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piperchu · 8 years ago

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Two Shades of Green (unfinished)

Finally, here it is! What I have of Two Shades of Green, the fourth chapter of my Day of the Departed rewrite. I think this is probably my favorite one, and the one I enjoyed writing the most. It’s actually the first completely original chapter in my DotD rewrite, and I’m quite proud of it. Go ahead and read!

Episode 4

Two Shades of Green

Morro and Lloyd were finding it very hard to live in the same establishment. Sometimes they would acknowledge one another’s presence, sometimes they would completely ignore each other. And other times they would be at each other’s throats.

It was three days after Morro joined, and he and Lloyd hadn’t fought all morning, which was a record. They basically ignored each other at breakfast, though.

After everyone finished eating, Sensei stood up. “I am going out to get a few bags of tea. I trust you all to be good while I am gone. Try to work in some training.”

“Yes Sensei,” everyone responded.

About a half an hour later, after Sensei had left, the Ninja went out onto the deck to train. They didn’t use their powers, deciding to give them a rest for today. Instead, they practiced with weapons. When they split into groups though, Kai and Nya were quick to pair up. The same happened with Jay and Zane.

Which left Lloyd with Morro. Neither of the two seemed very happy about this.

As training went on, Lloyd quickly learned that Morro had a very agressive fighting style. His moves with his sword were quick and seemed like they were driven more by anger.

“Morro, this is only training,” Lloyd reminded the ghost.

“Spoken like your father,” Morro scoffed.

Lloyd stopped fighting and took a step back. He narrowed his eyes at his new teammate. “Exactly what is that supposed to mean, Morro?”

The other Ninja paused their training. All eyes turned toward the the former enemies. They could almost feel the tension of the past few days coming to a climax.

“What do you think it means, Lloyd?” Morro snapped back.

For a moment, Lloyd did nothing but look at Morro with a neutral face. Then, all of a sudden, it twisted into a snarl. “I’m tired of taking your crap! This ends now!” he shouted. The green ninja created two balls of energy in his hands and threw them at Morro in pure fury. The ghost dodged the attack and summoned a gust of wind that knocked Lloyd down.

“Lloyd! Morro!” Zane tried to intervene. “Sensei wouldn’t want-”

“STAY OUT OF THIS!” the two ninja screamed at the nindroid. With that, the fight began.

Morro made the first move. He turned the breeze in the air into a powerful gale and sent it in Lloyd’s direction. Lloyd plunged his sword into the deck and held onto it in order stay standing. When the wind stopped, Lloyd took out the sword and pointed it at Morro.

“You came back saying you’ve changed. That you’d no longer be chasing after being the green ninja. But I haven’t seen a single change in you!” he accused Morro, and their two swords clashed and clanged.

“I’m tired of you all playing favorites!” Morro shot back. “Of you excluding me! You never trust me! I’m sick of it!”

“We don’t trust you because you haven’t given us a reason to!” Both ninja turned into their spinjitzu tornados, Lloyd’s a bright shade of green and Morro’s a darker one. The twisters crashed into each other and merged, forming a new tornado twice as large, and such a dark green it was almost black. The other ninja watched in terror as it began to rip up the boards on the deck. The sky darkened, and the Bounty groaned.

It may have gotten worse if Sensei had not returned at that very moment atop his dragon, looking furious.

“STOP!” he cried. Lloyd and Morro fell out of the destructive tornado and onto the deck. Sensei’s dragon roared and breathed out a mist that repaired the ship. The sky lightened again. All returned to normal. Sensei then canceled his dragon and approached the two ninja who were responsible. “Lloyd, I need you in my room, now,” he ordered.

“But Sensei, Morro-” Lloyd protested.

“Now.”

Lloyd fell silent and followed Sensei inside, but gave Morro a look as he passed the wind ninja.

Morro walked down the hall to Sensei’s room, where he’d been told by Kai to go. He slid open the door and saw the teacher sitting on the floor with some tea, waiting for him, but he was surprised to see a scowling Lloyd in there too.

“What’s he doing here?!” Morro burst.

“I’m glad you were able to make it, Morro,” Wu said calmly. “Please sit down.”

“I thought this was supposed to be a private talk!” the ghost continued to protest.

“You were mistaken. It is time for the two of you to settle your debts. Sit, please.”

