"I've returned at last!"
The booming voice of Acronix spoke out into the vast ruins of The Monastery. Where once you could find the hopes and dreams of the current generation, in an endless quest for justice and heroism, The Hypnonbri had taken away the natural aurora of peace. The Monastery sat quietly, a reminder of the world that used to be Ninjago, now The Preeminent's hellscape. Acronix looked around, but saw nobody. He was half expecting to see Wu, one of his old rivals. Instead, he was greeted with the silence of a fight that was never finished. Acronix had put off tomorrow what couldn't be done today. But tomorrow looked emptier and bleaker than when he had last seen Ninjago. Just as he was about to continue searching the ruins, he heard an aged, but familiar voice.
"Ah.. Brother. It is good to see you again." Krux stepped out of the shadows, no longer bearing the disguise of Dr, Saunders. The need for that front was no longer a concern, now that Ninjago City was an anarchist wasteland.
"Brother! Hmm. time hasn't served you well i'm afraid. I assume that means you weren't able to find the rest of The Timeblades?"
"Unfortunately not. But.. I feel the first will arrive within our clutches very soon."
Almost on cue, the sound of a swirling portal was heard. Acronix looked up, as he saw a green gauntlet descend from the heavens, dropping down to the ground, and piercing the old stone of The Monastery. As if time had skipped forward, Acronix felt himself shift positions ever-so slightly, as Krux seemed to have been explaining something.
"-And that's why we must siege The Cursed Realm!"
"What?"
"Oh.. Hmm. It seems that blades' temporal energy skipped my explanatory spiel. Oh well, at least we know it works. Go and fetch it, and I'll explain everything when we get back to base."
Acronix nodded, and ran over to The Timeblade, retrieving it, and walked Krux down the mountainside, as they boarded a land-vehicle. The large vehicle traveled to the outskirts of Ninjago City, where Acronix could see first hand the strange changes that had befallen it.
"Why is it surrounded in green fog brother?"
"Do you remember the realm they sent our enemies in The Serpentine War? Well, someone found a way to bring it into existence here, and so far, it's laid waste to the entire city. The Emperor and Empress of Ninjago died in its siege, and everyone else fled."
"Sounds chaotic! I can't wait to hear more!"
The vehicle entered a hidden passage, riding through the sewer, and making its way to Krux's hideout. Several Vermillion were being hatched at that very moment, as Acronix continued to marvel at the sights. Once they had parked, Krux jumped out and made his way to the control room. He was sad he wasn't able to capture Cyrus Borg, but he was equally happy that his two blacksmiths, Ray and Maya, had not escaped captivity, and still had no idea what had happened in the outside world. Krux sat down.
"Sit down brother! Enjoy all this new life has to offer. Well, most of it. It's gotten better now that technology is an idea of the past."
"Great!" Acronix sat down across from Krux, eager to hear of what had happened since he had been adrift in the timestream.
"A lot has changed brother.. To sum it up, there are now 4 groups that work against us. The Ghosts of The Cursed Realm, The Ninjago City Resistance, The Beckoners Of The Oni, and the refugees who settled The Dark Island. All of them stand against our takeover of Ninjago!"
Acronix stroked his light beard. Half of what Krux was saying made little sense. He was more interested in collecting The Timeblades, and finding a way to rule Ninjago. "So what's the plan? I see nothing but these orange and red snakes!"
"Simple. These snakes have been specially designed to wear Deepstone armor. It won't do much good against non-ghosts, but we still have units with the normal set. We will use our armies to seize back land, in preparation for the Time Blades arrival. Let me introduce you to my three Vermillion generals!"
On cue, three Vermillion walked into the room. Two red "females" and one orange "Male." Each of them wore a set of specially designed Deepstone Armor, with the express purpose of countering ghosts.
"These are Supreme Commanders Guanya, Qing, and Masami-"
"Wait a minute! Those aren't the names we came up with!"
