"Gah!" exclaimed Karlof as he narrowly dodged a ball of Dark Magic thrown by Garmadon.
The Resistance was quickly losing ground and it seemed that there would be no assistance coming from the other half who were dealing with their own perilous situation at the moment. The citizens, though valiant in their efforts, could not hold strong against the brutal bikers. Most had safely retreated by now.
As the Master of Metal swooped low on his Elemental Dragon, he called out to Fire and Water Ninja's parents, "Get them out of here!"
It was no good, Garmadon was wearing them all down, even with the help of the few brave civilians that remained. It was best to get them away before Garmadon's death count could be raised even higher. Not to mention, despite dispatching many bikers, more and more kept jumping into the fight.
Ray and Maya pushed back against the tangle of gang members on the ground while the skirmish against Garmadon raged in the air. Together, they cut a clear escape route for the remaining civilian fighters.
Emperor Garmadon furiously fought the three pesky Elementals who kept attacking him with their vile dragons. Down below, his pitiful underlings had yet to take out any of the Resistance members.
Still, he noted with smugness that the Elemental Masters' attacks were weakening. Despite expending more energy than he would like to admit, their strikes did little good against his Colossus and they were wearing down far quicker than he was. However, some of their strikes occasionally hit a bit too strong and too close for comfort.
He steadily advanced, forcing the Masters to give up ground. A dangerous glint shone in his eyes as he recognized each of the Elements they wielded. Metal, Poison, and Time. Yes, they would be quite useful to him, but the Master of Metal was quite frustrating as he had destroyed most of his underlings firearms, making it more difficult for his goons to finish the job.
As the Resistance was pushed back another block, Karlof knew they couldn't hold out much longer so he ordered Griffin, "Get Lloyd out of Tower now!
Griffin began immediately rushing toward Borg Tower when he was suddenly halted by an invisible force. His surprise caused his Elemental Dragon to disappear from underneath him. He screamed as he plummeted toward the concrete streets below.
Miraculously, Tox intercepted his fall just in time, but it was a rough landing for both of them. Griffin only had time to gasp out a small, "Thanks," before the two of them stood, having to stare up at the most muscular man Griffin had ever seen.
Killow stared down at the two Elemental Masters. The Mask of Deception glowed intimidatingly on his face. He gave a cruel chuckle, raising his hand and using the Mask's magic to slam Tox and Griffin into a wall.
The Master of Speed was quick to leap to his feet despite the pain. He immediately tried to take the offensive, but quickly found that his jabs and kicks did little good against the giant general.
Killow scoffed at the weak blows and timed the Elemental Master's attacks, suddenly lashing out and landing a hard blow against his opponent. Griffin was thrown back a few good lengths and crumpled to the ground, biting back a pained groan. That had definitely left a mark.
With the Mask of Deception, the giant biker toyed with the Master of Speed a bit more, harshly slamming and throwing him around. Finally, he advanced, ready to finish Griffin off when Tox viciously attacked him with a poison cloud. Smartly, he held his breath so as not to inhale in the toxic fumes. His eyes began to burn and tear up though, so he used the Mask of Deception to chuck the Master of Speed into the Master of Poison for a second time.
The Elemental Masters were fast to leap to their feet, both assuming battle stances against the Sons of Garmadon general.
"Go!" hissed Tox lowly to Griffin. She kept her eyes trained and glaring at the giant biker.
"But–"
"Now."
Griffin sprinted towards Borg Tower, gritting his teeth against the throbbing in his side. Adrenaline, fear, and pure will pushed him to keep putting one foot in front of the other. He could only hope the others could hold back Garmadon long enough for him to help the others escape.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harumi glowered at Lloyd and his feeble "Resistance." How? How could they still fight back?
"Attack!" she roared to her gang, and they closed in around the handful of rebels.
She hated Lloyd's confident expression as he leaped into action. Nya's Spinjitzu coupled with Lloyd's Ninja mastery was downing bikers left and right.
Somehow, despite the Sons of Garmadon's greater numbers, the close range combat worked in favor of the Resistance as none of the bikers could fire randomly into the mass without striking one of their own. Thus, the battle had to be one of skill rather than a bloody firearm massacre.
Pixal struck with precision. Her best option was to freeze the floor since she wasn't particularly skilled with wielding Zane's Element yet. Unfortunately, she forgot account for the invisible members with them so Mr. Pale suddenly slipped on the icy floor, bowling over a few Sons of Garmadon.
Skylor was quick to aid the Master of Light and melted the Ice before any more of the Resistance fell. She began fighting back to back with Samurai X, giving her pointers on how to control and utilize her newly received Element.
