Warning: I believe I may have gone,, a bit overboard with the description of our friendly crawlies(spiders) so if that sort of stuff genuinely makes you uncomfortable, please proceed with caution! ⚠️
"What is the meaning of this, Harumi?"
If there was anybody that could rival the anger that the dark lord was feeling at the moment, — they sure wouldn't be standing in place.
Garmadon, the emperor of this fragile city, was infuriated. He had put trust into the ones that work for him, and here they were, double-crossing him, failing to bring him what he wants.
Bowing her head down in shame, the Quiet one didn't dare speak a word to the emperor that only saw failure in her. She shakes her head and kept her glance fixed to the crumbled ground of the throne room.
From the corner of her still-ringing ears, she hears her comrades push out an uproar, fuelling their emperor's anger.
"It's because of you that they got away!" Ultra Violet grimaced, showing an accusing finger at the one who was meant to be her boss. No one in the Sons of Garmadon was pleased in this moment.
However, the dark-lord was in no mood for a feud, there were no rights and wrongs in his eyes. He just desired to get on with the punishment, nothing more.
Sharply inhaling and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Enough! I thought I made it clear that I wanted the green ninja back here alive. You let him escape." He glared at the one who failed in today's operation mission.
"I'm sorry...my emperor. I won't fail again." The Quiet one whimpered, sharply holding her own breath each time he tilts his head to hear her responses.
As much as she was grateful to have him as her ally, he can prove to be devilishly terrifying. She didn't want to upset him, have him point his fury towards her yet here she was.
The man had grabbed her by the neck, his claws gripping her throat tightly as he slammed her to one of the many pillars of his throne room — the two remaining generals only stood with emotionless faces. They were scared to of what was happening with the teenaged-girl.
"You were supposed to lure him back here! Not necessarily catch him, did you try too hard?" Garmadon growled, his hold on the mortal becoming tighter and her back ached with each edge of the blackened crystals piercing through her.
Harumi didn't say a word, only kept her head low in respect of her emperor. "Is my second in command a joke? Goodness, you are not living up to how stoic your label is."
She took his disappointed remarks in like a sinner during confession. She failed him and she deserved this.
No matter how repetitive her words, "I'm sorry...my emperor.." she couldn't say anything else to him.
Unsatisfied with the way she was responding to him, his grip grew tighter, continuously pinning her down slowly. Garmadon glared at her, "When you brought me back to life, I had hopes for you. Now, you don't even deserve the dirt off my feet." He claimed.
That was bad. Very very bad. Harumi, now afraid out of her mind, not only whimpered to cope but had realized far too soon, she couldn't breathe. He was crushing her air pipe.
To many's surprise, one of the generals had stepped up and approached the scene despite how dangerous it is to approach the emperor at this state. "Wait, emperor Garmadon, Harumi isn't that.." Killow protested, pitying his ally and current boss.
It halted Garmadon in his actions. He had glared at the general larger in size as well as the delusional one in a ponytail, he hummed to himself then turned over to his target, who continuously struggled to breathe. "Hmmm."
He had dropped to the ground, where the teenaged-girl was left to weep and beg for the remainder for her life.
From the ground, paralyzed in shock, she heard a simple command: "Find my son!"
Garmadon had spared her, he had sought to have given her another chance, because he had wanted her to find his son again. His move never changed and Harumi could only hyperventilate in the fear of having to disappoint him again.
Shutting the door to her chambers, Harumi had made it back alive, barely.
"That was...terrifying." With beated breath, she had collapsed over to her bed and whimpered. She still had difficulty breathing, her neck was still crushed and she cursed each time she put herself in a situation where her breathing was even more limited.
"I think I'm done for.." She chuckled bitterly, wiping remaining tears off her cheeks. She gave a sigh and glanced to the ceiling. It was dark, but that was expected of the night. It was somehow reassuring to her, that work was done for today and she was free to do whatever she wanted, not like she could in this stage though.
There were many things on her mind, preventing her from sleeping as she should. She had a big day tomorrow because it may very well be the last day that she ever resides in Ninjago. Tomorrow, it would be her last chance to surprise the resistance — and capture Lloyd Garmadon.
"How am I going to do this..?" She cupped her eyes into her hands, in all honesty, lost in what she should do next. She has matured from her childhood years, but not enough to have complete control over her life as second in command. She sighs, she couldn't do this now, she was tired.
There was a knock at the door, ah, there goes her sleep. Wanting to be left alone for the rest of the night, she clutched onto her pillow and growled. "If this is some sick joke to annoy me with plans, bother someone else, Violet!" She yelled, knowing the purple-coded general's patterns all too well.
The door opened minutes after she momentarily sat up. Harumi groaned as she propped herself to sit up from her lying position. Narrowing her eyes to face the ponytailed-general, she was in for a surprise when she had seen an alternative figure enter her chambers.
Arms-crossed, "Is that how you address your emperor?" Garmadon stood by the door frame, one of his lower arms pushing the door shut. It was just the two of them in one room now, she had nowhere to run if his legendary temper were to be messed.
"I am sorry, my emperor. I did not know it was you.." she apologized immediately instead of hesitating like she had planned in her mind out of spite.
The emperor stepped into the room, not commenting on the poor decor choice that the girl had. Instead, he took another step forward and extended his arm, he saw the visible fear in the girl's eyes as he had tugged on her collar. He lifted her off the bed, holding her by the neck once more.
