Written by: miamidnightt
"I'm fucking done with this shit!"
Mia was furious with those shadows, grabbing the knife hidden in her boot and placing the hilt in her mouth, resting the metal of the chains against the blade— She was lucky enough that she didn't have her powers now, because it would take her way longer to break free of Vengestone.
Lloyd glanced over at her, "M, what do you think you're doing? Don't you see... the shadows won after all."
Finally, the redhead was able to break the chains off her wrists, as they fell with a loud clank! She didn't waste a second with grabbing the Green Ninja by the collar of his Gi and glaring sternly at him in the eyes.
"Lloyd... I don't want to hear you say that ever again!" She spat, her voice seething with anger, "What's it you guys always say? Ninja never quit, right? Well, why don't you take your own advice and get your fucking act together! This city is in need of our help and I don't care how we do it, just stop acting like all you care about are yourselves!"
All the Ninja widened their eyes at her.
"But Mia— You saw what they've done to the city. All the people, it's dark and—!" Jay tried to protest, but got a shove from the Purple Ninja, who wasn't having any of his excuses.
The redhead had enough of them, crossing her arms over her chest, "What the hell is wrong with you guys?! You call yourselves Ninja and yet, you're acting like... like this! We don't have time to hide and be scared! We're the Saviors of Ninjago, for God's sake...!"
Nya nodded, humming in agreement, "She's right— we got to get our act together and save this city! We were in charge of protecting the people and we failed to do that, the least we could do is save them all."
"Exactly!" Mia grinned, glad that one person was still with her, "Now, if you boys plan to stay here and pout— that's fine by me! But I'm saving this city, there's no doubt about that."
Lloyd shook his head, clearing his mind of all thoughts, "What the hell...?! This isn't like me— Mia's right. We can't let this fear control us!"
After a few minutes, everyone else was on board and it was the Black Ninja who spoke up first, breaking the silence, "Well, do you have a plan in mind, Mia? It won't be easy taking back the city from those shadows."
Mia nodded.
"Actually, I have one," But she frowned a bit afterward, furrowing her eyebrows and taking a breath, "But the only way we can make this work... is if we can get my powers back! I'm sure they're still in that dagger."
Kai shook his head, "B-But that's impossible! I'm certain they won't let you just go in there and steal your powers back— they probably have them protected too."
"Like I give a fuck," Mia scoffed, walking over to Lloyd and beginning to break the chains off his wrists, going around and doing the same with the others. Once she finished, she wiped the small beads of sweat off her forehead, "I'm getting them back, because they belong to me and only me. No one else."
The Green Ninja patted her on the head, "Don't worry, we'll get them back to you— and that I can promise you. We have to end this for sure!"
"And no matter what Scarlett says, I'll make sure to bring her back."
With that in mind, the Ninja rushed into the Bounty, knowing well that the Queen and Scarlett would be around somewhere. The redhead rushed below deck, glad that the shadows were down in the city instead of on the Bounty.
* * *
Both Scarlett and her mother were oblivious, not realizing that the Ninja had escaped their chains and were now taking action to fight back against them. But it was the dark-haired teen who noticed they had gone missing from the deck.
"M-Mother... The Ninja are gone!" Scarlett alerted the Queen, who rushed over to her daughter's side and realized that what she said was true. "What do we do now? It's obvious that they plan to foil our plans."
The Queen growled under her breath.
"Search this whole ship and the city— I don't want those Ninja ruining our plans when we've already come this far! And as for this..." Her mother pulled out the dagger infused with Mia's light, staring down at it before handing it over to Scarlett, "Make sure that dear Brooklyn does not get her hands on her power. That's the last thing we need on our hands."
Scarlett nodded, tucking the dagger into her belt, "Don't worry, you can trust me with it. I won't let her come close to getting it back."
"I know you won't," The Queen patted her daughter on the head, nodding and taking her leave from the room. She knew Scarlett wouldn't fail her like so many of the shadows have already done— But the dark-haired teen had no idea what awaited her once she came face-to-face with those Ninja.
With the click of her heels echoing down the halls, she twirled the dagger through her fingers before placing it back in it's hiding spot she made for it. But the sound of faint, hushed voices rang in her ears from down the hall— Without a second though, the merciless girl rushed towards them, easily spotting the Ninja through the small opening of the door, one that had been left empty.
"Found you!" Scarlett laughed, causing the group of heroes to whip around at the sound of her voice, her footsteps approaching them, "Seriously? You think hiding away from us shadows is gonna do you good? Look around you— there's nothing left for you to look forward to. Just give up while you can."
No one spoke towards her— But that changed when someone surprised attacked her from behind, a blur of red was all it took for her to know exactly who it was. With little effort, she easily threw the redhead off her with a growl in her tone.
"Don't fucking touch me again!" She snapped, drawing out her weapon but it just so happened to be the dagger with the redhead's powers in it— the warm light inside seemed to move towards one end of the blade, in the direction where Mia laid on the floor in front of the dark-haired teen.
Lloyd rushed over to Mia's side, helping her to her feet, "Are you alright, Red?"
"I'm fine," The redhead reassured him, patting him on the shoulder and taking a step forward, her eyebrows digging straight towards her fierce eyes, "Scarlett, I won't stop believing that you're in there somewhere— And I promise to save you, I swear on that."