Nya found herself going up against the purple-clad general. Despite not having any powers whatsoever, Ultra Violet was still a formidable opponent. It frustrated the Water Ninja that for some reason, Spinjitzu did not effectively dispatch the wild biker.
Every so often, Llloyd would catch a glimpse of Harumi through the tangled horde. She didn't even engage in battle, she just stood there, watching everything through scowling eyes.
A shot rang out and for a heart-stopping second, everyone froze. Both sides were trying to decipher who shot and who got shot. Eventually, everyone's gazes drifted over to the entrance of the Tower where the haggard form of Griffin stood. In his shaking hands, he held aloft a smoking rifle that he had just fired.
"G-Garmadon's coming," he announced breathlessly. His voice carried well in the expansive lobby.
The news had different effects for both sides. The Resistance increased their struggles to escape, now panicking to flee before Garmadon arrived. They were far from ready for a confrontation like that. The Sons of Garmadon doubled their fighting efforts as well. Harumi was furiously shouting orders at them to not let the Resistance flee.
Now, the Quiet One joined in the fight. She went for the closest enemy which happened to be the Master of the Mind. When she drew near to him, she heard a strange voice in her head say warningly, 'Don't do this.'
The Elemental Master was preoccupied with fighting some other bikers, so he didn't notice her presence until she pounced. Still, he managed to turn his Element on her.
Memories and painful flashbacks clouded Harumi's mind, but she refused to let herself succumb to old mental scars and pushed back against his power. As she was a better physical fighter, she soon bested Neuro.
The battle ground to a halt once more at the sound of her voice. "Make another move and he dies!" She held a katana against Neuro's throat. "Surrender now."
She scanned the Resistance fighters who had been just steps away from escaping. She tightened her hold on the Master of the Mind, hissing, "All of you."
The Masters of Light and Shadow materialized unhappily.
Hesitantly, the Resistance followed Lloyd's lead as he dropped his weapon. The Green Ninja glared furiously at Harumi as the Sons of Garmadon closed in to shackle them.
The white-haired girl smirked in triumph. That was Lloyd's downfall. He was just too naïve and soft-hearted. He still didn't grasp the idea of sacrificing a few men to win the war. Unlike her, he was weak.
Pixal daringly stepped towards the exit.
"I will kill him," threatened Harumi.
"No, I don't think you will," replied Samurai X sassily.
The Quiet One's eyes narrowed dangerously as she let the blade lightly cut into Neuro.
The Resistance stared at the Samurai in utter shock and disbelief. Why was she willing to just sacrifice Neuro like that?
"Samurai X, no!" reprimanded Lloyd.
The android ignored his and the others' pleading looks. She raised her chin challengingly and stared straight at the Quiet One from behind her Samurai helmet. "Your 'emperor' would not be pleased if you killed an Elemental Master he requires."
"Why would he need to keep any of you rebels alive?" spat Harumi.
Now Ronin piped up, "Wait, you really don't know?"
The furious raised eyebrow on the girl's face said it all.
The mercenary gave a low whistle, sharing a significant look with Samurai X. Then, he had the audacity to chuckle. "Woah, can't believe he'd keep something that big a secret."
"What are you talking about?!" demanded Harumi lividly.
She hated looking like an ignorant fool and the implication that Emperor Garmadon did not trust her with some sort of big secret.
Ronin infuriatingly answered with, "You'll see." With that, he calmly sauntered out of the Tower. No one moved to stop his escape.
Harumi readied herself to kill the Elemental Master for such outright insolence.
Pixal spoke again, "I would advise against that. Do you truly desire to anger the 'emperor' with such an impulsive act?"
If at all possible, Harumi's glare deepened, but she now hesitated to slit Neuro's throat, much to his relief. He tried feeding into her doubt, but stopped when her enraged gaze flickered over to him.
Before she could cuff him in Vengestone, each Resistance member's mind received Neuro's thought of, 'Escape. Elemental Dragon.' The few who had the ability to summon a Dragon did just that, which caused a flurry of activity to erupt.
The Sons of Garmadon surged forward, but could do little against the Elemental Dragons. Just as the Resistance fled the Tower, Garmadon and his Colossus marched forward.
Harumi felt a rush of emotion as she watched Lloyd and the others retreat. The predominant emotion was rage, but it soon turned to fear as Emperor Garmadon's gaze slowly shifted from the escaped enemies onto the Quiet One.
Harumi bowed low. The rest of the Sons of Garmadon followed suit, shaking in their boots and desperately hoping none of them would die for their failure.
"What happened?" growled Emperor Garmadon.