"My emperor—"
He held her by one of her hands on the contrary and proceeded to let go of her neck. His choice greatly shocks Harumi and as she opened her mouth to say something about it,
"Come on, is your neck still swelling up? Let's get that sorted out by the infirmary. Come with me." He smirked, pulling her along gently, the two exited the second in command's chambers.
They walked through the hallways to take the elevator and Harumi, for the second time in the day, was glad that she was spared from bigger punishment.
~~~~~~~~
She took Garmadon's chances a little too lightly. Ever since that day, she kept the mindset that if she looked innocent enough, he would pity her and acknowledge her desire to keep living on. It's been a week now ever since that incident and she was always still alive.
But she knew she couldn't keep living in such conditions. That's why, she left Borg Tower one night and ended up in Ninjago's remparts. Sitting down on the bridge, she sighed as she couldn't believe her plans have worked, that she was really gone from responsibilities for a day.
That night, Garmadon not only remained nice and lenient with her failures, he also healed her injuries each time she came back from a mission. The sudden change in her emperor really shocked her, but that's why, she took this as an advantage.
She outsmarted him, played the cowardice each time he had heard of her failure once again and like she had been observing his behaviour, she was let off the hook for the day. That's what prompted her to stay out here far longer than needed for the night. But, she knew that she should be heading back though. She didn't want to keep the emperor waiting in case he changes his mind.
Standing up from the bridge, she began to head back to Borg tower, the trip was quick and enjoyable to say the least since the winds were calm and she was alone to think about her current predicament. In less than a couple of minutes, she saw the large tower approaching, the building becoming bigger and bigger in her eyes.
Ah, she was safe for today, no one was looking for her, which caused Harumi to believe that she could easily blake out on them. That was wrong, her mood instantly soured as she saw two authoritative, well, less than the power she held, waiting over the tower's front doors. She rolled her eyes, it was Killow and Ultra Violet, her chosen generals.
She had no choice but to enter through that way, it wasn't like the tower had a back-exit. She didn't even want to speak to them but judging by their pissed off expressions, it seems that she couldn't get any rest tonight. "What do you two want?" She placed a hand over her hip, asserting her superiority over these two mere generals, who directly worked under her.
The one to snap back, "What are you doing out here?" Ultra Violet turned the question around to her. Harumi didn't appreciate that, to her, the general was acting like a parent — a parent that she wished she still had till this day. Then maybe, she wouldn't be working under lord Garmadon, wouldn't have a reason to hold a grudge against the ninja.
Wouldn't have almost choked for the man she was supposed to capture.
Sighing sharply, she walked away, entering the building and leaving them behind her. Though, she wouldn't be alone, she knew they'd be following her.
"I just wanted to walk, okay. Can't you at least respect that? She explained herself, as well as adding a little glare meant for them.
Ultra Violet and Killow walked behind her, not walking alongside her just yet. They allowed her to keep playing these games in her mind where she was still better than all of them. Well not for long.
"Well I would, seeing as it's not any of my concerns. But the emperor is deeply concerned." Ultra reminded her.
Ah, what a liar. She sensed it right through. However, she didn't comment on it just yet.
Harumi chuckled lightly, not listening to a word she had just said. Seriously, Garmadon tolerated her, why worry?
"Hah, him? He's been treating me well lately, I have no need to worry." She reminded as well, as a matter of factly.
But Ultra Violet didn't buy it despite the confidence in her voice. "You, the one who constantly fails him, with nice treatment? That should be me, as I've been working my head off for him." She raised a brow and growled at the girl.
Still with the same confidence, "Know your place, Ultra Violet." Harumi took her role as the Sons of Garmadon's boss into account. It angered Ultra Violet, but seeing as this argument was going nowhere, she simply rolled her eyes and stopped by the elevator. "Geez, sorry." She whispered, as if she didn't want to apologize to the Quiet one in the first place.
"The two of you, please please." Killow sighs, then gave a concerned look over to the white-haired girl. It confused Harumi to see why he was so nervous about this, did something happen? "Garmadon was looking for you, that's why he sent the both of us."
She rolled her eyes. "You both didn't have to, I'd come back anyways." She explained to them briefly. Most friends would appreciate the concern, however, she didn't like such a thing — she didn't want to trust these two. She didn't want to depend on them if ever she needed. She didn't want friends.
They were her workers and that's the only relationship they'll be having with each other.
Ultra Violet joined in, upon noticing that Killow wanted them to stop arguing. "It's getting late anyways, we had no choice, he demanded us to." She may have accidentally fuelled the conversation even more. Such a thing upsetted Harumi, like Ultra had not seen it coming.
"Really now? Or is that just your excuse to say that you, Ultra Violet, are concerned for me." The Quiet one grinned hatefully, not forgetting how the generals reacted to her punishment last week. But seeing how her purple lips trembled with the thought of Harumi disappearing longer than usual, she took the advantage to jab at her or two.
"That's false, don't make assumptions. Especially bold ones." Violet played the ignorance card. All three of them entered the elevator and Harumi allowed the generals to press the buttons. "Anyways, look—" again, she began to speak again.
"What do you want?" Harumi instantly cut her down.
Killow was the one to speak, "What happened, we didn't know what to do. So don't hold it against us." He made an excuse. He ha always been the most friendly between the four of them, always standing in between Ultra Violet and Harumi's feuds but their arguments never lowered his mood in the slightest.
Harumi leaned against the walls. "Why would I?" She genuinely and curiously asked him. Killow fidgeted in place, if he were to really try and act tough and lie about it, Harumi would see right through him. That's why, he placed his honest heart on the table here. "You know, before all of this, we used to be friends." He reminded the white-haired Quiet one.