"Yes, well, Raggmunk and Blunk got into an.. "Accident", and Machia was forced to switch sides. It's a long story, I'm afraid. But these new Vermillion will be able to lead with honor. And unlike the former three, all three of these Vermillion Warriors are loyal, clever, and useful."
"Then let us begin to scheme! It's been such a long time, brother!"
As the two began to catch up and go into detail, work began above-ground. It had been a year or so since The Preeminent had conquered Ninjago. While it did its best to expand, it slowly ran out of wildlife to curse. And by the time farms were created for the uncursed animals, in order to give The Preeminent a constant food source, it grew weak, longing for the souls of those who rested miles away on The Dark Island. Lloyds resistance, which had consisted of only himself, Khanjikhan, the mighty Djinn king, Machia, the Vermillion Commander who Khanjikhan wished to switch sides, and Morro. The semi-reformed villain, who had still not told Lloyd about Misakos death. Many more survivors had joined their cause since then. Servants from the former grand palace, officers who had stayed behind to help people evacuate, even a couple of The Elemental Masters joined. At least those who had not fled, or stayed in the shadows. The Resistance, with no populace to inspire, or colossus to fear, focused on one goal: Survive, and gain strength.
While it would've been easy enough for the resistance to use their massive amounts of rare artifacts, such as The Realm Crystal, Sword Of Sanctuary, and Djinnblade to hatch an elaborate plan to rescue Garmadon from The Cursed Realm, a new faction emerged. While it seemed they had similar views to The Ninjago Resistance, they made it clear from the start that their intention was to eradicate all who stood in their way. Known as The Beckoners Of The Oni, their group of gangsters and bikers rode through town at night, kidnapping ghosts and Resistance Members with crude Vengestone Shackles. Their leader, who was only known as "The Quiet One", was in reality a young girl named Harumi. While she appeared to make the large decisions, behind closed doors, The Overlord instructed her on what to do. Harumi found a new figure to idolize, as The Overlord's persuasive thoughts drilled into her head at night, creating a perfectly loyal puppet to use.
Tonight was like any other night. A strike team, led by Lloyd and Morro, were headed to The Police Office to search for old documents that could reveal the locations of several caches of Vengestone. Lloyd and Morro had become good friends. And while Lloyd still planned on holding Morro accountable for his actions, Morro had no intention of escaping punishment.
The two lead their team through alleys, down streets, and under bridges. Light chatter was exchanged.
"Ay boss! How come you're one of em' ghosts and you're helping us, eh?"
"Long story. And please.. Don't call me boss? It doesn't sound right." Morro replied to the random member. Lloyd didn't much care for being called "boss" either.
"Never thought i'd be in this position.. I was always 'The Green Ninja.' But I never actually did that much sneaking. It's kinda weird. Right Morro?"
"Beats me. You were Wu's student for longer. He trained you for stealth missions right?"
"Well yea, but that was before everyone knew about us. Now The Ninja aren't really Ninja anymore, just symbols. Good symbols, but still just that. We're too iconic to go unseen."
"I'm glad I still look so sharp all these years later! Imagine if I had stayed Wu's pupil. I'd be like forty in a group of teenagers."
Lloyd cringed at the idea of a forty-year old Morro being part of their group. The idea of him becoming a Ninja was appealing, but maybe, it was better this way. The Strike Team made its way into the parking lot, seeing glowing green light inside the HQ.
"Got some ghosts. Does everyone have their water ready?" Lloyd asked. The Strike Team held up their various water based weapons. Most had water-guns, or modified sledgehammers that were coated in water. Some of the higher-ranking members had Deepstone Spears, which they had salvaged from the upper layers of The Museum. It was too dangerous to wield a Deepstone weapon as a ghost, so Lloyd made the decision to intrust Morro with The Sword Of Sanctuary.
The Team Burst in, spraying down ghosts and scaring off the rest. They made their way through the building, before coming across a filing cabinet that contained what they were looking for. Just as they were about to make off with the files, they heard a muffled, scrambled voice call out to them from behind.