Even though he was tempted to run out of the room, Morro slowly sulked over to a spot on the floor and sat down, making sure he was a good distance from the green ninja. Lloyd narrowed his eyes at him. He glared back.

If Sensei had noticed the silent exchange, he didn’t show it. “Now, my students,” he addressed them both, “Do you know what a Tornado of Chaos is?”

Both students were silent. Sensei took that as a sign for him to continue. “It is a spinjitzu tornado that is essentially the opposite of the Tornado of Creation. Instead of being driven by teamwork and trust, it is fueled by separation and hate. If it is strong enough, it can tear apart a whole building.” He took a sip of tea. “The Tornado of Chaos the two of you created by combining your spinjitzu wasn’t strong enough to do that, but it did some damage. Now, I want to hear what exactly happened between you two to create such a forbidden martial art. One at a time, please. Lloyd, you first.”

“Sure, Lloyd’s always first,” Morro grumbled.

Lloyd stood up. “Okay, I’ve had enough of your smart-”

“Lloyd,” Wu interrupted. His tone was still calm, but the sternness was there.

“Sorry, Sensei.” The green ninja sat back down.

“I know you two hate each other,” the teacher acknowledged, “but that cannot change the fact that you are now brothers. You must realize the fact that you must find peace with each other. You two have more in common than you think.”

“In common? What do we have in common?” Morro asked with disbelief.

“You both are strong-willed. You hold your values close to heart. You have strong opinions. And although your goals may be very different, you will work very hard towards them. Apart, you are capable of creating chaos. But united, your potential for greatness will be unlimited.”

Both Morro and Lloyd were silent for a moment. Finally Lloyd said, “Sensei, I’m not so sure about that. How can we be ‘great’ when sometimes we can’t stand being in the same room?”

“Have you tried working together on something, nephew?”

“Well… no.”

“Then how can you be so sure that you can never get along?” Lloyd remained silent. Wu took a sip of tea. “I am not asking you two to become best friends. I am asking you to find peace with one another. Lloyd, I want you to accept that Morro is now your brother. Morro, I want you to accept that Lloyd is your brother. I know you two can do it. You are both very capable students.” He took another sip of tea. “Which is why I am sending you two as a team to fight Pythor.”

“WHAT?!” both students cried in shock.

“Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough. The two of you will be fighting Pythor together. I have complete faith in you. You are dismissed.”

“But Sensei! He possessed me!”

“He’ll be unbearable!”

“ENOUGH!” Sensei shouted. The two students winced and fell silent. They’d pushed Sensei past his breaking point. “This rivalry between you two must stop! It has gone on for too long! Find a way to work together or the two of you will be training all day, every day for a month! Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Sensei.”

It was nighttime by the time Lloyd and Morro had flown all the way to the Mountain of a Million Steps. The two canceled their dragons and landed at the mouth of the hole that served as the entrance to the caves. When they had lowered themselves down the rope and landed on the stone platform below, they removed their masks and looked around.

“Seems quiet,” Morro observed. “Do you think they left?”

“Not likely,” Lloyd answered. “The reports said that Pythor and the snakes he managed to convert were spotted coming here and hadn’t been seen leaving. They’ve got to be here.”

“This is an empty room! Where would they be?” Morro shot back impatiently as Lloyd just walked over to one of the paintings on the wall. “Are you even listening to me?”

Lloyd just looked back at Morro with a flat expression, then pressed a spot on the wall behind him with his elbow. Immediately a door slid open in the wall. Lloyd smirked at the ghost. “Having been dragged around Ninjago by the snakes when I was a kid, I kinda know a thing or two about all of their lairs. Let’s go.” With that, Lloyd led the way down the tunnel, with Morro sulking behind.

They eventually came to a large room that had steps leading down to the bottom. The two ninja peered over the edge at the snakes down below. Lloyd spotted Pythor and pointed him out to Morro.

“I know Lloyd well,” Pythor was telling his cronies. “He will surely come here to confront me.”

“I’m not ssssso sssssure, Pythor,” the other snake fretted. “He hassssssn’t come yet. It’sssss been three dayssssss and ssssstill we’ve got no sssssssign of him.”