It caught her off guard. The conflict roared in her eyes. If one were to pay attention to how she shifted in place with unease, they'd definitely conclude that she had hit a soft spot here. Ah yes, he was right, they were friends in the past and simple politics destroyed that. "You're bringing this up, with me?" She played it off coldly, as she should be.
But Violet didn't like her response, just when she had thought that Harumi would let go of her role as second in command for a little while. "What if he is?" She jabbed back at the girl. Killow appreciated that Violet was helping him send the message. However, "What I'm trying to say is that, Harumi, we don't actually—" he was interrupted with a loud sound of metal crunching.
The elevator doors opened.
"Ah well, too late. Run that by me again next time, will you?" She snickered and walked away from the generals, her confidence gradually lowering the closer she walked over to her emperor. He was seated on the throne like usual, his elegance and aloof-nature fascinating most. "My emperor—" she smiled.
She was stopped in place, being grabbed by the man's powers. She gasped out in both shock and pain, as the tightening grip on her neck returned. It was all so familiar.
Why?
Why was this happening again? She thought she escaped it.
She saw how the emperor's glare burned with fury. Ah, she knew she was getting spared this time.
"Wait, emperor Garmadon!" Killow ran over to the scene happening before their very eyes. The both of them did, even after they had showed a clear ignorance when she suffered the first time. "Harumi!" Ultra Violet joined in, calling from her boss.
"S-Stop! P-Pl....Please!!" She cried out, her legs kicking and her hands punching the air around her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, "K-Killow! I don't...I-I don't want to die!!" She was scared, reduced to a frightened lamb all over again.
She was like how she was built from, a child drowned in disbelief at the thought of losing her own parents.
"U-Ultra..."
Knowing that she was calling for them, the generals couldn't help but react this time. "You took Mr. E already! Please stop this, give her another chance!" Killow continued to cry out, he tried to reason with his emperor, knowing that it was futile and his mind was fixed on one goal:
to get rid of his disappointing second in command.
There was a noticeable difference between an android and a human-being. But Garmadon failed to see that. To him, he was King. He didn't see anyone else being even close to that position nor acknowledged that human lives were precious. They were all the same to her.
"I gave her too many."
He snapped her neck, cutting off her breathing circulation completely and the girl fell to the ground, weightless as well as lifeless.
The generals were speechless in that moment. They just continued to walk over to their emperor, their eyes not comprehending that what laid before them was the corpse of their old friend.
~~~~~~~
"—Violet.."
She was all swelled up and beaten to a bush. Her mind was clouded up and she couldn't think straight for a second. A groan escaped her lips as she not only blinked once — but twice.
Was what happened just now,, a dream?
It didn't feel like it. She was chilled to the bone and just sitting here with her mind all fogged up didn't sit easy with her.
It took about a handful of seconds for Harumi to regain her composure. When she did, the scenery of where she was had grown familiar to her each time she winds up here — ah yes, Zephyr's lair.
It's time to get out of here, she thinks.
Moving her wrists, she finds herself to be bound down by chains. That was no surprise yet it still frustrated her. But it was lighter than usual and the chains were ransacked onto her wrists, it was if they didn't even try.
It soon became clearer for her. She paid close attention — the lights were fixed to the ground, the doors opened from the top instead of the bottom. She felt...dizzy.
She lifted her head to where would be the ceiling, she only saw three individuals knelt down in front of her, they were chained as well. She knew them all too well, it was the green ninja, the dark lord and the white-furred puppy.
She knew it all too well, she was upside down.
Not liking her position one bit and starting to feeling the nausea accompanying it, Harumi broke into a fit. She kicked her chained legs and tried to fling her arms away from the chains, anything to break free from here.
"Unchain me, unchain me right now!" She screamed, growls were futile and her kicks were unheard.
She knew she wasn't alone in this room though, that's why, she gave a relieved expression when one of the three individuals had woken up from their slumber.
"Lloyd!" Harumi gasped, using most of her energy to cry out to him, she wanted to get out of here and go home. But she needed help, that's for sure.
The green ninja had awoken, his head was spinning just like hers but he groaned and shifted in place. The minute his eyes opened, "Harumi? I finally found you!" He called back to her.
He noticed her state as well the chains wrapped around her, holding her captive. "Woah, are you okay?" He asked in a hurry.
She nodded, she was relatively alright, to say the least. "I'm fine, just a little bit dizzy." She admitted to him with a nervous smile. If she was unchained, she could easily get down from here and think straight once again.
A small croak was heard from the side of the room, Harumi had failed to notice the other people in the room with her due to how far away they were from their line of sight. "Ugh, my head...where are we?" The blue-ninja was as confused as the others who have left the tournament early or the ones who didn't even participate at all.
"You're in Zephyr's lair, speaking of which," Harumi paused in her sentence to growl at the green ninja below her. "Lloyd! Why did you come here, why come back for me?! You knew it was dangerous!" She proceeded to scold him, without another warning. The green-ninja chuckled lightly, apologizing softly.
"Of course we'd come back to you, what makes you think that we won't?" He said, after earning her sympathy. They were joking, of course. But having Harumi tolerate him in this moment was way better than her being angry with him.
The two couldn't discuss more nor have time for an escape plan for the front doors of the throne room opened and in came the grand spellcaster himself alongside two guards of his
"Can't get too comfortable now, can we?" He commented with a smirk.