There was a beat of fearful silence before Harumi spoke, "My Emperor, the Green Ninja and his forces somehow infiltrated the Tower and hijacked the broadcasting system. I greatly apologize for not being able to capture them and disappointing you."
Emperor Garmadon narrowed his eyes angrily. As his gaze scathingly swept over the biker gang, his attention was drawn to the single prisoner that the underlings had managed to detain. "Which Master is that?"
"The Master of the Mind," answered Harumi timidly.
To her surprise, the Emperor slowly nodded in approval, "Good." He pointed to his own group of Resistance prisoners. "Take them all to Kryptarium."
Harumi quickly followed after him, allowing the others to take care of loading the prisoners to be transported. "My Lord, you know I am your humble servant and trusted confidant. Are there any plans you need help executing?"
Emperor Garmadon didn't even bother to glance her way as he answered, "No..." The white-haired girl felt crushed until he added, "Not at the moment. I will summon you when everything is in order. For now, do as I say and take the prisoners to Kryptarium."
"But would it not be better to dispose of them immediately?" suggested Harumi.
The Dark Lord's scarlet eyes flashed at being questioned. "They are of use to me. Do as I say."
Knowing that that was the end of the discussion, Harumi backed off and went to assist her gang that was struggling to get some of the more spirited Resistance fighters under control.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they returned to their base, Ronin started rounding them all together, "Hey, everyone, listen up before you all go start moping about this being a failure. Sure, we lost a few Elemental Masters, but who cares. We got this." He grinned proudly, showing off a common-looking hard drive.
"Gee, that's so great, Ronin," praised Nya sarcastically, clearly unimpressed.
"No, I'm serious," insisted Ronin. "This holds all of Garmadon's plans."
That piqued everyone's interest.
"Really?" asked Lloyd hopefully. If that was true, then his plan hadn't been such a complete waste after all; and now, they had an actual chance of stopping his father.
Pixal hooked the hard drive up to her systems and holographically projected its contents for all to see.
"Garmadon wants to summon the Oni," stated Ronin bluntly. "He's working on a spell that'll open up a gateway to bring an entire army into our Realm."
Before any could gasp or question, Dareth suddenly came waltzing into the headquarters, followed closely by Misako and Mystaké.
"Wassup, guys. Sorry we're late. I was just giving those Sons of Garmadon a piece of my mind."
Behind the self-proclaimed Brown Ninja, the older women shook their heads.
Mystaké's eyes immediately locked on the hologram of Garmadon's plans. Legitimate fear shone in her features. "Garmadon cannot bring the Oni to Ninjago. They will tear this Realm asunder."
Dareth scratched his head, looking around at the others. Most seemed to understand the dire situation so he spoke up, "Uh, what's an Oni?"
"They—"
"Wait," interrupted Shade, "before you get into all that lore and stuff, where are the others? Where's Tox?!"
Mystaké glared at the Master for rudely cutting her off. She answered shortly, "They were captured. But anyways—"
"What?!"
She whacked the Master of Shadow sharply with her cane. "Young man, silence! I'm trying to enlighten these hapless simpletons. Your mate will be fine."
Shade rubbed his head and backed off with a sour expression.
Mystaké informed Nya who grew sorrowful at the news, "Your mother and father were among the captured."
The old lady sighed in exasperation when Griffin tentatively raised a hand. "What is it now?"
The Master of Speed didn't say anything but winced as he carefully untied his sash, letting his not-so-white top fall away and exposing his deeply bruised torso. "I-it kinda hurts to breath," rasped the speedster.
"Griffin, what happened?" gasped Skylor.
"Uh, the big guy," answered Griffin uncertainly. "He had a magical mask. It was ugly."
"Killow," growled Lloyd and Nya at the same time.
"Is he gonna be okay, Pix?" asked Lloyd concernedly.
The android had quickly taken to scanning and treating the Elemental Master's wounds. "Yes, he will live, but it will take time for his ribs to heal. He has three cracked ribs."
"It's okay. I heal fast," declared Griffin optimistically. As the others looked on as Pixal wrapped his torso, he sheepishly said, "Um, you can keep going with the Oni story." It was just awkward with all of them staring at him.
Mystaké smiled, happy to finally have the floor again. "Alright, sit down everyone. Story time."
"Do we get snacks?" asked Dareth hopefully.
"No."
A solid chunk of time had passed when Mystaké finally finished her long rant about how dark, deadly, and powerful the Oni were. Surprisingly though, everyone had been paying rapt attention to her and no one drifted off.
"Woah, those Oni are bad news," shuddered Dareth.
Mystaké nodded gravely. "Most are. Believe me, you don't want to get on their bad side."
