The Bounty descended into Ninjago City as Aki watched, leaning against the railing. He did that a lot, he realised. It was nice watching the landscape below. Aki winced, putting a hand to his head as his headache suddenly returned.
"You okay?" Cole asked from beside him, startling the clone.
"What?"
"Does your head still hurt?"
Aki looked away, his voice barely audible above the wind. "It's better."
That wasn't a lie, per se- his head had stopped spinning every time he stood up- but it still hurt like the Cursed Realm.
"Good." Cole rested his arm on the edge of the balcony. "We got a call from the museum."
"So?"
"So while we check it out, you stay here, on the ship."
"What? But there's nothing to do on the ship!" Aki protested, stepping away from the edge with a slight wobble.
Cole shrugged. "Too bad. You're still hurt."
"I am not!"
"You were in a coma for a week," Cole deadpanned.
Aki had no response to that, so he settled for glaring at Cole.
Cole glared back at him.
Aki gave up.
"Fine," he groaned. "Just don't take too long. I don't want to sit here by myself for however many hours you take."
"You won't be by yourself. You'll be with Nya."
"That isn't better!"
"It's better than being alone with me." Cole crossed his arms.
"Fine, I'll stay with Nya." Aki threw up his arms in defeat. He watched enviously from the Bounty's deck as the ninja entered the museum. He looked over at Nya who was busy tinkering with her communication device. She wouldn't notice if he was gone for a few seconds... right?
The clone slid down the still-dropped anchor, dropping to the street below. His head still pounded from the headache but he ignored it, shoving the pain aside and continuing to follow the ninja. He refused to be left out again. Just because he was in a coma for a week doesn't mean he couldn't fight evil and almost get killed.
He had to prove himself to them.
He stuck to the shadows, his footsteps quieter than his breathing- to be fair, though, his breath was heavier than normal. It took effort just to stay standing. Aki then saw the ninja round the corner heading down the hall. He walked right behind them and they didn't even notice.
-X-
"Thank heavens you're here," the curator exclaimed as the ninja accompanied by Sensei Wu stepped through the doors of the museum.
"We heard there was an emergency?" Wu asked, fatigue and grief still evident in his voice.
"Yes, come, come. Quickly, this way." The curator waved them down a long hallway. "The Stone Warrior exhibit opens to the public tonight, and this couldn't have come at a worse time."
"What? What couldn't've come at a worse time?" Jay asked, a note of panic in his voice.
"The venom of the Great Devourer seems to have had a most unusual after-effect." He gestured towards the side of the hallway, where several people were attempting to scrub green, rancid-smelling liquid out of the carpet. All four of the ninja recoiled in disgust as the smell hit their noses- the putrid stench of decay and ancient evil.
"That stinks!" Cole exclaimed, waving the smell away from his watering eyes.
"Indeed," the curator said, staring sadly at the carpet. He sighed. "Well, here we are."
"The gift shop?" Zane asked curiously.
"Yes. The toxicity in the venom seems to have brought our merchandise to life." The man opened the heavy wooden double-doors and led them inside. "Once again, I do appreciate your help. Though... I don't recall the red ninja having eyes to match."
He chuckled, waiting for a response. When he didn't get one, probably due to the visible and apparent confusion on every ninja's face. "Oh, and please, could you contain the fighting to the gift shop? The doors to the new exhibit will be opening soon. Thank you." He closed the doors and the ninja were left inside.
Amidst the noise of the figurines attacking each other, they all turned to the evil clone, who was not supposed to be there.
"Aki!" they all groaned in unison (except Sensei Wu, who was both too wise and too tired of Aki to react).
The clone stared at them for a moment.
"I, uh. I-"
"You were supposed to stay on the ship!" Cole exclaimed in disbelief and frustration.
"I did! You just never said how long I needed to stay at the Bounty!"
"I-" Lloyd cut Cole off.
"I think we have a different problem." He gestured to the wild merchandise.
Right then and there all of the merchandise stopped fighting with each other and turned to the ninja. One of them (the leader, Aki thought) stood in front of the others. "Choo chi cha!" It yelled.
Suddenly, the mass of mini figures swarmed the ninja.
Oh no.
-X-
Aki watched in mild amusement as the little figurines swarmed the other ninja, attacking them. He kicked a few of them away from where they were trying to strike.
"Watch out!"
Aki looked up just in time to see a stone figurine leaping off of the bookshelf beside him, landing on the clone's face. "Akcha bulacha!" The souvenir began hacking away at Aki's nose with its sword. The ninja attempted - and failed - to grab the little minion as it scrambled up to his head, ripping out a handful of brown hair. Aki winced and grabbed the miniature statue, throwing it to the floor and smashing it with a book. And then stomping on it. Repeatedly.
The other ninja turned to face him.
"What?"
"I require assistance!" Aki jumped out of the way as the mini warriors rammed Zane's head first into the door. The leader stood on the ice ninja's head, pointing at the door and calling out the charges.
"Hey, leave the nindroid alone!" Cole and Jay ran toward him. The little warriors tipped a bucket of rubber balls into their path, they were on the floor before they knew it. Aki snickered, earning a glare from Cole.
Lloyd was fending off the mischievous merchandise in a corner. Aki saw two of the statue-like minions on the shelf above pushing a heavy, metal bust of a stone warrior over the edge.
"Lloyd-" Aki began to warn him, but the statue went over the edge and hit the chosen one in the head. Lloyd fell to the ground with a groan.