With a mutual distaste for the man, "Zephyr." Harumi pronounced the name of her enemy in this moment.
Jokingly waving at her, "Hello hello, Harumi. How's the weather from up there? — oh wait, we're underground, ahah!" Zephyr messed around with his prisoners. He gleamed and twirled in his half-torn cape. The guards beside him didn't question his decision for ecstasy this fine afternoon.
"That was terrible." Lloyd remarked, not even throwing hands yet to the fact that the main mastermind had entered the room. He'd much rather acknowledge his bad joke instead.
"Oh silence you. Anyways, are you still thinking about it, on defeating me?" Zephyr turned his head over to glance at his upside-down prisoner once more. Having Harumi stay silent and listen to him was way appealing than he had thought. He continued on with his monologue. "The ninja still don't believe you about your nightmares, now do they? Again, you're all on your own."
She didn't what to have to sit through and listen to his taunts all over again. If she could, she would be covering her ears.
"Shut up." She out-right demanded from him. Zephyr retorted, not taking any orders from.
He was the one in control here. "You're not a really good liar, you know? Ah, but I don't need you to be. Now that I have you all tied up, I can proceed with my plans." He smirks.
"Plans, what do you mean?" Confused, the black-ninja confronted the spellcaster. No one knew what was going on aside from Harumi and Zephyr, they shared secrets and guilt-stricken, Harumi didn't say a word. It left Zephyr to laugh and turn to the ninja, he was amused he asked.
"What key do you possibly have?!" With beated gasp, Nya questioned him. Zephyr was glad to answer this one, he raised his arms and pointed at the chained prisoner. "Simple. Harumi's our little key to success." If a Cheshire Cat were to rival him, Zephyr would win for sure. There was in no way that this wasn't the most devious smile someone had seen.
The one to react was the dark lord, having recognized such an answer in the past. It was almost hypocritical on his part.
"Of course she is. It seems that all the bad things happen to her because of it. I'm believing that it's becoming a little repetitive." Garmadon rolled his eyes, not taking this man's speech seriously one single bit.
He constantly kept his eyes on either the enemy, his son and the chained girl.
"No well see, in order for our plans to work, we need the blood of a newborn Oni." Sadistic, Zephyr had announced quietly. He placed his hands to his chins and watched from the corners of his eyes how the hope in everyone's eyes were crushed and instead replaced with fear and twisted conclusions to what Zephyr was to them.
Everyone's first instinct was to look at one another, completely lost in what to do now. Ah, so the biggest plans have just been revealed to all of them. But judging by Harumi's silence, it was if she knew.
Of course, she did.
But even at the revelation, she was way emptier than how she first felt when he told her the first time, when he dunked her and drowned her in that tank hours ago. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed, no...she couldn't feel a thing in this moment.
Why was she so weak-minded?
Zephyr turned over to the blonde-haired boy, an accusing finger pointing at him.
"To be fair, I would've gone after all of you," he paused to move his finger over to Garmadon, Mirage then Opal. It was like a roulette he was playing here. "As you all showed prominent signs of having oni blood running through you. However, it is not my fault the spell asks for a newborn." He chuckled.
Harumi lowered her head in shams, she never asked to be an oni, never asked to have elemental master. What happened to being an ordinary girl who happened to rise Ninjago up from the grounds and control it — to reforming herself and helping her new family out?
She was still that, of course. But she had a way more important role from now on and the thought of failing again overwhelmed her. Lloyd noticed the discomfort in his lover's dreary eyes and growled, snapping his head to face the spellcaster in charge of all of this.
"Are you insane?! You're taking blood from her, what if she dies from this?!" He frantically snapped sense into the lunatic spellcaster, but knowing Zephyr, he was way too far gone through his own mind to even turn back and listen to Lloyd.
"Ah, that is not any of my concerns. She will be of no use to me after I take her blood. So really, I don't know." He says in the middle of a thought. It was if he wasn't really speaking to them but more so rather going through what he was planning all over again. It caused anger to spread among the room, the resistance were disgusted in his behaviour.
"You bastard!" Cole yelled, causing him to struggle through his restraints one more time, stronger than before. His attempt was drowned in vain again.
The doors opened once again and in came two of Zephyr's allies, the blonde-haired man sighed, underwhelmed.
"You're all being so incredibly noisy. I can hear you from the middle hall." Matias walked inside, accompanied by the cyan-haired witch. They shut the doors and presented themselves before their friend. Zephyr, glad to see his friends, stepped forward and placed an arm around Ava Zevada, one of the two enforcers of the games.
He pulled her a little closer to him and snickered over to the group. "Well, what do you think about all of this, Ava?" He asked for her opinions whilst Matias stood nearby the tied-up ninja, forced on their knees.
Ava took a second to glance at their prisoners and chuckled, she really did like this predicament, they felt unstoppable. "Hahaha! How does it feel to finally know that Harumi was telling you all the truth and you didn't listen?!" She mocked them, her pupils widening showing delirium in her question.
The resistance including Cloud, all bit their lips, feeling the guilt crashing in now. They should've listened to her, no matter how insane her story sounded at the time. If they did, then maybe, they would be back home and Harumi wouldn't be in danger anymore.
That's what they wished the most.
But it got even worse for them, "Remember the time when what happened to when he tried telling him that night she woke him up or when she was chained and tried telling garmadon but he put earplugs in
Hearing about all of this, and how atrocious the spellcaster's actions were, it makes the whole group go silent.
