be damn proud of you, if they were here."
"*Sniff* Thanks, Cole."
"This way, guys." Nya and Pixal continued to walk into the ruins of the Monastery, to which Cole helped Lloyd up so they and everyone else could follow.
As they walked through the burnt gateway into the courtyard, Pixal began to speak, still walking towards the open doorway into the half-burnt building. "As you know, Lloyd put Nya and myself in charge of this complex shortly after the First Spinjitzu Master's remains were buried here, In the hopes of preserving this sacred ground from any type of threat. Although we experienced no threats when we installed standard security measures, we decided to go several steps further, with the help of Cyrus Borg."
Now inside, the group walked into what was once the quarters of Sensei Wu, making Kai, Zane, and Cole feel especially uneasy. "What are we doing in here you two?"
Pixal approached the back wall and pressed onto the only thing that was on it: a small gray button that was almost unnoticeable. Once she pressed it, the wall slid to the side to reveal a secret large elevator door. "Come on."
The entire group was surprisingly able to fit inside the spacious elevator. Once in, the door closed and the wall slid back into place. Nya pressed on one of the only two buttons: down. Lloyd, while clearly still uncomfortable from the wound, looked to the two quizzically. "You said Cyrus helped install this?" Both Nya and Pixal nodded. "He was really the key designer, Pixal and I just built it with the help of his drone construction crew. But you be the judge."
After the elevator dinged, indicating their ride had stopped, the group was in awe at the sight before them:
A massive cave was hollowed out within the mountain. Clearly reminiscent of Nya's old Samurai-X caves, the new base was almost three times their the far end, they could see a bay door that would open to let any vehicles in or out. In front of that, several vehicles and mechs that were moved from Borg Tower's hangar in the months prior. On one side of the cave was a training ground to keep any residents in shape. At the other side of the cave, a whole mini-complex of housing, capable of holding the entire population of the Ninja's deceased students if necessary.
But none of that was what put a smile on everyone's faces. Hundreds of feet away was a large control center, styled after the control room of Borg Tower. And in front of the large computer screens were none other than Clutch Powers and Cyrus Borg. "Welcome to Safehouse Zero!"
"Mr. Borg, you're alive!" Pixal ran forward and embraced her father in a hug, which was happily returned. Clutch smiled at the sight, before turning to see the rest of the group walk out of the elevator. Including Ronin and the Mechanic.
Instinctively, he took out his revolver, aiming it at the duo. "What the hell are the doing here?" Not wanting to start anything, the two raised their arms in a surrendering fashion, giving Dareth and Cole the chance to get between them and Clutch.
"Whoa, whoa! It's OK, Clutch, they're alright!"
"No, they're not! They were at the Pyramid six years ago! They're Dark Army!" Cautiously, Dareth approached the gun-wielding adventurer before he placed his hand over the Revolver, lowering it with minimal force.
"We know, and trust me, they wouldn't be here if they didn't have Lloyd's confidence." After several seconds, Clutch nodded and looked to them skeptically. "Alright, but I've got my eye on them." No one dared make an eye pun.
After the two lowered their arms gratefully, both Clutch and Borg looked at the smaller-than-expected group. Borg wheeled forward to be closer to Lloyd. "I'm glad to see that Karlof and Brad survived the explosion. I take it the Dark Army's attack left no other survivors?"
"It wasn't a Dark Army attack; at least not a direct one." The paralyzed genius looked puzzled at Brad's statement. "It was Gene and Skylor. They've been secretly spying on us for Garmadon this entire time. Karlof and I barely survived."
Borg stared at the boy for a second, clear shock on his face. "This is... most unsettling news. But what about the others? Where are Mystake and Misako?" The group hung their heads, unable to articulate what they experienced only mere hours ago into words just yet. But it was enough for Cyrus to understand. "I... I see. When you are ready, I do want to learn everything you can tell me. Clutch and I are already of the Overlord's return; he completely destroyed Borg Tower, and his armies have already taken the City. Their conquest of the Realm has commenced."
Freeing himself from Cole's support, Lloyd limped forward to the computer screens. "Yes. And we cannot attack back straight-on. At least not yet, and not with such small numbers." He sat down in the chair to rest his legs, revolving back to face everyone.
"We thirteen are currently all that stands between the Overlord and his quest for total domination. As long as we live and breathe, there is hope. But we cannot face them head-on in our state."
They all shuffled uncomfortably at his words. Surprisingly, Ronin was the one to speak up. "So what now, Lloyd?"
He stared down at his flesh wound, then his hands, then them. Turning the chair, he looked around the cave, eyeing the resident vehicles, the training courses, and its sleeping quarters. "We retreat. Stay here, in Safehouse Zero, to prepare for the time when we are ready to fight. We will only come out of the cave one at a time to avoid detection. Cyrus, are there any other offsite safehouses only you know about?"
"Yes, Safehouse One: My secret laboratory in Hiroshi's Labyrinth."
"Perfect. You will operate out of there to help us gain an advantage technologically. We'll develop cloaking for all of our vehicles so we can travel between both safehouses."
Cole and Kai looked baffled at what their Sensei was saying. "So we just hide out for however long, allowing the Dark Army to spread fear and chaos as we train?"
Lloyd sighed with a small nod. "It is a hard decision to make, but this is an extremely hard time. We are in no condition to fight, or even inspire others to fight. Eventually, we can go into their turf individually for hit-and-run moves, but nothing more. This will take time, guys. We've had years of unbridled peace. Now, we must face our new reality: years of unbridled Dark reign."
AND THERE WE GO! I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Please watch the videos I gave the link to in the beginning of this chapter, and PLEASE leave a comment or review!
I'll update when I'm able. We're in the endgame now.