(Second-person POV)
Feeling multiple pairs of eyes trained on your figure, you opened your mouth as if to speak when your neutral expression morphed into an annoyed grimace as the sound of multiple pairs of feet began to echo through the cave. "Did you call your little friends over?" you question, summoning sharp vines to stab the new intruders as you weren't quite done with these ones just yet.
Catching sight of the confused looks your captives shared, you took it that the two groups were not together but of separate powers. Letting out an annoyed click of your tongue, you waited for the arrival of the new force in this power battle as Dart made her way to your side, glaring at the waterfall that was once a crucial part of hiding this cavern, now serving as little more than decoration.
Emerging from the cataract were what appeared to be several tens of skeletons, their crimson eyes glaring into your own. "The Skulkin!" the four teens that you still had as prisoners called out at the same time, leading you to guess that they were well acquainted with this army of bones.
"You there with the hood!" a skeleton with a metal helmet called out, pointing in your direction, "Where is the Void Vanquisher?! Hand it over before things start to get messy!"
"For you or me?" you taunt, trying to buy yourself some time as you hid your weapon in your pocket dimension, waiting for a chance to attack.
"Hah! Your little mind games won't work on us, the Skulkin army! You'll never be able to pry the reason why we're getting the Void Vanquisher from us! Once we get the weapon and give it to Samukai, he'll be able to make Lord Garmadon so strong that he can wield the four Golden Weapons and then allow us to dominate Ninjago with him-"
"Shut it, Nuckal!" the being with the metal helmet yelled, smacking this 'Knuckle' person on the skull, "You're giving us away!" Clearing his throat, he turned his attention back to you and demanded "Hand over the weapon, protector and we'll leave you alone!"
A dry smile on your lips, you bowed and responded as respectfully as you could at that moment "Alright, but you have to leave me alone for a bit since the ritual is complicated and I worry that some of you might get... hurt during the process."
Contemplating your words for a moment, the skeleton nodded, making the crowd part as you headed straight for your teacher's room and shut the door behind you. Letting out a soft sigh, you leaned against the entrance, sliding to the floor as you ran a hand through your hair. Standing up, you began placing everything in the room into your pocket dimension, feeling your body strain with effort as you added more and more things to the space. Once your teacher's bedroom was empty, you headed to his workshop and cleaned it out too, making sure that the enemy would not be able to copy his works.
When you were satisfied, you pulled out the tsurugi sword you had used to fight the intruders a few moments ago and its sword sheath before using the element of form on it. Once it looked the same as the Void Vanquisher, you let out a soft sigh and dripped some ink onto the ground to look as if you did some complicated ritual. Pushing the door open, you pretend to be excessively weary, something that wasn't hard to fake since you felt that way with the weight of everything in your pocket dimension.
Catching sight of the weapon in your hands, the old man that was still trapped in your vines let out a loud gasp "No! If you give the Void Vanquisher to the Skulkin, a great evil shall befall all of Ninjago!"
Hearing this, the skeleton snatched the weapon from your hands and let out a victorious laugh as the human intruders watched on in horror.
"What have you done...?" the man murmured, shaking his head in disbelief, "Kusho... you..."
Ignoring the guy's ramblings, you called out "So you're going to leave my home alone now, right?"
Casting a glance in your direction, the humanoid cackled evilly, "Change of plans... I think your cave would make a great base for us..."
Letting out an annoyed sigh, you immediately activated your wind element, creating a dome of draught around you, blasting and consequently knocking out the skeletons around you. "Well, saying that I didn't half expect this to happen would be a lie," you smirked, feeling a rush of adrenaline as you spun around on your heel, spinning hook-kicking the head off a nearby enemy, watching as it fell down the waterfall with a scream.
"G-get her!" the temporary commander of the army of skeletons yelled before charging toward you with their weapons raised. Pulling out the blade fans your teacher left you, you began slashing your way through the crowd, only stopping when you realised that your weapon will dull if you keep cutting through bone with it. Pausing momentarily to pick up the broadsword one of your defeated opponents dropped, you turned to look at your remaining enemies, flashing them a sadistic grin.