"Going somewhere?"
The Strike Team turned to see the owner of the voice. A humanoid figure in a black jumpsuit, with a large mask on. The mask had been painted over with black paint, with two white dots signifying where the eyes would have been, however, several bits of orange from the original mask could still be seen. This was The Quiet One. Nobody knew who they were, only that usually they kept to themselves, this being one of the exceptions.
"Quiet One! Still gonna refuse our offer? We could use you!"
"Sorry, green fool. I'm afraid our Vengestone supplies are running dry. Hand me the files, and we'll let you go."
"We?-"
Several more figures jumped in from windows and out of the shadows. Several of the high-ranking generals of The Beckoners were visible. Including Ultraviolet, the crazy biker with a ponytail, Kilo, the large beast who wielded the recently stolen Mask Of Hatred, Soto, former captain who had escaped Kryptarium before being loaded onto the ships, and Whiplash, a former Skulkin general who was good friends with Soto.
Morro smiled. While they were a troublesome group, he loved fighting them, especially The Quiet One. The two had a bit of a flirtatious relationship on the battlefield. Morro didn't even know the gender behind the painted Oni Mask, it just kind of worked.
"Great to see your goons, but I missed you the most, my quiet friend."
"The pleasures all mine, Morro. Why don't you hand over the files, and you might get to peek behind the mask?"
"Not a chance. But tempting offer."
"What a shame, what a shame." The Quiet One used the painted mask to launch several cabinets at The Strike Force, who all dodged out of the way, as the fight commenced. Kilo was gifted the second Oni Mask, as Harumi felt a four-armed menace of Kilos size would be a side to behold, and a valuable member of her gang. As fighting broke out, Kilo donned the red mask, gaining two large, meaty arms, and two large broadswords. Lloyd took on Kilo and Ultraviolet, The Strike Team took on the combined efforts of Soto and Whiplash, and Morro took on The Quiet One.
Lloyd summoned his green energy, as he used it to stun Kilo temporarily, dodging a strike from Ultra's knife.
"You'll get yours green-boy! YAHAHAHA!"
Quickly, he pulled out The Realm Crystal from his bag, as he used it to teleport away, just in time for Kilo to hit Ultraviolet by mistake.
"Oh- my bad."
Lloyd emerged into Djinnjago, as he looked around, and saw Caratakhan, the head of security, approach him.
"Greetings Master Lloyd. How goes the good fight in Ninjago?" He asked.
"Good! We're probably gonna need some more Djinn. Can you send some in with me?"
"Of course." Caratakhan called over a small group of Djinn Guards, as they followed Lloyd back into Ninjago. By then, The Strike Team was starting to be beaten, but the sight of Djinn brought hope back to their faces. While the odd rise in corruption and destructive forces prevented Djinn from granting wishes, their endurance was still as strong as ever, as the powered up Kilo started to fight the group. Lloyd continued to battle Ultraviolet, as Soto and Whiplash were beaten back. Soto fell to his back, as he looked out the window, and saw a giant group of ghosts approaching the HQ."
"Aye matey! We've been spotted!" Soto told Whiplash.
"Well don't tell me!? Tell The Quiet One!"
Soto signaled to Harumi, who took note, and prepared to jump out the window and back to their bikes, but not before giving Morro a sly look. Or at least a movement of the head that could be considered a "look", as the mask covered everything. Harumi, Kilo, Ultra, Soto, and Whiplash jumped out of the window, and into their bikes, luring the ghosts to their position, as they rode off into the fog. Lloyd used this chance to use The Realm Crystal to bring him and his allies to Djinnjago, which they were using as a home base.
"Good job guys. I'm kinda tired though, we can't wait to look at the files tomorrow." Lloyd said, walking over to his room.
"Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today Lloyd!" Morro joked. Lloyd rolled his eyes and closed the door, concluding another successful mission in the heart of Ninjago.