“He will come!” Pythor shouted back and banged his staff against the ground. The other snake cowered in fear. “Now if you know what’s good for you, you’ll go back to your post now!” The minion yelped and fled to another part of the cavern.

“So they’re expecting us,” Morro whispered. “You think we should turn around and try again another time?”

“No, we’re already here!” Lloyd refused. “We might as well give it a shot!”

“But what if something goes wrong? We’re far outnumbered. And Pythor seems like he really wants to kill you.”

Lloyd gave Morro a meaningful glare. “You know very well that I’ve been in worse situations than death, Morro.”

“You think what I did to you was worse than death?! Come on!”

“When you’ve been through as much as I have, sometimes you wonder how it might feel to finally be away from all the pain for good.”

“You’re not the only one whose life has been less than pleasant.”

The two were quiet for a moment before Lloyd broke the silence. “Let’s just get this over with,” he muttered. “Now isn’t the time for this conversation.”

“Wait a second, where’d Pythor go?” Morro had just noticed that the white snake was gone. In fact, it seemed that while they were talking, the room had suddenly become empty.

“Crap, did they see us?” Lloyd whispered. He took out his sword and started quietly down the steps. Suddenly there was a rumbling sound beneath their feet.

Then the snakes appeared. It happened so fast, Morro was unable to help. One second, Lloyd was surrounded by constrictai, the next second they were all gone, having burrowed back into the floor with Lloyd.

“Hey! Stop!” Morro shouted down the hole, but he couldn’t see them anymore. At first Morro was too stunned to think. Then dread settled in. He couldn’t follow those snakes, so there was no chance of getting Lloyd back. If he came back to the Bounty without Lloyd, the others would blame him and he’d never be able to make it up. On the other hand, Morro had no idea where the snakes were taking Lloyd. The computer at the Bounty would probably be of help, but again, there was no way he could go back without the green ninja. For the first time in a long time, Morro had no idea what to do.

Well, staying here won’t do any good, he thought, and with a bit of guilt, he left back down the tunnel where they’d come. Once he was in the first room, he sat down on the platform to think. The only thing Morro could think of doing was calling the other ninja on his radio. They’d still blame him, but at least he wouldn’t have to face them yet. He took a deep breath and called in. “Morro to Destiny’s Bounty, do you copy?”

At first there was no answer. Then he heard Kai’s voice. Great. Of all the people to answer him, it had to be the one who was going to be the most upset.

“We hear you Morro. Did you capture Pythor?”

Morro hesitated. How was he supposed to say this? “No, we didn’t,” he began. Then he braced himself. “And, they took Lloyd.”

“WHAAAAT?!”

Morro pulled back from the device as Kai roared through the line. “How could you let this happen Morro? You two were supposed to work together!”

“I wasn’t trying to lose him!”

“Morro, what happened?” Great. Now Sensei was there.

“He lost Lloyd!” Kai yelled.

“Stay where you are, Morro. We’ll pick you up and begin searching for Lloyd.”

Great. That was exactly what Morro didn’t want to happen. “No, Sensei. It’s my fault he’s gone. I’m going to find him, alone.”

“Morro! No! Don’t-” But Morro turned the device off. He had a ninja to find. And since it was the snakes who took him, he might know where to look...

This felt like the one hundredth time Lloyd had been locked up. At this point it was ridiculous. Why in Ninjago was it ALWAYS him who got captured? Sure, he’s the green Ninja, but you’d think the bad guys would have a different target at least once. This time, he was in a cell in Ourobouris, chained to the wall with vengestone chains. No point trying to break them with his powers.

Suddenly two Constrictai henchmen opened the door and unlocked his chains. Immediately they took hold of both his arms with iron grips. “Don’t try anything, greenie,” one warned, as he snapped vengestone cuffs on his wrists. With that, he was led out of the cell.

He was led through many dark hallways until they reached a doorway. When they went through it, Lloyd found himself outside in the arena. It was dusk. As soon as he was out in the open, there were cheers from the Serpentine henchmen in the stands. In the center of the arena was Pythor, who was looking particularly pleased with the situation. The Constrictai let him go and quickly left for the stands. As soon as they were gone, Lloyd made a break for it, but just before he reached the edge of the arena, spikes rose out of the ground up to the height of his chest, blocking his escape.

