Written by: dxganronpa
Seeing the redhead in tears, the team stood in shock at the ice ninja's words. None of them had expected that.
"Kill... kill my sister?" Red had widened eyes. "No matter who does it, it..."
"There's gotta be another way. Zane, are you sure you didn't misunderstand Sensei?" Kai asked, rapidly shaking his head in denial.
"I'm afraid not," the nindroid answered with a frown. "Although I too wish there could be a different option."
"Why would you hold out on this?" Cole questioned, almost angry. "If we had known we could've—!"
"I saw the way her eyes changed on the ship and so did the rest of you," Nya spoke up, cutting the earth ninja off. "What if... what if we can bring her back before she's fully taken over?"
Hearing her words, Mia sniffled and lifted her head from Lloyd's chest. "Wait... what?"
"I just think... that maybe we could still have a chance," she admitted, her head hung low and tears stung her eyes. "I don't want her to die."
"I just watched Mia die like, an hour ago. I can't do that again with another friend... and not see her wake up." Jay ran a hand through his hair, looking away from the team. "So if Nya has any chance of being right... I'll take that chance."
"But what if she's wrong? What if she's not in there anymore?" Ellie asked. "I don't want to think that, I really don't... but..."
"Then we fight," Lloyd answered, keeping his arm around his girlfriend in reassurance with a determined look on his face. "I don't want to fight her anymore than you all do—she was my friend too, after all. But we have to save this city, or there won't be a Ninjago anymore."
The others stayed silent for a few seconds, taking his words into deep thought. He was right, Ninjago was in despair and the only way to save it was to defeat the enemy once and for all—no matter who they faced.
Mia shut her eyes tightly, clenching his gi in her fists. "Lloyd... I can't. She's my best friend, and I—!"
"Hey," he stopped her, looking down at her with a serious look. "You were the ones on our asses earlier telling us not to give up. So don't say you can't, because you can do anything. Ninja never quit, remember?"
Mia frowned at his words, but understood. "You... you're right."
"But we take to Nya's idea first. Like Jay said, if there's even the smallest chance of her still being in there... I'm willing to take it." He then grabbed Mia by the shoulders, looking her in the eyes despite their puffiness. "Are you?"
She nodded, engulfing him a hug. "Of course I am... always."
"Then let's go!" Kai punched his fists together, more determined than ever. "I'm ready to take down these shadows once and for all!"
Mia pulled away from Lloyd, nodding with a small smile. "Yeah... and I have just the plan to catch them off guard."
* * *
Scarlett fiddled with her fingers as her mother let out an exasperated sigh. Guess she wasn't too happy about me losing her powers.
"How did her powers end up in her grasp?" the queen asked, her back turned to the dark-haired girl.
"I was caught off guard, I guess... I couldn't move. It was like something was stopping me from getting it back," Scarlett confessed, her head hung low. "I'm sorry, Mother."
Although slightly disappointed, the queen only sighed once again. "You need to control your mind, dear. Take control—be in charge."
Be in charge. She knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Do not let something like this happen again—even though it will be very difficult for the Ninja to stop us now, Miss Brooklyn has her powers. Anything can happen, and be on guard."
"Yes, Mother," Scarlett answered obediently, her head hung low.
She knew she still wasn't fully in control of her mind, as the actual Scarlett was still fighting for control. But she couldn't let that happen, not now when things were getting more and more intense by the minute.
* * *
Scarlett stood in the shadows, humming a soft tune to herself. When she heard footsteps, almost dead silent, she stopped and waited.
Then they stopped. But she knew better.
"I know you're there. Which Ninja... Mia?"
"Unfortunately, you are mistaken." Red then took a few steps forward, revealing himself in the dim light. "I thought my dear sister would recognize my footsteps."
"Oh, so you did that on purpose. I figured someone who was with the Ninja wouldn't let themselves get caught so easily," the dark-haired teen said with a small sigh. "And here I thought my dear brother would join us—guess we were both wrong."
"I would never devote myself to a cause such as this. You took away the person I was trying to reunite with all these years—I cannot forgive that." Red then let his hands drop to his sides, dark magic swirling around them.
"Hmph." Scarlett smirked a bit, doing the same. "You plan on fighting me with the same powers? Don't make me laugh."
"No, that was not my intention," he told her, the end of his lips lifting up in the smallest smirk, feeling a bit confident. "And you are not the one I intend on fighting, either."