"Stupid little guy!" he said, swatting three of the tiny figurines away.
"Let's put an end to this. Ninjaaaa, go!" Cole spun into a tornado. Jay and Zane joined in seconds later. The sound of several pots shattered accompanied the destruction of the minifigures. Aki glanced to the side. Lloyd sighed at the current state of the gift shop- completely ruined.
"Whoops," Jay said nervously, stepping over the shards of a rather nice vase. "Maybe they have insurance?"
Everyone, even Aki, laughed.
"Hey, where's my uncle?" Lloyd asked, suddenly realising Wu's absence. The ninja glanced around, catching sight of the open door.
"He must've left," Jay said.
"We should go," Cole gestured at the destruction and everyone nodded quickly. No one was prepared for what would happen next.
-X-
A little copy of a stone warrior ran giggling from the gift shop, catching Wu's attention as it fled. He ran after it.
"Come here you little-" He stomped on it, reducing it to a pile of dust. He sighed.
The sound of a door creaking open behind him caught his attention before he even had a chance to think.
He turned around, then gasped. That hair- that- it couldn't be.
"Misako?" He asked in disbelief. The woman turned, shock and recognition filling her widened eyes before she smiled.
"Wu." She stepped towards him. Her grey hair shone in the light of the museum as she smiled. "It's been a long time."
"It has," he replied almost sorrowfully. She tilted his head, concern for him visible in her eyes.
"You seem tired, Wu. What happened?"
"I..." He sighed, turning away. "I lost one of my students. The Master of Fire."
A familiar flood of guilt hit him, the same feeling he'd felt after Morro's disappearance. He'd thought that wound had closed, scarred over so many years ago. Kai's death had torn it open again, fresh grief like blood pooling in the wound- crimson blood shining like tears. How could he have lost another student?
"I-" Misako began.
"Sensei, who's that?" Cole interrupted. He walked down the hallway with his friends behind him.
"This is Misako," Wu began to explain, "Lloyd's mother."
"My... my mother?" Lloyd's eyes widened in shock.
"Ah, Lloyd?" Misako asked, sadness in her eyes as she turned to her son. "My little boy. You're so much bigger than I remember."
"Yeah, well, it's been a long time," he snapped, taking a step back. There was a bitterness in his voice- a product of the grief of losing Kai.
"I didn't want us to meet like this. There's a reason I've-"
"Save it!"
Misako was stunned.
"Lloyd-?"
"You could've been there! You were out here this whole time! You didn't come get me when they kicked me out of Darkley's-"
"You were kicked out of Darkley's?" Misako asked, almost silently.
"-and you weren't there when Kai died!"
Lloyd was crying now, tears streaming down his face as he took another step away. And another, and then he turned and ran.
"Lloyd, wait, please!" Misako called after him, desperation in her voice as she reached for her son. But he was already gone.
"He's right, you know," Aki hissed, stepping forwards, something like protective fury dripping from his voice. "You abandoned him."
"I never wanted to leave him, or Garmadon. Long before Wu knew who would be the Green Ninja, I knew it would be him. I was trying to find a way to prevent the prophecy, to protect him."
"Well you did a terrible job."
"I know," She admitted, not meeting Aki's eyes. She didn't elaborate. There was nothing more to say.
Aki scowled and stormed off, followed closely by Cole.
"I apologise for Aki's behaviour," Zane began. "He-"
"No," she sighed. "He's right. I should have been a better mother to Lloyd."
"We should look for him," Jay suggested.
Wu nodded. "That would be wise. Misako and I will search for Lloyd. Jay, you and Zane find Cole and Aki."
"But-" Jay sighed. "Yes, sensei."
Wu and Misako walked through the halls of the museum together, searching for Lloyd.
"I thought the Master of Fire was dead," she said finally, glancing at Wu.
"He is."
"Then who was the one in red?"
Wu sighed deeply, pulling his hat a little further over his face.
"He is Garmadon's doing. Using the Golden Weapons, he created duplicates of the ninja. Evil ones. Aki is one of those."
"I see," Misako replied, troubled. She pursed her lips, taking a second before she spoke again. "Why keep him around then?"
"We needed an elemental master of fire to train Lloyd, although I wish that we had time to properly honour Kai. The grief of his loss has affected everyone." Wu looked down with pain. The sadness he felt constrained his voice, like he couldn't talk.
"That's not all, is there?"
Wu paused, contemplating his own emotions. "I couldn't hurt him. He was too much like Kai, I..." The words died in his throat.
"He was right about me."
"What?" Wu stopped.
"I should've been there for Lloyd. It's... hard, to lose a friend like that." She looked away, the memory of her husband's corruption still fresh in her mind.
"The past is past," Wu sighed, "but there is always the future."
Misako smiled. "You're right. I need to make things right with my son."
"Speaking of Lloyd," Wu added, gesturing to a nearby exhibit. Lloyd sat at the edge of the bottomless sinkhole, staring down into it.
"Oh- Lloyd," she said softly, breaking away from Wu to go to her son. Wu watched, in hope that they'd reconcile. There was enough division between his family as it was. They didn't need any more rifts between people- gaping chasms torn between them by the hands of destiny. Wu could only hope those chasms would fill with time, but time was something they were quickly running out of. The balance was already shifting far too quickly towards the side of evil. The Final Battle wasn't far off, but for now, maybe they could heal their broken family.
Wu smiled as Misako sat down next to Lloyd, and left to find the ninja. He had a feeling they would be needed very soon.