“You’re not leaving, Lloyd,” Pythor called over to him. “Tonight you and I battle for the last time! A Slither Pit fight for the ages!”

“Then let’s make it a fair fight!” Lloyd yelled back, turning to face his enemy. “Take off these chains!”

“Maybe you never knew this, but there are no rules in the Slither Pit. We don’t have to fight fair!” Pythor explained. The crowd laughed at Lloyd’s cluelessness. Lloyd narrowed his eyes. If Pythor wasn’t going to fight fair, fine. But the green ninja had an iron will and determination to match. He wasn’t backing down.

“Now let the fight begin!” Pythor announced.

Lloyd knew he had to get rid of the chains, fast. He looked around and saw the spikes. He pressed the links against the other side and pulled hard. Thankfully the link wasn’t very strong, and snapped in half. Now he could fight with both hands.

“Clever,” Pythor mused, “but the cuffs are still on you. No powers!”

“Then I’ll just have to do without them!” With that, Lloyd ran at Pythor. The anacondrai disappeared. Lloyd stopped and closed his eyes, trying to rely on his other senses. He thought he could hear something to the right. He gave a mighty kick in that direction, and his foot met the invisible snake. Pythor howled and abandoned that strategy. They continued to fight with their fists, until suddenly the Departed Serpentine staff was thrown to Pythor from the crowd. The anacondrai caught it.

“Oh dear, what shall you do now?” he sneered.

This was a turn in the tide. Pythor now had a weapon, and Lloyd was unarmed. The green ninja was forced to resort to dodging the swinging staff.

“Just think, Lloyd,” Pythor said, continuing his attacks, “at least you’ll get to see your father again, once this is over!”

“I don’t intend to see him for a while, Pythor,” Lloyd shot back, ducking a particularly powerful swing. He knew he couldn’t go on like this forever, though. He was beginning to get tired. Even worse, Pythor seemed to notice. His attacks became more vicious. Finally, Pythor succeeded in hitting Lloyd on the head.

The green ninja fell to the ground, clutching his head. The serpentine crowd cheered. Pythor approached the fallen ninja with a look of triumph. “You know,” he said, “If you had never released me, none of this would have happened in the first place. When you see your father, do tell him I said hello.”

But just as Pythor held the staff above his head for the killing blow, the wind suddenly picked up. It gained speed, and began to howl. Many snakes in the crowd lost balance and fell.

“What’s going on?” Pythor shouted. Just as he finished his question, the wind knocked the staff out of his hands. It flew through the air - and was caught by Morro.

“Guess I’m late for the party!” he snarked, pulling out his sword.

“You!” Pythor shouted above the gales. “I thought you were an enemy of the Ninja too!”

“Let’s just say I’m well known for my acting skills. Now back away from the green ninja, or you will wish you had.”

“Get him!” Pythor commanded.

Snakes flooded into the arena. Morro thought fast. He needed to cut Lloyd free from those cuffs. What was strong enough to break them?

Constrictai.

Morro turned to one of the black snakes and dove inside it. The snake shuddered as the ghost took control. Once Morro had adjusted himself to the body, he ran at the green Ninja. Lloyd tried to fend him off, apparently thinking he was just another snake. “Easy, Lloyd, It’s me!” Morro told him. Lloyd’s eyes widened as Morro grabbed the vengestone cuffs and squeezed them. Under the stong pressure, the cuffs broke.

“I would have preferred you to go about that in a different way,” Lloyd said pointedly as Morro left the snake, who immediately ran away screaming.

“Good to see you too,” Morro responded in a disgruntled tone. “Now let’s beat these snakes.”

Note: A battle was supposed to ensue here, in the middle of which Lloyd gets hit with modified Venomari venom. This makes him think that he is Fritz Donnagan, and Morro is Commander Kiplin. After Morro and Lloyd win the battle, antics ensue, in which Lloyd is bumbling around hallucinating, exasperating Morro. Morro calls the Bounty and they are rescued by the other Ninja. We now pick up with Lloyd and Morro arriving back on the ship.

“Lloyd!” All the other Ninja ran toward the green ninja and hugged him.

“Ah, my crew! What have I missed?” Lloyd asked loudly.

