OK, we are in the final chapters now. I can't specify how many at this point, because I'm debating between splitting one or two into three or four, but I will be done by next Friday.

AGAIN, you have to read the specified parts of A Knight's Journey (and perhaps even the whole thing) to understand the whole of this one.

Shorter chapter.

I own nothing.

Chapter 24: Laid to Waste

Ninjago City was anything but silent. The cracking of whips, vibrations of the machinery, groans of the slaves, and the reactions from the deaths of each slave caused a panicked stir within the atmosphere. The constant whirring of the Garmatron II and it's engines releasing a black smog that darkened the sky also continued the cycle of noise.

Still, the screams of Cyrus Borg pierced through them all.

Within an hour after his capture, he was brought to the top of the Palace's northern tower. There, he was at the mercy of Krux and Acronix as Gene watched with a charming glee. Cyrus was strapped to a metal table with nothin but a dim bulb overhead as the only source of light. The windows were boarded closed, yet his screams tore through the cracks as Krux and Acronix had their fun with him.

"P-please. No more!" But to his dismay, Krux approached him slowly with his right hand glowing orange, aiming straight as his body.

"It's rewind time." He shot his reversal-time beam from his hand, surrounding his entire body below the head. Acronix walked past his brother with his right hand glowing green, aiming right at Cyrus's face.

"I don't know, brother. I prefer to speed things up!" He shot a green speed-time beam, encompassing Cyrus's head. To the man's horror, his body began to revert back to it's younger stages, first to his 30's, then 20's, then it began to shrink as it hit the teens.

His head, on the other hand, felt as though it was unraveling as his skin on his face and neck began to sag, and his hair grayed. The entire process was excruciating. "AAUGH!"

Both of the brothers smiled at the obvious pain they were causing as they stopped shooting the beams. "You see, Mr. Borg, my brother Acronix and I were cheated out of our powers by Wu and Garmadon, back when he was still a good guy. But thanks to the ultimate power that our beloved Emperor beholds, he was able to grant us our powers back shortly after his return. As you can tell, our gifts make our jobs as torture masters quite... proficient."

Acronix nodded in agreement. "We are both incredibly patient men, too. Fortunately for you, we can do this forever." His fist began to emit green again, this time aiming at his body, and Krux aimed his orange hand at the head. Before Cyrus could protest, they reverted each process slowly, turning him back to his normal self. The pain was worse than before.

"AAAAUUGH!"

"That should be enough, torture masters." They both turned to see the Overlord standing through the doorway of the chamber, Gene already kneeling on one knee with his head bowed down. The twins followed his lead. "Stand."

He walked towards Cyrus with a grin as he noticed the anguish the man was in. "Well done, all three of you. The damages you invoked on his mind should make him more... susceptible. And Gene, you not only captured him on your first mission as a leader, but you also killed the Master of Water Nya and the traitor Ronin."

Gene gulped with a sweat quickly developing. "Actually... my Emperor, Nya and Ronin managed to escape."

The Dark Master turned towards the assassin, fury in his purple eyes. "WHAT?!"

Gene took a slight step back as he explained. "Cyrus opened a portal and they jumped through as we snagged him. My team already reviewed the surveillance footage: They apparently went to wherever the dark power that Garmadon absorbed to bring you back came from."

The Overlord paused for a moment as he processed this, still staring at a hesitant Gene. As quickly as it appeared, the fury in his eyes died as he laughed. "HA! Fools. The darkness that brought me back is from even beyond my reach. The power that Garmadon and I both sensed came from a different plane of existence; one of chaos and war." He turned towards Cyrus. "Whatever they have found there, Cyrus, has already killed them. So thanks."

Cyrus's eyes widened. "N-no!"

"Yes. And I am afraid that you shall also be indirectly responsible for the deaths of the rest of your friends!" He placed all four hands on Cyrus's temples, closing his own eyes.

"The Twins here have weakened your profoundly strong mind, Cyrus. Your mental blocks would be effective even against me if your mind wasn't already scrambled from the psychological pain you have just been through. Now let's see here..."

The Twins and Gene watched as their master silently scanned Cyrus's guarded memories with slight difficulty. "Mmmm, no that's not it. Nope. Wow, you really did look like an idiot as a kid. Mmm, nope. AHA!" They both opened their eyes suddenly as the Overlord stepped back with pleased shock and slight self-shame.

"Damn, I should have known. Thank you, Cyrus." The prisoner shook his head silently with tears slowly streaming down his face, realizing that he had failed his friends. The Overlord laughed at his pain, then pointed to Gene.

"Gene, you take him down to the cell. You and the New Regime will be safeguarding my palace and the city. Krux, Acronix, recall EVERYONE. It is time we finish this."