"We won't let my father destroy Ninjago," declared Lloyd determinedly. "But first, do we have an update on if the others are okay."
"Yeah, I got it," volunteered Ronin, pulling out a high tech gadget that obviously came from Borg Tower.
Pixal eyed him disapprovingly.
"What?" smirked the mercenary innocently as he tossed the contraption to Nya. "I got sticky hands."
"Surprisingly, it doesn't look like Garmadon's killed the others yet. He's locked them all up in Kryptarium," reported Nya after listening for a few moments. Relief was evident in her features.
A great collective heave of relief came from the remaining Resistance.
"That is because he needs some of the Elemental Masters to complete the spell," replied Pixal.
Skylor grimaced, "Sounds like my father."
Lloyd looked over empathetically. He tried to jest, "Wanna start an evil dads club?"
That elicited a light chuckle from the Master of Amber, "Ha, sure. We can have T-shirts and other cool merch too."
"Pixal, which Elemental Masters does Garmadon need?" asked Nya, hoping he hadn't captured every Master he needed yet.
Pixal skimmed through the spell's components. "It appears he requires the darker Elements such as Poison, Smoke, Shadow, Form, Mind, Metal, and... Time and Ice?"
Nya perked up hopefully. "But we defeated the Time Twins, so he doesn't have that Element to complete the spell."
Griffin raised his hand, giving a weak, worried smile. He admitted slowly, "Uh, technically, I'm Master of Time now. I like being known as the Master of Speed better though."
The Water Ninja deflated. "Oh."
"So that's... Tox, Ash, Shade, Chamille, Neuro, Karlof, and... Griffin and Pixal now, I guess," listed off Skylor, recalling each of the Masters.
Lloyd gave a frustrated, despairing groan. "He's already captured some of them! And Ash and Chamille definitely aren't in any shape to fight my fa—Garmadon, and Griffin's really hurt!"
"I can still run," protested Griffin.
"Please refrain from running," requested Pixal. "Just because you can does not mean you should. You will simply injure yourself more."
Griffin winced as he gingerly poked at the bandages that were wrapped around almost his entire torso. Killow really did a number on him.
"We can't just leave them all trapped! We have to rescue them!" growled Shade passionately. "Who knows how long it'll be before Garmadon decides to kill them all!"
"He won't. You heard, Garmadon needs 'em for a spell," reasoned Mr. Pale. Shade glowered at the Master of Light, so the invisible man added, "Besides, you and I both know Tox has been in Kryptarium before. If anything, she's annoying the mess outta the guards right now."
That eased some of the tension from the Master of Shadow.
"The Realm Crystal also plays a vital role in his plans. If we can retrieve it before Garmadon, he will not be able to summon the Oni," proposed Pixal. "The Oni Masks are also very important, so alternatively, we could attempt to destroy them. Even if Garmadon fails to collect every Elemental Master, the Masks and Realm Crystal combined still hold enough power for him to bring the Oni into Ninjago."
"But isn't the Realm Crystal hidden in Hiroshi's Labyrinth? Shouldn't that protect it well enough?" pointed out Nya.
"Don't underestimate their abilities," cautioned Mystaké. "Whatever Garmadon wants, he will stop at nothing to get it."
Lloyd anxiously rubbed his hands together. "So I guess we've got our next objective down: get the Realm Crystal before my father."
"You gonna make all of us go?" asked Ronin, stealing a not-so-subtle glance at the... frailer members of the Resistance.
Before Lloyd could respond, Nya spoke firmly, "Yes. We're all going. We can't afford to lose anymore people."
Her deep brown eyes bored into Lloyd's, willing him to agree.
The Green Ninja sighed, "She's right. I don't want to leave New Ninjago City, but we're gonna have to. This might be the only shot we've got that'll give us a chance at stopping Garmadon."
"Then we should leave immediately," declared Skylor.
Everyone nodded in agreement, scraping up whatever supplies they could before they set out for Hiroshi's Labyrinth.
Mystaké surprised Lloyd, tapping him on the shoulder with her cane. "Don't throw away your shot, young Master. Destiny has toyed with you, but there is a reason she's kept you alive this long. Don't quit."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emperor Garmadon flew into a rage as he recognized the signs that someone had been tampering with his plans. "HARUMI!"
The girl ascended to the top of the Tower as quick as humanly possible.
"The rebels know of my plans," he snarled.
"And what are those plans?" asked Harumi hopefully.
"None of your concern," huffed the Emperor. "But now they are probably after the Realm Crystal to thwart my plans." He instructed his right hand girl. "Gather up the bikers, go to Hiroshi's Labyrinth, and retrieve the Crystal. If you find the so-called 'Resistance', crush them. But do not kill the Elementals or their leaders, that honor belongs to me and me alone."