Everyone looked at Lloyd, clearly confused by the green ninja’s behavior, and Morro realized he hadn’t told them about Lloyd’s state. “He was hit with a special Venomari venom and now he thinks he’s someone called Fritz Donnagan,” the ghost explained. “Any of you know who that is?”

Suddenly Jay’s eyes widened with understanding. He stepped forward and put an arm around Lloyd’s shoulders. “Captain! It’s great to see you’re back!”

“Thank you! Uh... what’s your name again?” Lloyd asked.

“I’m Doctor Stecks, remember?”

“Ah! Doctor!”

“Listen, Captain, you look a bit pale. Why don’t you rest for a bit? I’ll take you to your quarters.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I do feel a bit tired, now that I think of it.”

“Right then. Let’s go, Captain.” And with that, Jay led Lloyd back inside the ship, leaving most of the other Ninja staring after them with extremely confused looks. Only Nya seemed to look like she knew what had just taken place.

“Uh, Nya?” Kai asked. “What just happened?”

“Comic book nerdiness,” she answered, shrugging like it was no big deal. “Come on, it’s late and I’m tired too.” With that, Zane, Nya, and Kai walked back inside.

Morro was stunned. Then his eyebrows furrowed. His fists clenched. He’d just brought back their favorite ninja, and hadn’t even gotten a single ‘thank you.’ Was he invisible or something? Couldn’t they at least acknowledge the fact that he was there?

“Thank you, Morro.”

Morro jumped at the sudden voice. He turned and saw Sensei sipping tea behind him. “Sorry, Sensei, I didn’t see you,” he apologized.

“That is quite alright, Morro. Did you learn something from this mission? Something about teamwork, perhaps?”

Morro lowered his head. “Yes, Sensei. You were right. I can’t do things alone. And Lloyd and I weren’t that bad working together. We have our differences, but when we actually looked past them and worked as a team, some pretty good action came out of it.”

“I am glad you have decided to move on, Morro. Thank you for bringing back Lloyd. I see you are taking this second chance seriously.”

“What about the others? They didn’t seem very grateful.”

“They were caught up in the moment. I will make sure that they thank you, though. I believe you have taken a great step toward gaining their trust.”

“Thank you, Sensei.”

It had been two days since Lloyd had recovered from the Venomari venom. Morro still hadn’t gotten a thank you, and he was getting kind of salty about that. He opened the bedroom door, in search of his sword for training. He thought he might have left it under his bed. But as he made his way over to the bed, he saw something lying on top of the covers. It was a box wrapped in green paper. There was an envelope lying on top of it. Written on it in green ink were three words.

Read this first.

Curious though he was as to what the box contained, he resisted the temptation to open the package and instead opened the envelope. He began to read.

I owe you for getting me out of Orobouris. My thank you present is in the box. I know you probably really want to open it, but hear me out first. Sensei once told me that there is no black and white, only many different shades of gray. I didn’t really know what he meant until now. We shouldn’t be thinking that one of us is right and the other one is wrong. We should instead focus on understanding each other.

I know you wanted to be the green ninja. I think you still do. I wish I could help you there. But I can’t just give you the title.

But there is something I can give you. You don’t have an official gi like us yet, and I doubt you want to keep wearing that ripped up one. Here’s one I thought you might like. I don’t use it anymore. It was my first one.

-Lloyd

Morro almost turned to open the box when he stopped and looked at the note again. He read the last line more carefully.

It was my first one.

His first one...

His first one?

No…

It couldn’t be…

Morro carefully unwrapped the box. Slowly he opened up the lid. His jaw dropped. His hunch was right.

Folded neatly inside the box was his childhood dream. It was just like when he first saw it. The whole suit was emerald green. The chest was covered with silver and black stars. The center was parted to reveal the white undershirt. The belt was a darker green with a silver buckle. Morro blinked a few times to ensure he wasn’t dreaming. He wasn’t.

Lloyd had given him the original green ninja suit.

Morro lifted the gi out of the box. He held it out in front of him to get a good look at the whole thing, but something fell out of it. He laid the gi carefully down on the bed beside him and bent down to pick it up. It was a small piece of paper with one last message.

There’s more than just one shade of green. You’re welcome.

#tbh I am so proud of the last line #i love it #so much #DotD rewrite #my fanfiction #my writing #ninjago

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piperchu · 8 years ago

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DotD rewrite Episode 2: Night at the Museum

Here’s Episode 2! Enjoy!