Finding there to be only ten people left, you sighed and rolled your shoulders, hearing them pop before you began taking care of the last of these intruders made of calcium. Twirling through the crowd, you found satisfaction in the screams of terror your opponents made and then the sound of their bones falling to the ground in a disorderly pile under your wake.
"H-hold on, we can negotiate!" one of the skeletal generals called out as you neared him, a neutral expression on your face.
"Hm? Can you now? Well then, if you can offer me something I want, I'm all ears!" you beamed, leaning on the weapon you just used, your expressions switching faster than the channels on television.
"Uh... Um... Y-you can rule Ninjago with us...?" the male proposed, scratching his helmet with one hand as his eyes darted nervously from the sword you had propped up to your smiling face.
Before you could say anything, the old man that had escaped and freed his students in the chaos cut in with "Wait, Kusho! I know that our history hasn't been all that great, but you should not join Garmadon! For old times' sake, please. I apologise for my foolish actions in the past, but as Father had said, 'The past is the past, and the future is the future-'"
Removing your mask and placing it in your pocket dimension, you pulled off your hood and answered the man "I'm sorry, but you seem to have just missed Kusho Sensei by... five months."
"A-a girl?!" the teen in blue gasped, his face turning a bubblegum-pink as the two of you briefly made eye contact.
...What's this guy's problem? Does he not believe that females can fight or something? Or is that he's angry? Well, people are said to turn green from jealousy, so I don't see why they can't turn pink from anger... What did I do to make him so mad? Well, then again, I did kidnap him, so it's understandable that he's ticked off... you thought. "Well, I'm a little mad that you destroyed my home and wrecked Sensei's things, plus, you lied to me, so I am in no mood to listen to whatever you might have to say."
Before you had a chance to hack away at the skeleton, Dart let out an enraged howl and blasted ice at the male, freezing him solid as you brushed some of the rime off your shoulder. "Thanks for the backup, girl, but be careful next time," you grinned at the dragon who gave a little indignant huff.
Looking around, you found that your little (well, big now) companion had taken out the rest of the bone men, leaving you a little disappointed at how boring it all was. "Well, whatever," you sighed, watching the pile of bones start bouncing their way away from you in an almost comical fashion as you gave your back a good stretch.
Turning to the humans that were carefully observing you, you gave them a close-eyed smile and asked "Well then, how should I take care of you five?"
"H-hold on," the male in black interrupted, causing the grin to drop from your face, "Can you release Kai first?"
"Kai?" you echoed in confusion, before realising he probably meant the fire user who was still trapped in your air prison, seeming to start to suffocate. "Ah, of course," you beamed, snapping your fingers, causing the cage to disappear and drop this 'Kai' person into your arms.
"Now that we're all alone, shall we talk?" you ask rhetorically, gripping the back of the human's neck while you pressed a kunai to his throat with your dominant hand. "What are you planning to do with the Void Vanquisher if you get your hands on it?" you inquire, still smiling politely at the intruders in front of you.
"Well, what do you plan to do with the information we tell you?!" the guy in blue ('J', his name was, you recalled) responded, glaring at you before breaking eye contact.
"Ah, ah, ah~" you tutted, "I asked first so you shall answer my question before we continue the conversation,"
"I am trying to find the Void Vanquisher's true master and then bring them back to my home, a monastery. They can choose to either join the ninja on their missions or stay and help around the house. In the end, I just want to protect them from my brother, Lord Garmadon." the old man answered your question, earning a satisfied hum from you.
"Now I shall answer your question about what I will do with the information you tell me. I want to see if you are trustworthy enough to-" Before you could finish, a four-armed skeleton leapt out from the shadows and swung your fake replica of the Void Vanquisher down at you, causing the group of humans to yell out in alarm.