The three bowed in respect, and as Gene uncuffed Cyrus, Krux hesitantly approached him. "My Emperor... if we recall everyone, how will Gene and his 11 companions hold control over everyone in the city? And what of all of our other work-camps and mines across the realm?"

The Overlord smiled wickedly. "Order Cryptor to engage the Prime Protocol."

In the workcamp outside of the Palace, everyone was gathered into the center. Despite the thousands of deaths that took place, the area was still extremely overcrowded. The Mailman pushed through the crowd to the residential doctor, who was also a slave.

"DOC!"

"Mailman! What is going on?"

"I don't know, we were all working and then they told us to drop our tools and come here. Where is Gayle?" The doc hung his head lowly. "I'm sorry, Mailman."

Even though they both knew it was going to happen, the pain they felt from another death felt just as raw and fresh as if it was their own child's death. "OK, YA RUNTS! GET IN THERE!" Everyone turned to see Killow throw a few stray workers into the crowd. Now he faced them all along with Ultra Violet, General Cryptor, General Kozu, and a small assortment of their forces.

"You are probably wondering why you are all here."

Within the crowd, a weak voice cried out. "Oh no! They're going to kill us!"

The four generals let out a laugh at the reaction. "No, no no… This is much worse! Cryptor?" As the Big Man turned to the Nindroid General, he was beamed up to the Garmatron II with the other Dark Army forces until it was just the Cryptor. Before anybody could even move closer to understand what was happening, Cryptor pressed a button on his wrist, and a small energy wave blew from a machine behind him throughout the crowd just as he was beamed up.

Now, every single worker stood in place, their muscles frozen, eyes white, and their minds adrift in a different reality as their energy was slowly being drained. Across the realm, in every other work camp and mine, the resident Dark Army forces repeated this process until every single citizen of Ninjago besides The Dark Army and the resistance was subject to the Prime Protocol.

With the others down in the cave doing as Lloyd ordered, the four from the original crew of Ninja stood outside the entrance of the Monastery, to the discomfort of Zane, Kai, and Cole. "Lloyd, we shouldn't be out here. We are too exposed."

The Green Sensei sat down in a cross-legged style by the edge of the tree, closing his eyes. "True, Cole. But when was the last time we all stood out here? When Jay was still with us? And besides, no Dark Army scouts have been in this area for days."

"Precisely! They are overdue, and could be here at any moment!" The Master of Ice's logic did not seem to cut through the serene moment Lloyd was intent on having. "If they do come, we have the high ground. We can hide before anyone spots us. Now sit."

The other three did as instructed, sitting in a similar fashion as Lloyd and breathing in the cool air, staring at the dark sky from thousands of miles away. Even Kai had to admit that the quiet was a nice change of pace from how they have been going about their days since the Overlord took over. "I missed this. Reminds me of-" He couldn't say the name, but they all knew he meant Wu.

"Yes, we all miss our Sensei, brother. But he is still with us, just as-AUGH!" Zane grabbed his head in a sudden pain, breaking the moment of peace as the other three turned and got up to approach him. "Zane, what is it? Is it your sixth sense?"

"I think... Something is wrong. As if the pain and anguish felt by the oppressed people of Ninjago just stagnated." The other three approached him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, but-" His eyes widened with realization. "I think they have Cyrus."

Kai grabbed Zane's shoulders. "WHAT? AND NYA AND RONIN?" The Nindroid shook his head. "No, I can't sense them... It's as if they've disappeared."

That didn't ease the Master of Fire. "Are you saying my sister is DEAD?!"

"NO! I would know if that were the case. I think... I think it has something to do with whatever Cyrus wanted to show us. I sense it." After a few moments, Kai let him go through heavy breaths. Lloyd nodded and looked to Cole.

"Alright, we need to prepare for anything. Cyrus has a strong mind, he won't break easily, but we can't be too sure. Cole, go down and tell the others to prepare for anything." The Master of Earth nodded and ran to the elevator, quickly boarding it.

"Zane, Kai, the three of us will stay up here and scout for any sign of-" The crackling sound of a portal forming overhead interrupted Lloyd midsentence. All three looked up to see the Garmatron II rapidly emerging through, floating overhead by a good few thousand feet.

"-Them."

Within the span of 1.0134 seconds, the portal closed behind the craft, the three Ninja started to run back towards the ruins of the monastery for cover, and the Garmatron II released a hellfire of Dark Matter ballistic missiles at the base of the mountain, laying waste to the foundation of the Monastery that stood for millennia since the creation of Ninjago.

BOOM. Please leave a review, I already have the next chapter written up (IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN SINCE I STARTED MY LAST STORY, THAT'S HOW LONG I'VE BEEN PLANNING THIS)

I will likely post it in a day or two so that I do not overwhelm you.