Episode 2

Night At the Museum

Cole stepped back at the expression on Yang’s face. He looked furious. “You never should have played with dark magic, boy!” he exclaimed. “That was the Vase of Wicked Souls Past! You have awakened evil spirits who were imprisoned in the Departed Realm! Now, give me my weapon before you do any more damage!”

“I don’t think so!” Cole shouted back.

“I do! Seize him!”

Suddenly six ghost ninjas appeared out of nowhere. “What?!” Cole yelped before he was tackled by all of them. He felt the Yin blade leave his grasp. Yang’s students held him upright with a tight grip. One of them put handcuffs on him, and another handed the Yin blade to Yang.

“Now, Cole,” the teacher said, pointing the Yin blade at him, “you are going to hear the reason I called you here in the first place.”

Meanwhile, in the museum, one by one the villains awoke. First Samukai, then Chen, then Cryptor and Kozu, and finally Morro. All of them looked around at each other in total confusion.

“Huh? Uh, who are you all?” Samukai rasped.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Morro said, hopping off his pedestal and narrowing his eyes at the Skulkin suspiciously.

“I am Samukai! Skulkin general! Fearsome master of the dagger!” He looked at his hands. They were empty. “Uh, where are my daggers?”

“FEARSOME?” Kozu shouted. “You call yourself FEARSOME? I am fearsome! I am KOZU! DESTROYER of all foolish enough to challenge me!”

“Yeah?” Cryptor snarked. “So how am I not impressed?”

Kozu roared at the insult in his native language, but Chen interrupted. “But what has brought us back?” he asked. Then he saw he was sitting in a throne very much like his old one, with an array of buttons on the arms. “OOOH! BUTTONS BUTTONS BUTTONS!” he squealed with delight. He pushed a few, but nothing happened. “What?! My chair is fake?!”

“What is going on here?” Samukai questioned, ignoring Chen.

“Perhaps a better look around will give us some answers,” Morro mused. All the villains hopped off their pedestals and began to search for clues.

“Hey, look at these!” Samukai exclaimed, pointing at a case that contained various weapons. Although they were all different, they had one thing in common: they all had a green jewel on them. The others crowded around him. Morro began to read the description.

“‘These are Departed Blades. In the Dark Ages, they were said to be used by departed spirits. When a spirit’s living enemy was struck down by the blade, the spirit wielding it would be able to take their victim’s place among the living.’”

“I want THAT one!” Kozu shouted, pointing at a sword with jagged edges. Being made of stone, he easily shattered the glass case protecting the weapons with one punch. Each villain took a weapon. Kozu immediately snatched his chosen sword. Cryptor chose one that looked vaguely like a technoblade. Chen took what looked like an anacondrai sword. Samukai reached for an axe, and Morro grabbed a golden katana. Once they each had a satisfying weapon, the hunt for answers continued.

Eventually they came across a painting of a vase with green smoke swirling around it. Again Morro read the description. “‘The Vase of Wicked Souls Past was an ancient artifact created during the Golden Age. Legend says that the vase was enchanted by a sorceress to hold the souls of the wicked once they died. It is said that if released, these souls will find likenesses of their former selves and possess them to bring themselves back to life.’”

“So that’s what happened,” Samukai growled.

Back in the main room of the exhibit, Pythor entered through a side door. “Hm, Hall of Villainy?” he murmured. Looking up, he found nothing but empty pedestals. He scoffed. “Hah! More like Hall of Empty…ny.” Suddenly he heard something in the other room of the exhibit. Thinking it must be more interesting than this, he followed the sound of voices. On his way, he found a broken case that looked like it had housed weapons. He saw one was still left. It looked like one of the Serpentine general’s staffs. “Nice,” he said, and took it with him.

“So we all agree?” Chen asked the others. “We’ll use the Departed Blades to kill the Ninja and take their place among the living! Finally, we will have revenge!” All the villains cheered, except for Morro. He frowned and furrowed his brow, but quickly regained composure.

“Did someone say revenge?” Pythor asked, slithering in. “I want in.” Suddenly he saw the nindroid in the room. “Ah, Cryptor, my loyal friend! Haha!” Then he turned to Chen. The atmosphere between them turned cold. “Chen,” Pythor acknowledged.

