A/N: *slides this across the table* *leaves*
Lloyd ran like mad through the forest underbrush until his lungs were aching for air, but he never slowed down. It felt like an eternity before he could see the gigantic four-armed mech looming between the trees, the drill mech in its hand.
"Let them go!" Lloyd screamed. A curling ball of green energy shot out of him, as if he was too small to contain it, and knocked the black mech backwards.
The driller fell from its grip and collapsed on a huge fallen tree. Lloyd could hear his friends yell on impact, but then the cabin roof slid open and they were all free.
Just like that, it was quiet. The four-armed mech lay on its back on the ground, a sparking mess of metal. Lloyd panted and sprinted the last few yards out of the trees and into the clearing, brushing a large palm leaf out of his face on the way.
"Lloyd, be careful!" Nya shouted from the driller.
Lloyd stole a glance up at her. She and the others looked worried and a little battered, but safe. It was Lloyd who stood between them and the mass of smoking, zapping metal.
Lloyd clenched his jaw behind the ninja mask and glared down the collapsed mech. If his father wanted to get to them, he'd have to go through him first.
The four-armed man seemed tiny, stumbling out of the wreckage, coughing and wheezing. Lloyd felt his glare grow hotter. He didn't buy this for a second. The dark lord had threatened Lloyd's friends and failed. Now it was the green ninja's turn.
Lloyd stepped toward him. Garmadon did the same.
"Holy canoli," Jay cried somewhere behind him, "Lloyd and Garmadon in a face-off! Take the shot, Lloyd!"
"He's vulnerable!" shouted Cole.
"Do not hesitate!" That was Zane.
"Strike now!" And Kai.
Lloyd was within a few yards of the man, now. He stole a glance back at his friends for a moment, then turned back towards their enemy.
Garmadon wheezed, coughing so hard that he stumbled. One pair of arms clutched his chest as if he was injured.
He hurt them, Lloyd tried to remind himself. He hurt them. If you let him go, he'll hurt them worse. He'll take over the world. You have to stop him. You have to stop this.
Why couldn't he convince himself?
"I'm sorry, Father." Lloyd pushed his voice lower. "You leave me no choice."
Dad—no, Garmadon coughed and sputtered, dragging himself to a halt in front of Lloyd.
"It is our destiny," Lloyd went on.
Your destiny, he repeated to himself.
He summoned the ball of green energy, willing it to grow larger, larger between his hands. It had been difficult the first time, but now it was almost harder the second, sort of like holding back the flow of a pressure hose with two fingers and like releasing it at the same time. The ball grew bigger and brighter until it was almost the size of Lloyd's chest.
And then—then—Lloyd made the mistake of looking up.
The green light reflected in the surface of Garmadon's red eyes for a split second before he lowered his head.
Lloyd couldn't do it.
The green ball collapsed with a woosh, leaving Lloyd panting.
No. He didn't want to do it this way. He wanted to solve this without hurting his father. Was this what unlimited power was for? For killing people? For causing more hurt?
There had to be a better way. They could return the helmet to the clock, they could stop his army...something. Just not this.
Not this.
Garmadon looked up, blinking. Surprise shone heavy in those red eyes.
"No, what is he doing?" groaned Jay.
"They're coming," cried Misako in a little panic.
Sure enough, the shouts of the stone warriors came through the trees, followed by the hulking black figures themselves and their mechs.
Lloyd felt his eyes widen. He'd lost his chance. Reinforcements were here.
And Garmadon...he laughed. A bone-chilling cackle, like Lloyd had done exactly what he'd wanted. Lloyd stared at him, frozen in place.
"Lloyd, we need to move!" shouted Misako.
"The clock is not too far from here!" shouted Nya.
Lloyd turned and stared at the oncoming tanks for a moment. This was bad. This was...not undoable. If they could just outrun them...yes...yes!
"Okay!" he yelled back, and ran back towards the driller.
Maybe it wasn't too late.
Uncle Wu was already at the clock before they arrived. It sat high on a rocky cliff, and it was huge—as high as a building, and round like a globe. Planets and stars on fixed tracks circled around the central, purple-faced clock like a huge golden mobile.
Lloyd would have almost thought the ancient machine was awesome, if he didn't know what it was for.
The next few minutes were a frantic blur as they played hot potato with the helmet all over the mobile, trying to find a resting place for the helmet before the stone army showed up. The clock's ticking rang loud in Lloyd's ears.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
His mom found the resting place on a peg at the center, just below the clock itself.
Tick, tock.
She slammed it down.
Tick...
The gigantic mobile ground to a halt.
And then, it started back the other way.
A loud howl like tornado sirens, but worse, blared through the sky.
"The Horns of Destruction!" cried Misako. "We're too late!"
A sickly yellow beam of light bounced between the planets and shot over the cliff into Garmadon's camp, where it landed with a bright white flash.
The stone army, by that time, had arrived. Lloyd couldn't think or feel a thing as he and his friends and family were pushed back to the edge of the cliff.
The edge fell. Most of them went down with it.
Most of them.
The last thing Lloyd saw was Nya in the grip of a stone warrior, standing on the cliff and screaming down after them, before they hauled her away and she disappeared.
They failed.
He'd failed.
He felt numb.
tbc...
A/N: I might have some more time than usual to write this week. We shall see.
Reviews are...uh...hm. I'm blanking right now. Reviews are not this train wreck of events.