Harumi bowed. "As you wish, my Emperor."
Immediately she exited, calling together her generals and gang. This was a new opportunity to prove she was not incompetent in the eyes of Emperor Garmadon. She would not fail him, and no pitiful Green Ninja was going to get in her way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Give it a rest," grumbled the Master of Poison as she watched Karlof ram himself into the back of the bus for the twentieth time.
"Must escape," grunted Karlof, throwing himself at the locked doors once more.
"They aren't gonna kill us, if you're worried 'bout that sorta thing. Garmadon would've taken care of that himself a while ago," pointed out Tox, lazily reclining against the metal bench of the prisoner bus. "Just chill out and enjoy the ride."
Karloff quit his futile escape attempts. "Tox oddly calm about predicament."
Both Masters were sporting various injuries from their tussle with Garmadon. Though they obviously lost, there was something satisfying in the fact that they could both say they fought the Dark Lord and punched him in the face.
"Yeah, just wait 'til they gimme an opening. I'mma make 'em regret it," smirked Tox ominously.
Her pale green eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she felt the vehicle come to a stop. She hissed, "Show time."
The crazy general threw open the doors, cackling, "Welcome to Kryptarium!"
"Cool. Hope you got my cell ready," commented Tox as she docilely filed out.
The moment one of the goons tried to touch her, she struck. The other captured Resistance rebels watched in horrified fascination as two reptilian fangs sprang from the corners of her mouth. She bit down on any Sons of Garmadon that dared approach her.
Mr.E tapped on Ultra Violet's shoulder, snapping her out of her awed trance at the bloody display. "What?"
".enevretni dluohs uoy spahreP"
"Oh yeah, fine," agreed Ultra Violet somewhat reluctantly. It was honestly a great show.
She pulled out her sais and rushed at Tox with a fierce cry. Considering the Master of Poison's hands were still cuffed behind her back, she was at a definite disadvantage. It didn't take long for the general to slam the Elemental Master to the ground.
"Try to bite me, and I'll tear your fangs out with my bare hands," threatened Ultra Violet, straddling Tox and holding a sai under her chin. She was dead serious.
The Elemental Master grudgingly shut her mouth.
Ultra Violet roughly hauled her to her feet and ordered the Sons of Garmadon, "Lock 'em all up. I'll take care of this one."
As Tox was marched by the bikers, she took satisfaction in how they fearfully backed away, especially when she flashed her blood-covered fangs at them. Out of spite and to get the bad taste from her mouth, she spat at the crazy general. Not her wisest decision ever.
Ultra Violet reacted immediately, striking Tox right over a prominently bruised area on her face. Both women cursed. There was a momentary pause.
To Tox's confusion, the raven-haired lady genuinely laughed. "You know, if you weren't such a heroic witch, we'd probably be causing a hella amount of mayhem together.
Now it was Tox's turn to laugh. "Hah. Me? Heroic? Nah, not quite. But... I getcha. If you weren't in such a crazy gang, I'd be with you causing mayhem. In another life, we'd probably be friends."
The momentary feeling of camaraderie was quickly broken as the two women quickly remembered themselves. Their faces twisted in disgust.
"Alright, c'mon," growled Ultra Violet, shoving Tox along the darkened corridor.
All the cells appeared to be empty in this section of the prison. In the low light, it was hard to peer into them, but as the Master of Poison was herded forward, she could've sworn she saw slight movement and a flash of color in one of them that was way too big to have been a rat.
Did the Sons of Garmadon actually throw some one in here for wearing green? These guys were insane.
They eventually made it to the main section of the prison. Before the general could lock the door to Tox's cell where she was apparently rooming Bolobo and Gravis, Tox shouted in outrage, "Hey! Don't I get at least one phone call?!"
Her answer was a slammed door in her face. Ultra Violet had other things to attend to as Harumi was sending out an urgent alert to both her and Mr.E.
The Master of Poison gave a sly smirk, watching the generals leave. She addressed the nearest guard in a sultry tone, "You wouldn't happen to have a phone, would you?"
Yay! Both sides now have a single objective. Who do you think is going to come out on top?
Also, heads up, I am NOT and will not ever sideline the Elemental Masters even in their prison. They will get a whole chapter dedicated to them again eventually. They are 100% still plot relevant and I love them all so much.
ALSO, SHOUTOUT to LuckyBugBooks for nominating this work into the NinjagoFanficAwards! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
I'm so sorry for the long wait! Please comment and vote!
"So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days." - Ephesians 5:15-16 NLT