"Wait a second, Harumi wasn't the one stalking Zephyr, she was mainly getting away from him. That means...Zephyr was the one stalking her all along!"
The puppy barked, putting the pieces together and realizing how downright creepy this all is to her.
Zephyr smirks and nods, clapping his hands for Cloud's discovery. "You are smart. That I was. For the entire tournament." He walked away from his initial spot, beginning to circle the chained resistance.
The devilish smile was always kept on his face as he revealed more mysteries to the group, "My friends and I were also in fact in charge of giving Harumi those nightmares from the very start."
The resistance was clearly uncomfortable with his confessions, their poor, poor, teammate had suffered so much. "You're insane, you knew much more from the start!" Eyes widened and shock-stricken, Lloyd gasped, fuelling his desire to break free little by little.
"How are you capable of knowing everything about Harumi?! Including..her having powers?!" Cloud barked, hesitating to speak about Harumi's abilities the first time due to her head still comprehending how Zephyr knew already. She just wanted closure for all of this and she had gotten her wish.
Continuing to walk, "Let's just say, I got most of my information when I used that disguise spell, to become Harumi. I'm sure you all remember that farce all too well and, my my, Ninjago's a lovely place, isn't it? I should visit more often." He grinned, the lovely thought of another vacation sounded ideal.
"Never. You belong here, stay away from Ninjago." Nya protested. Not one of the ninja was comfortable with the idea of Zephyr tampering their home as well as disguising himself as someone else.
Zephyr hummed, he blinked and crossed his arms as he tilted his head to listen to their complaints even more. He was unphased by all of it and the resistance wondered why as he gave them a hint. "You know, quit your howling. That's not the worst I've done." He admits.
"To put it simply: how's the idea of animal death for you all? Little Cloud, absolutely obliterated by a truck, how's that?" He laughs, enjoying their newfound frightened expressions a little too much.
Cloud though, was the most affected by this confession, her lips trembled and her ears lowered as she didn't have much to say about this, she couldn't.
"You're sick.." Nix growls, taking over for her — and spoke for practically everyone else on his team. Zephyr sighs and shakes his head. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." He remained very neutral with his replies. But the resistance didn't know that he wasn't here to stick around for ages. Thank FSM though. He had other business to attend to.
Gesturing over to the snake and the bat that were sitting by the throne, the creatures that the resistance didn't notice mind you, he gave a simple command:
"Pip, Onyx, do me a favour and watch them for me, will you?" He addressed to his most loyal companions. Then, he turned away, having given his order, and faced the two spellcasters in the room with him.
"As for you two," he started. His eyes glowed a deep shade of green as he knew how long his friends was waiting for his dialoging to be over at long last. "It's about time you acknowledged us." Matias huffed jokingly. "Unless you called us here for no reason again."
Zephyr shakes his head, gesturing the two of them including his two guards to follow him out the throne room. "Haha, how funny are the both of you! Come now, we have bigger things to discuss." He says. The front doors open and they shut, leaving the resistance, a bat and a snake, alone in a single room together.
Harumi remained silent, ah no, not entirely. She gulped, not liking how the conversation ended just now. It was left very-open ended by Zephyr as he didn't reveal too much of his plans just yet. She shook in place, she was terrified, she didn't want to die.
Despite the silence, someone in the team knew what needed to be done. He took a deep breath and with narrowed eyes, he looked up to the dangling prisoner.
"Harumi, I believe I owe you an apology, for not believing you about the nightmares." Lloyd says calmly. It needed to be said and everyone was thinking about it in this moment, how incredibly guilty they felt for not believing her. Now look what's happened.
Harumi sighs, having heard the start of his apology. But, "Why didn't you? You know that I would never lie to you again. I did what I had to do to hide my identity as the leader of the Sons of Garmadon. But I'm on your side now, so why?" She questioned him, not particularly mad.
More so, rather, disappointed.
There was no excuse to defend himself nor the rest of the resistance, they were all guilty for this. "I'm sorry, really." He apologized in a whisper. He didn't expect to be forgiven — yet, that was completely up to her. If she held a grudge against them for this, so be it.
The red ninja shakes his head, correcting the green ninja slightly. "No, we all are." He says to their white-haired comrade. The resistance should take this situation as a lesson, for them to trust each other no matter what, how delusional a story may be.
They're family, they should trust each other till the very end.
There was no helping it, nor did Harumi even want to remotely continue with the sappy stuff. "We'll talk about this later, when we get out of here. Speaking of which—" she was interrupted by the blonde lover of hers. He looked at her straight in the eyes, Harumi not liking the look he was giving.
He said: "You need to get out of here now. We'll help you get the chains off, and you need to run out of here." He already had a plan in mind for her. Not necessarily did he know that Harumi would agree to this however — which was what happened the minute the plan was revealed to her.
"Absolutely not! I'm not leaving here without all of you, I refuse!" Harumi snapped, the dread of returning to a home without the ones she cared about the most.
Now that was a true nightmare, one that she couldn't bear unlike the ones Zephyr threw at her.
Nonetheless, Lloyd still wanted to aid her in her escape. The escape she didn't agree to, that is. "But Harumi, you need to, he needs you and only you. We can manage and get out of here on our own." He explained, sparking some sense into her. Now, while that is true and Harumi found reason into it, albeit guiltily, she proceeded to shake her head again.
She didn't want to leave all of her friends behind, she didn't want them getting hurt all because she was selfish enough to run away on her own.