“Pythor,” Chen returned the greeting.

“Oooh, frosty,” Kozu remarked.

Pythor looked around at the three villains he did not know. “And what might your names be?”

“Samukai,” the skeleton announced.

“KOZU!” the stone warrior shouted.

“Morro,” the ghost answered.

“A pleasure to meet you all. So, if we’re going to kill the Ninja, we’d better split them amongst ourselves,” Pythor suggested. “We don’t want to take them all on at once.”

“I call Zane!” Samukai blurted, throwing up two arms.

“No! He’s my clone!” Cryptor insisted.

“Technically, you’re his clone,” Pythor pointed out. Kozu, Samukai, Chen, and Cryptor began to fight. Morro just frowned again.

“Enough!” Pythor shouted above the fray. “Personally, I’d like to get this over with as soon as possible. I pick Lloyd! I got rid of the father, well, more or less. It’s finally time to get rid of the son!”

“I have a score to settle with Kai and Nya!” Chen claimed. “So they’re mine!”

“I’ll take Zane,” Cryptor decided.

The wheels in Morro’s head turned. He’d have to be careful about this. Strategic, purposeful. “Sensei Wu,” he finally said. “We left things… unfinished. I will settle our debt once and for all.”

“Ugh, that only leaves Jay,” Samukai groaned, looking at Kozu. “One ninja, but two of us. Okay, rock paper clip. ONE, TWO, THREE! ONE TWO…” Kozu just walked away. “That doesn’t seem to work.”

Kozu looked out the window and spotted Dareth. “I want HIM!” he shouted.

“Yes!” Samukai agreed.

“Then it’s settled!” Pythor announced. “Although, the Ninja won’t go easily. Perhaps we could use… some help?”

Cryptor looked at Pythor’s museum brochure. “The Hall of Sidekicks!” he offered.

“Haha! Convenient! Is it not?” Pythor chuckled. With that, Pythor, Cryptor, Chen, Kozu, and Samukai left the room, off to prepare for their confrontations. Morro, however, stayed where he was. He bit his lower lip, thinking hard. He considered his options. There was a lot to lose if he went through with his plan. Independence, control, self-determination, to name a few.

But this also might be his only chance for redemption.

Finally, he made up his mind.

Pythor turned around to find Morro hesitating. “Coming, my new friend?” he asked.

“You all go on ahead,” Morro told him. “I prefer to do things alone.”

Pythor considered Morro’s words. “Perhaps you have a point. I’ve seen the Hall of Sidekicks on my way here, and there were no serpentine. And I doubt any of the real serpentine will join me. Very well. We shall both go solo. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” With that, they parted ways.

Cole sat on the wooden floor, glaring up at Yang. “Alright then, Yang, why did you bring me here?” he snapped.

“I brought you here because you have been struggling amongst the living. You’ve been fading, losing control,” Yang explained.

“How do you know about that?”

“It is what happens to many ghosts when they remain among those with whom they do not belong. There are some ghosts who have enough control to dwell among the living, but for those who do not, they suffer.” Yang bent down so he was level with Cole. “Cole. You don’t belong with your friends anymore.”

“No way! I belong with them!”

“No, Cole. You don’t. You became a ghost here. You belong with us.”

“You want me to join you?! No! I’m never staying here!”

“Very well. If you will not join us out of your own free will, I will not stop you. However, I am not going to let you out.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll find a way out! You’ll see!”

“Take him to the basement,” Yang commanded one student. “He’ll stay there until he reconsiders.”

“When my friends see I’m missing, they’ll come for me!” Cole yelled behind him as the student led him away.

“See you’re missing? They’ve flat out forgotten you. Besides, you’ve caused quite a few problems for your friends,” Yang told him crossly. “They’ll be quite busy cleaning up the mess you made.”

Back in Ignacia, Kai and Nya were sitting on the couch, talking about the past month.

“I still can’t quite believe Dilara really thought Jay was Amir,” Kai said, reminiscing their last adventure in the Arabian Isles.

“Can you believe an evil Jinn thought I was Dilara?” Nya asked with a smirk. Kai chuckled. There was a small silence before Nya spoke again. “It feels strange, being back in our parents’ shop after all this time.”