Ticked off, you instantly summoned a sword out from your pocket dimension and parried the strike from the enemy. As a blinding light temporarily blinded you, you hissed under your breath, knowing that you messed up and pulled out the real Void Vanquisher. Though you weren't able to see, you pushed your hostage away from you to his teammates and began to attack back. Spinning on your heel, you landed a roundhouse kick on the humanoid's ribs, a sick crack ringing through the cave as you heard something smash into the cavern wall.
"You-! You tricked me?!" the skeleton screamed out in rage as you tried to blink away the white spots from your vision, only to no avail.
"Right back at you," you replied, deciding to straight up not rely on your sight and instead on your five other senses, mainly sound and aura sensing. "You told me that you will leave me alone as soon as I handed the weapon to you, yet you didn't. If it's one thing Sensei taught me to never tolerate, it's being lied to. One would only lie to a person if they thought that they could get away with it, therefore implying that they were thought of as stupid enough to fall for it. Tricks of your level do not work on me, fool." you sigh, blocking another strike from the skeleton as you summoned another cloud of darkness around you and your enemy.
"Aha!" the voice of 'J' exclaimed, catching your attention, "I've got you now, Samukai!" Before you could tell him to stop, you felt your ears register a loud crackling rushing towards you from your left. Before you had the chance to dodge, the bolts of hot white electricity rammed into you, consuming the battlefield around you as a pained yelp escaped your lips. Feeling a buzzing sensation coursing under your skin, you felt electricity and jagged light consume your senses as you felt your mind go blank, trying your hardest to at least not blackout which in and of itself was a struggle.
Finally, when the crackling faded away along with the cloud of shadow that you were no longer able to keep up, you felt your knees buckle under the suddenly strenuous weight of your body, and your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you seemingly gasped for air. Though your body almost collapsed to the floor and your consciousness wavered, you managed to push through the numbness in your muscles. Stumbling back up before your knees could make contact with the cavern floor, you gritted your teeth and found that you had lost your sense of hearing, a deafening buzzing filling your ears instead. That being said, you did regain your sight, so it wasn't completely terrible.
The rushed thumping of your heart louder than the pulsing in your ears, you decided to abandon your melee fighting style since your limbs were too stiff and your trembling fingers were barely able to latch onto the handle of your tsurugi. Dismissing the Void Vanquisher to your inventory, you found yourself barely managing to dodge the broadsword coming your way, your muscles screaming out in pain.
It wasn't until you felt the cold hard stone floor slam into your knees that you realised your legs had given way, allowing gravity to take hold of you and pull you to the ground. Suddenly, you feel something warm and wet seeping down onto your snow-white boots, the soft drip-drip-dripping taking a while to register in your clouded mind. The familiar stench of iron fills the air as you feel the five humans stare at you in fear or awe, you couldn't tell.
You forced yourself to stand despite the protest from your still legs, wiping away the liquid that leaked out from the corner of your mouth. The pain smears the world into a pounding blur as you struggle to stay on your feet, your face somehow retaining its cool facade. Your movements awkward and strained, like that of a puppet on strings, you glared directly into the skeleton's blazing red eyes, unwilling to — unable to — back down.
"You're bleeding from all the orifices in your body, girl," your enemy remarks, pointing out the obvious, "You're dying. Hand over the Void Vanquisher and rest for the rest of time."
Your grime-stained nails draw bloody half-moons in your palm as a thin keening sound comes next, stretching long through the air. It's a strange sound, and it's not until the birds start taking off from the trees that you realise the laughing is coming from you. Throwing your head back, you let the sounds slip from your throat as beads of bloody-red roll down from your face, dying the world a deep scarlet.
"I am the protector of the Void Vanquisher!" you cackle, elemental energy swirling on your palms as you got ready to push your body past its limits, past the edge that you have never gone past before. "I will protect the blade even after death! I will ensure that you won't even get it over my dead body!"
Author's note:
Thank you for reading this chapter. It was 2514 words long and I hoped you enjoyed it. The fighting is almost over so don't worry about this dragging on for too long. I'll see you in the next chapter :)