They couldn't converse any longer, it seemed that the grand and mighty spellcaster has returned to the scene. Harumi held back a snarl when seeing him enter again accompanied with his goons.
"Why did you come back?" The white-haired prisoner sighed, rather tired that he constantly came in and out to check on them. Zephyr stopped to be behind the resistance, he chuckled and raised his hands in a shrugging posture. "I require the locations of the realms you travelled with Zackery Leviathan." He said simply.
Brought back to reality with a simple name-drop, Mirage blinked at the spellcaster. "My brother?" She asked curiously. Zephyr turned over to her, his eyes landing on both Zackery's remaining relatives. He crossed his arms in awe.
"Right, I forgot that we had Zackery's little sister here with us. Bowing down to both of your highnesses." Zephyr knelt down to kneel to Queen Opal and former princess Mirage Leviathan. It was all just mockery, that was no question. He snickered, escaping a laugh from his forked-tongue.
Opal shifted uncomfortably, she didn't like the aura he gave, at all. "Harumi will never give the realms' locations to the likes of you!" She protested, being ever so slightly careful as to not anger herself too much, she didn't want the chains ripping her wrists wide open.
Zephyr doubted her instantly. "Oh she will, trust me. I'll use their location preciously as they'll be apart of my kingdom too." He paused to turn over to his companion, Ava Zevada. He extended a hand forward, waiting for her to drop something in his hands. "In fact, Ava, I think it's time you hand those to me."
The sorceress nodded and took a step forward, handing the two jars of unknown substance over to her friend and leader. Zephyr held onto the jars gladly. He even stirred them a little, teasing the resistance's curiosity even more. But Harumi wasn't having it, she stared at the jars in shock, her face turning pale as she knew whatever that was, it would be bad news.
Lloyd raised a brow, "What's that?" He inquired, not trusting Zephyr nor his little friends in the slightest. Zephyr shook the jar a little once again. "Poison. I'm sure you recognize these: Vastodectrus Venemous, and Venomasicus Tigrus." He replied within an explanation.
Jay gasped, instantly recognizing such a substance and jabbed over to Zephyr:
"How did you get this?! That's a huge spider!" He recalled his former experiences back when Nadakhan was still around — chilling thoughts of the abnormal creature close to poisoning him came in mind.
Zephyr and Matias looked over to each other, each of them giving an unbothered eye roll.
"A spellcaster's life is ten times easier when you know magic." Matias sighed, explaining to the rather dunce ninja. Seriously, he didn't think he'd need to explain that.
The brown-haired man pushed a strand of his hair locks behind his ear, his hands clapping to gather everyone's attentions again. "Let's just say, it was our little trip between friends a long while ago. Vastodectrus Venemous has the number one most painful sting, it was hard to get." He started to recall his misfortunate tale.
Then, he turned to his audience with a similar snicker that he had a few minutes ago. "Venomasicus Tigrus on the other hand, did you know that Tiger wasps' Stings are the second most painful in the world?" He interrogated to the whole room, as if he was a teacher teaching a special class.
Everyone around refrained their genuinely surprised reactions. They had no clue that two types of poison existed in the world. Jay certainly learned today that there was a worser type of poison this day, that meant he got the second most painful many years back.
Not like that timeline existed anymore, anyways.
Lloyd was fed-up with Zephyr's tricks and taunts, he didn't want to have to sit here anymore and listen to him. "Why'd you bother to get both?!" He raged, unhappy with whatever he was planning.
The cyan-haired spellcaster raised a brow at his question then leaned forward a little. "In case our little Rumi here refuses to cooperate." Ava laughs, her hand resting by the throne's armrest.
Harumi didn't like this, at all. She didn't realize she had started to hyperventilate when the jars began being opened. She braced herself, refusing to look anymore when what came out of the jar wasn't just poison, but a spider.
Oh, so it wasn't the poison in itself. It was the carriers. They were doomed.
Zephyr laughed and allowed it to crawl up his arm, he advances forward.
She shut her eyes for good and started to hum, unwillingly.
"Spider's in the house.... sleep...sleep..."
He placed the spider on top of her head and she screamed in terror, naturally.
She fidgeted around, trying to shake it off. It wasn't working, she felt its legs crawling through her hair like a corn-field.
"Rumi!!" Lloyd yells out, "Listen to me!" He failed to keep her in a calm state.
"Spider's..."
The spider lowered down and pressed against her cheek, she muttered incoherent pleads. "Don't bite, don't bite..don't bite.." that's all she cared in this moment, to not get bitten. She could do this, she could...
The spider went inside of her sleeve, she froze into place.
"in the house..."
It kept crawling, she was mortified.
It didn't bite her.
"Don't wake up..."
Zephyr hissed, watching the spider fail at its job. The spellcaster poked it, expecting it to become infuriated with whoever provoked it. But nothing was happening, in a wild rage, Zephyr flung the spider away from her.
The plan was failing, why?
In an attempt to still save things, Zephyr remembered the other jar in his hands. He chuckled, remembering what's inside of them and without another doubt, began to shake it up a little. Perhaps a little too much, as when he aimed the opening over to Harumi, the wasps inside targeted him in exchange.
His dark green eyes widened at the numerous amount of wasps ready to sting him.
"Oh for FSM's sake!" Zephyr cried out, covering his head. He ran in circles, hiding behind Matias from time to time as he tried to get away from the flock of angry wasps. "Why are they after me?!"