(On The Dark Island . . . )
"Nya?"
Nya was spacing out, staring at nothing in particular.
"I'll- give you a second then."
"Huh?" Nya broke from her stare. She looked into the eyes of Dr, Tonya, who looked slightly concerned. Nya steadied herself. "Sorry.. I haven't been getting good sleep lately."
"You've been saying that a lot. Should I prescribe you medication? You look like you could use it." Tonya had become her therapist ever since The Dark Island had been colonized. She cared greatly for her new friend, but was growing concerned with Nyas sleep schedule.
"No, no medication please.. It's just.. That dream again."
"Do you wanna talk about it? Has anything changed?"
"Of course not! It's just my creepy vision from before, except the man.. Trench Coat.. Whatever it was is gone. It just ends when Morro disintegrates."
"Dreams are often hard to decipher. Maybe we can ask your boyfriend?"
"Right.. Jay.." Nya was afraid to say it, but she had sort of fallen out of love with Jay. Her failure in Stix made her realize that she wasn't really comfortable with the pressure that came with having all eyes upon you. And being known only for being Jay's girlfriend didn't help matters. As it only meant people cared about her for even worse reasons. While she wanted to break up with him, she knew it'd be difficult. Tonya held her hand as they walked out of her office, and out into New Ninjago city.
The Dark Island was almost completely unrecognizable. Well, most of it was. Half of the island was left alone, as Wu feared it wouldnt be a wise idea to use all of the land right away. Most of New Ninjago consisted of small shantytowns, while the actual city was by the coast, and populated mostly by the displaced residents of Stix. The Ninja were considered honored heroes, and were given their own homes. Nya, Jay, and Kai lived together, while Cole and Wu shared a small home. Ronin lived in his new shop, and Zane lived with Cyrus Borg. Both of which had been trying to build P.I.X.E.L a new body, but were not having much luck with what they were given.
Tonya and Nya made their way to the club that they liked to frequent, and found Jay slumped over a chair, asleep, while Cole and Zane were playing a game of chess nearby. Not wanting to wake poor Jay, they made their way to watch. Zane was winning, but Cole was pretty angry.
"You know, I think you're cheating!" Cole said.
"Pardon?"
"You got P.I.X.E.L in your head to tell you whenever you're about to lose! I've lost four games!"
"Technically, if you wanted an assistant, you could've said so." P.I.X.E.L said from within Zanes mind. Zane nodded in agreement.
"Then- I choose- Jay! He's good at chess!"
Everyone turned to Jay, but he was still asleep. Cole pointed to Tonya next. "You! You're smart!"
Tonya frowned. "I'm a physician. While Ninjago laws allow people my age to be doctors, that does not mean we are required to master chess."
Cole looked to Nya, who just shrugged. "I guess I'm alone on this one. What did you guys want anyways?"
"Nothing much. I've been having that dream again!"
"That is suspicious. Perhaps it is not a simple dream like previously suspected, but some sort of premonition of times to come?" Zane theorized. Truthfully, he wasn't very skilled in such matters.
"If it's a premonition, we should talk to Mr, Wu. Er- sorry.. Master Wu. I forgot he gets grumpy when I call him Mr." Tenya said.
The two prepared to leave again, when suddenly, without warning, they found themselves outside the club without warning. Cole and Zanes' game had magically progressed significantly, and Jay was now awake.
"Mmh! Morning guys! What'd I miss?"
"To tell the truth, I have no idea." Cole said.
"Im detecting several waves of Temporal Energy coming from deep into Ninjago Island. This is highly irregular. Perhaps Morro and his army are attempting to use Tommorows Tea?" Zane theorized again. None of them knew that Morro had switched sides. But even if Morro and Lloyd tried to use The Realm Crystal to enter The Dark Island, it wouldn't work, as the island had a natural immunity to Creation.
Wu stroked his beard outside, as Nya looked around in confusion. "Master Wu- what just happened?"
"... He is here."