Scarlett laughed at this, "Prepare to be disappointed, love— Because the girl you once knew, she's now gone forever. You'll never see her again."
Those words felt like a thousand knives stabbing her in the back, pulling her down with a heavy despair filling up her chest— But she ignored the pain she felt, rushing at her former friend with a boiling anger that didn't want to go out.
"You—!" She hissed, pinning her down and swiping the dagger from her hands, standing up and backing away from the dark-haired girl in front of her, "Don't ever say such things like that again, because I know that isn't you!"
"And what's there to stop me?" Scarlett asked, the smirk clear on her face.
Mia didn't answer her question, staring down at the light infused dagger and it made her extremely confused— She hadn't exactly figured out how to return her powers back to herself once she got her hands on the dagger.
A laugh erupted in her ears, causing the redhead to glance up at her adversary, "You Ninja are such fools! The only way to return your powers back is if you stab yourself like I did to obtain those powers in the first place— Of course, I'm sure you don't have the guts to do so."
"Watch me," Mia whispered, pointing the dagger towards her stomach and taking a deep breath, plunging the blade into her skin and wincing.
"Mia...!" Lloyd yelped at her sudden action, rushing over to her side immediately.
But the Purple Ninja was too far off to hear his words, feeling a glowing light enter her body and spread through her veins— it was like the power finally became a part of her again. That she didn't feel like something was missing and once the light had completely left the dagger, she pulled it out and threw it at Scarlett's feet, her wound disappearing and her eyes glowed a soft gold color.
Scarlett blinked, angered at herself for letting the redhead get her powers back, "How... How is this even possible? You don't deserve those powers! You can't foil our plans— not when we've made it this far!"
"Oh?" Mia tilted her head in interest, not able to hide the smirk playing across her lips and rocked on the heels of her feet, "With the way I see things, these powers belonged to me to begin with— You were the ones who stole it to begin with. If anything, I'd say you're the one who doesn't deserve them."
Not sure what to do now, the girl boiling with anger lunged at the redhead, grabbing a fist full of her hair and pulling at it— Mia winced, forcing herself not to cry out in pain and was glad that the other Ninja were able to pull Scarlett off her.
While still stunned, Scarlett didn't even realize that the group of heroes had fled from the room until her eyes had refocused to her surroundings. Knowing this, the dark-haired girl cursed under her breath and got back on her feet— She knew she had failed to stop the Purple Ninja from getting her powers back and hoped her mother wouldn't be mad.
But out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a flash of someone running down the halls and trying to make a quick escape. Without even thinking, she grabbed the person and found a trembling brunette in her grasp.
"Ah, seems I found the sister to that redhead," She chuckled darkly, tightening her grip around Ellie's neck and she struggled to breath, "Maybe you could be of use to me."
"Hey...!"
Scarlett wanted to ignore the person— But unfortunately, someone knocked her in the back of the head and she dropped the brunette. Cole rushed forward, taking hold of the girl in his arms before she hit the floor. Shaking, the girl clung to him and coughed a bit, trying to get the air back in her lungs.
The Black Ninja patted her on the back, "Hey, hey... You're alright now. What happened back there, El? Did they have you captured too?"
"N-No," Ellie shook her head, her voice a bit groggy as she spoke to him, "I stayed back on the Bounty when you guys left, remember? They kinda just waltzed on the ship like they owned the place and I knew I had to hide from them."
"You're a smart girl," Cole told her, giving her a pat on the head before ruffling up her hair playfully, causing a small laugh out of the girl.
They both stood up as the others approached them— The brunette was immediately engulfed in a heartwarming hug from her sister. The older hugged her back, rubbing circles on her back and kissing the top of her head. She knew things had been hard on her sister, but she wanted to let her know that she was here for her.
"Thanks... I needed that." Mia whispered, so that only her older sister could hear the words that left her mouth. She took this chance to clear her throat, turning to the others, "Okay, I don't know how we're gonna defeat these shadows, but there's gotta be some way."
"What if we destroyed the Queen?" Nya suggested, holding up her index finger.
Zane hummed in response to her idea, "That could work but at the same time, I am unsure if it will actually destroy all the shadows. They'd still have Scarlett as their leader, so the only way we can rid the shadows is if—"
Mia widened her eyes at his words, "W-Wait a minute, you aren't saying that—?!"
"That is exactly what I'm saying, unfortunately," The White Ninja continued, a deep frown forming on his face and he sighed, "We have to destroy Scarlett as well. It's the only way we can bring Ninjago back into a time of peace and not just anyone can kill her— it has to be done by you, Mia."
"W-What...? How do you know all of this, Zane?" She questioned, tears threatening to spill from her eyes at any moment.
The Ice Ninja furrowed his brows, staring down at the floor, "Because... Sensei told me that something like this would happen. He said the prophecy said that one Ninja would fall and that Ninja just so happened to be Scarlett. I am sorry to say this, Mia, but we have no other choice."
At this point, the redhead couldn't hold her tears back any longer— They flowed like a falling waterfall down her cheeks and Lloyd walked over to her, hesitant to touch her but she grabbed onto him out of desperation and cried harder.
The tears didn't seem to stop and all she could think of doing was crying. Her destiny was being so ruthless towards her that she didn't know what to do anymore.
But she had to kill her best friend— And that was something she had no choice over.