He dropped the other jar, in an attempt to get away from his enemies — it caused the other jar to shatter and out came a hoard of tiny spiders.
"I don't know, man! But if I remember correctly, you shook the jar too much!" Matias reasoned, getting away from Zephyr too, as he didn't want to get stung by any of those poisonous wasps. Ava, the only one who wasn't afraid of insects among the two boys, rolled her eyes.
Trying to snap some sense into her control-lost friends, "Zephyr, what do we do?" She asked for their next order of business rather patiently. The man shook his head, running away from the resistance as well as Ava and Matias.
He placed his hand on the door handles.
"You tell me! Drop her! Make sure the spiders bite her!" In a hurry, he used his hands to deflect the wasps'. Following him out of the throne room, the wasps continued to pursue him.
No good, the spiders were already approaching.
"Everybody! Get off the ground!" Lloyd commands everyone, as they were all sitting on their knees. Having spiders loose like this, wasn't entirely a good idea.
So, pushing their legs off the ground, they stood up and sighed in relief, having been able to get away from a potential spider apocalypse going on the ground.
They were safe, but not Harumi.
Following Zephyr's last command before he fled, Ava ran over to the contraption holding Harumi captive and pulled down a switch. It caused the girl to drop down, still untied, however, as the machine released her from her upside-down state.
"Or else you'll find a spider..."
Harumi turned her head away from the crawling spiders.
"in your mouth.."
She shut her eyes, feeling their presence crawl on top of her body again.
Her eyes open for a second — there was a figure with glowing eyes and silver skin watching from the side of the walls.
She wished she could rub her eyes, she thought she was seeing things.
"Pixal?"
A smile lit up on her face, it was really her. It was the android that was here and maybe things wouldn't turn out so bad after all. Maybe they could all get out of here and escape this horrid island...
Focusing on trying to get the android's attention, she was instantly driven away with the fact that the chains and ropes around her became undone. She hummed into confusion as she turned over to see if the same was for everyone's else.
Everyone else still wasn't unchained, it was just her.
She stood up from the ground and brushed the spiders off her. She didn't feel fear for them in this moment since Pixal's presence distracted her greatly. She was very glad for that, but she knew she couldn't waste more time. She needed to get out of here with her friends.
She ran over to Lloyd and began undoing his ropes.
"What is this madness?!" Ava exclaimed, stepping away from the running Harumi. In a panic; she glanced around for any source of support from their sides, she had seen none. "How did you get out?!" She pulled her staff from the pockets of her cloak and aimed it at the girl.
She managed to broke out Lloyd from his restraints and she quickly gestured him to follow her and they both started undoing Garmadon's chains.
A burst of magenta energy was shot towards Harumi's direction.
The girl snickered and nudged Lloyd by the shoulder to move to his right slightly.
Grabbing Garmadon's arms, she held them up in the air and the magic from Ava's staff broke his chains free.
"Ah I see, that was rather clever." Garmadon complimented, nodding with what her plan was just now.
Frustrated, Ava focused on quantity over quality. She began firing multiple bursts at once from the touch of her staff. In all directions, she missed her target completely. However, due to her magic; she had freed most.
Standing beside Harumi and Lloyd, Garmadon, Opal, Mirage and Cloud all glared at the lousy cyan-haired spellcaster.
Matias groaned, grabbing the girl's staff away from her hands and snapping it in half. It was made out of simple wood, it can be easily replaced. The decorations adorning the handle though? Not really.
"Ava, your aim sucks. Ugh, just don't do anything! I'll tell Zephyr!" He decided on his own — before leaving the girl to be and running for the hallways.
He was quick to find Zephyr, if there was a swarm of wasps chasing you, you'd go to the bathroom because tou got stung, right?
Yes, Matias had no faith in his friend.
Pushing open the bathroom door, he spotted his friend by the sink, splashing cold water onto his swelled-up face.
He was stung, just like Matias had predicted — or rather knew.
Rather awkwardly, "Uh, Zephyr? Problem." Matias hated to be the one to break the bad news to him — especially when he was in the middle of trying to make himself feel better from the wasp stings.
Clearly not wanting to be interrupted, Zephyr continued splashing water, shaking the water off his hair though
"Can't you see I'm busy?" He snapped.
Well, there was no helping it.
"Harumi managed to escape." Matias said.
Pulling his head away from the running sink, Zephyr showed the saltiest look he had given all season. "Excuse me?" Angry as ever, he glared at the blonde-haired boy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When everyone was uncuffed, they knew that even so, they stood no chances against Zephyr's forces.
That's why, Lloyd made the grand decision to finalize his plan.
"Listen Rumi, you're leaving. Now." He tells her, holding one of her hands lightly to reassure her.
And again, like she had told him earlier,
"No, I'm not leaving you, and everyone else, I'm not!" She refuses with a tearful cry. She wanted to return to the Bounty together and stop Zephyr together.
But 'together' won't be happening if it was just her escaping.
Jay, who stood up from the ground, glances over to the white-haired empress. "Harumi, it's the best choice, just listen to Lloyd!" Jay cries out. If there was one person getting out of here, it would be her.
But, she still couldn't seem to accept such a decision. It was cruel and she had to refrain from shedding tears, however, she found herself slowly standing from the ground as everyone surrounded her.
"I don't want to leave you all behind.." she admits softly.
Opal and Mirage walk over to the girl and place their hands on each side of her shoulder. The two give a kind smile at her.
"Rumi, you have a city to continue watching over for, you're the empress, no?" The queen of the oni reminded her.