Kai looked distant. “Nya, do you ever think we’ll find out what happened to them? You know, after they went away that day and never came back?”

Nya was about to answer when someone else outside did. “I could tell you,” it said. “But you’ve got bigger things to worry about!”

The siblings rushed outside to find Chen standing on the path with what looked like an anacondrai sword. “Chen?!” Nya gasped.

Kai ran back inside and got two katanas. He tossed one to Nya. “I don’t know how you’re back, but it’s two against one!” he warned.

“Is it?” Chen asked. From behind him flew in two anacondrai soldiers in Condrai Crushers. Kai and Nya readied themselves for battle.

In the Birchwood Forest, Zane was turning to leave, but a rumbling behind him made him turn back around. His father’s statue was crumbling! Zane stepped back in alarm. Finally it fell, and standing on top of it was none other than Cryptor, accompanied by three nindroids.

“Oops. Did I hurt your dear old dad?” he taunted. “Or should I say our dad?”

In the junkyard, Ed and Jay were sitting on the bench outside the trailer. “Edna, dear,” Ed called, “is that crumbcake ready yet? Jay’s starving!”

“I’m fine dad!” Jay assured him.

Ed laughed. “Well, I know, son, but I love your mother’s crumbcake!”

Suddenly there were yelps from inside the trailer. “Mom?” Jay asked nervously. The door swung open, and out came Samukai with his mother held above his head.

“Guess who’s back?” the skulkin general yelled as two skulkin underlings approached in mechs.

In the Corridor of Elders, Lloyd and Misako watched as the floating lantern flew up out of sight. “I know dad’s gone,” Lloyd said, “but sometimes I feel like he’s still with me.”

His mother smiled. “He is with you, Lloyd. Sometimes I look at you and see him when he was your age; you look so alike. But he’s not only in your face - he’s in your heart too.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

They turned to leave, but a movement in the rocks made them stop and look around. Then Lloyd spotted a familiar-looking snake. “Pythor?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”

“When we last met,” the anacondrai began, “I decided to help you and your father defeat Chen. Do you remember why?”

Lloyd thought back to that moment. “You… you said something about if anyone was going to take over the world, you’d rather it be you?”

“Precisely!” He pulled out a serpentine staff. “Time to finish the job!” Lloyd stepped back.

On the mountain where the monastery ruins sat, Wu looked up at the bright moon. The eclipse was growing closer. He remembered something his father had told him once. “An eclipse is always an omen,” he thought aloud. “But is this one of good, or bad?”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice whispered to him like a gust of wind. “Bad,” it breathed. “Bad. Bad. Very bad.”

Wu knew that this was no wind.

It was the one who controlled it.

Cole was led down the many hallways and down staircases by one of the ghost ninja. He knew he had to get out of there. “So, uh, I didn’t get your name,” Cole said to his escort.

No answer.

“Okay, then. I’ll just call you-”

“Chuck,” the ninja told him in a quiet voice.

“Oh, so you do talk! Well, listen, Chuck. I know Yang’s your master, but how can you be on his side? He’s evil!”

“Let me ask you something,” Chuck said. “What makes you think my Master is evil?”

“Well, he turned me into a ghost!”

“Look - Cole, is it? Yang wasn’t the one who turned you into a ghost. You were the one who stayed behind. Also- I’m not finished! Also, I wanted to come here. My parents wanted me to have a good martial arts education, and they were suggesting Sensei Wu. But I’d heard that he had a student that ran away.”

“Morro,” Cole put in.

“Was that his name? Anyway, I wanted to go somewhere else, and the other option at the time was Sensei Yang. My parents didn’t like him, because they heard shady things about him. Although my parents told me it was Sensei Wu or nothing, I left in the middle of the night and arrived here. Yang took me in gladly, and introduced me to all of his other students. I don’t mind the rule that we can’t leave, because I wouldn’t want to leave.”

Cole was speechless. He didn’t think anyone would want to stay there forever. But Chuck didn’t seem all that bad.

But he still had to get out of here.

“Well, it’s been nice getting to know you, Chuck,” Cole told the ghost ninja. Then before Chuck could respond, he broke free of his grasp and knocked him out. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta go help my friends,” he explained. With that, Cole ran back the way they came, determined to get out of here.

#dotd rewrite #my fanfiction #ninjago

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