Mirage patted Harumi's shoulder then let go. "That's why they need you."
Harumi all looked over to her friends, at a complete loss for words. She appreciated their reassurance and their smiles, she wanted to keep them safe as much as possible.
They were all here for her and supported her, even if they were the ones getting left behind. They weren't selfish at all, they'd much rather risk themselves in order for Rumi to escape.
Barking beside her, "Besides, you're not completing leaving us, you'll come back for us later when you tell the others back home!" Cloud offers a new perspective to see things.
Harumi's heart skipped a beat, that was true. She wasn't abandoning them like she thought she was.
Aha, they were all so patient with her. Did she even deserve them?
Funny how she couldn't tell the difference between abandonment and sending something off just yet.
Her family, all adorned with happy smiles, they encouraged her more and more.
And that's what made them...
"You can do this, Harumi!"
"Go on now!"
They all cheered for her.
The perfect family.
Smiling and her spirits back up, Harumi nodded, wiping away the forming tears from her eyes. "Yeah! Okay, I can do this! I'll come back for you all!" The energy returned to her as quick as ice freezing over water. She gave one last wave over to her friends and: "Please , stay safe.." gave one last reminder for them.
Then, she broke out in a sprint. She kicked down the hallways doors and rushed towards the exit of this underground lair.
She mesmerized this place now from the many times she as dragged to her cell. Concentrating, she looked for the tunnel that stood out the most — then entered it. She found herself at the entrance of the cave again.
Though, calling from behind her, "You can't leave!" Matias dashed after her. He knew how valuable she was to the plan — he couldn't let her escape this plan. Or else Ava would be angry, Zephyr would be angry, and he'd be disappointed in himself.
Taking out his staff, he fired beams of light blue aura. Harumi gasped, not used to this kind of pressure despite the amount of times she was chased. She ducked her head down when it aimed for her head and swerved to the sides several times. The energy balls didn't get her at all.
"Oh yes, I can!" She spat out at Matias, running a little faster than before.
There was an opening at the very top, that was the surface. But they couldn't possibly get up there without a boost of some sorts. Harumi doesn't think she has the time to climb up the minecart rails and get back onto the surface, then again, she could always kick Matias off.
No, no time!
She continues to run, seriously beginning to panic as she didn't know where to go from here. That's until, she hears a set of engines go off from beside her. Something came flying by and Harumi glimpsed for just a second, how a mech with an armoured android inside of it, stopped by.
"Harumi, over here!" It was Pixel, she was here to save her.
Harumi couldn't have looked more relieved. "Pix!" She called out with a smile and with a daring jump, she leaped onto the mech, taking it by the hand.
Pixel and Harumi have escaped, the mech flew straight out of the tunnel, leaving the blonde-haired spellcaster to growl in frustration.
They got away, what will Zephyr think of this?
How will their plans continue without her?
"DAMMIT!" He cursed out, watching the mech fly away from the tunnel.
~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the throne room where the rest of the resistance are,
The green-ninja smirked over to the spellcaster who was silently staring at all of them. No one knew what he was thinking, but losing Harumi, the vital key to his plans, must be his number 1 concern at the moment.
Lloyd knows it must be mega satisfying for him to suddenly experience turbulence in his plans. So, "Beat that, Zephyr. It seems like your plan failed the minute Harumi escaped. She's safe now and with friends." As mature as he looked, he remained childish. He taunted the enemy before them.
But the spellcaster wasn't in any way concerned about Harumi's escape despite taking the hint minutes ago that Matias failed to retrieve her. His smirk broke out into a full-on psychopathic fit of laughter. "Fools, that just means more guests to the party!" He cackled.
He made no sense. He never did.
But the resistance couldn't help but be concerned for what was about to happen next.
~~~~~~~~~~
Landing the bounty on the rooftop of a medical centre, Harumi sighs, unsatisfied with their current situation. It sure was stressful, that's for sure. She didn't know if she could go on in this state, she didn't want to overthink things.
Behind her, the orange-clothed resistance member raised a brow. "You've been gloomy ever since you returned back to Ninjago, what's the matter?" Skylor inquired, a tad concerned for her friend.
"He's bringing them back, you know?"
"Bringing who back?"
There was a long pause.
She takes a deep breath and exhales, turning around to face Skylor and Master Wu. "The villains that the ninja have defeated. He's planning to bring them all back using my blood." She explains to them Zepnyr's true intentions.
"That sounds... serious." The master couldn't lie to make them feel better, this was a really bad predicament they were in. However, they needed to keep their minds on a more positive mindset here. If they wanted to defeat Zephyr and his friends, they needed to act rationally not based off their fears. "Everything will work out, we have a plan." He reassures her.
Not really sure whether she should trust his word for it yet, she shrugs and walks away from the two. She opens the emergency exit of the establishment to lead her back down to the hospital.
She was going off to get her wounds treated.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: Before you ask, yes, Zephyr and Ava are implied to have a thing for one another. However, getting Harumi's blood is far more important to Zephyr than to pursue a romance life not to mention, there's a little something with Ava that prevents her from directly having feelings for someone. (It'll be revealed in the bonus chapter!)
Anyways, it seems things have finally took a turn as the arc is drawing to a close! Zephyr's plans have succeeded and now, the resistance all are the ones paying! But what does it mean: Zephyr is planning to bring back the former villains of Ninjago? From where though, he couldn't possibly get the realm crystal from where he is!
Things are getting intense here, stay tuned for the next couple of chapters!