When seeing the confused look on her face, he took a step back just as Scarlett heard the sound of running from behind her. She was barely able to dodge the attack the purple ninja made as she held her arms up in front of her like an x.
"I knew something was fishy," she mumbled.
She had to admit though, the redhead looked seriously badass with her ninja hood off, her expression almost dark as she surprise-attacked her.
"Where's the rest of your possy?" the dark-haired girl asked, dodging every punch and kick her opponent threw at her.
But Mia said nothing, not stopping for a second. She knew she'd get a good hit and eventually, she did. She kicked her former friend back a bit and she slid right into another ninja, who grabbed her by the arms.
"This feels familiar."
Scarlett scowled, turning around to see her in the arms of the fire ninja. "Let me go!"
But he had no intention to as he instead kicked his leg under hers, making her fall. He pinned her to the ground just as the others showed up, revealing themselves from within the shadows.
"Give it up, Scarlett," Cole said as they surrounded her.
She looked up at them all, anger growing within her. "You can't defeat us... no matter what, there will always be a leader for the shadows. So get rid of me, if that's what your plan is—because my mother is still out there, making sure you don't interfere."
"We know. And that is why I must say my final goodbye," Red spoke up, already at the door and ready to leave.
"You... you wouldn't dare hurt her." Scarlett glared at him. "Let alone defeat her."
And although it pained him, it really did—she was his mother, after all—he only gave her a determined look. "Watch me. Goodbye, Scarlett." And without another word, he left the room in pursuit of the queen.
"You think he'll be alright on his own?" Jay asked.
"He can hold his own ground—if need be, we can always send one of us to help him," Zane answered.
"When that time is, let me know—I'd love a good fight with her for taking my friend," Nya said determinedly.
"But for now, we deal with the issue at hand—" Lloyd began, but was quickly cut off when Scarlett kicked Kai off of her, getting to her feet and doing a few flips back to keep her distance.
"I've had enough of this." Scarlett's eyes continued to flash purple as she held her hands at her hips, one bursting into dark flames of her element while the other had dark power swirling around her fingertips. "All seven of you intend to fight me? Bring it on—I'm not showing any mercy."
"Well neither are we." Mia had the same scary look, the only difference being the glow of her hands from her light element. The two stood in front of each other, unmoving.
Cole looked behind him, giving Ellie a serious look. "Hide out somewhere, Ellie. This is about to get real ugly real fast."
With a quick nod, she placed a hand on his arm. "Please, just... just be careful, alright? Come back safe."
"I promise, we will," he assured her, placing his hand where hers was. "And when we're done, the city will be safe once again."
The brunette looked to Scarlett, and although only knowing her a short time since first meeting, she thought of her as a friend. Guess this is goodbye, huh? I wish... I wish we could've known each other longer. We probably could've been good friends, even.
With those parting words in her head, Ellie fled the scene. She stayed closeby, but not close enough where she was directly involved in the battle.
It may have been one against seven, but both sides were determined to win.
* * *
Red rushed through the halls of the Bounty, not exactly knowing where the queen would be. Not on deck, he found himself running into the Bridge.
She stood with her back facing him, hands folded in front of her. "Hello again, my son... I see you aren't with your team."
"Although more have the ability to... only two people have the right to defeat you, and one of said people are under your control. That leaves me," Red told her as he straightened his arm, letting a dagger slip into his hand from inside his sleeve.
"Hmph." The queen seemed amused, turning around with her lips curved up in a small smirk. "So, tell me... your sister is fighting the ninja below us and you intend to fight me, your mother, all alone?"
"Correct."
"And how exactly do you plan on living with yourself, knowing you were the reason to never see me again—that is, if you can even defeat me?"
Tightening his grip on the dagger, dark power filling his other hand, he glared at her. "Because you are not my mother. You may have her body, but the woman in front of me is not the one I can call my mother."
"If that's how you truly feel..." The queen held both her hands out, letting her own dark power create a sword. "Then I will make your death quick, and I can return to my rule. I hope you're aware of the consequences of your actions, however."
He sighed, nodding his head. "If I put an end to you, then all hope of returning my sister is gone. She will become completely one with the shadows. But if I do not stop you, here and now... Ninjago has no chance of being saved. Both of you must meet your demise."
"Hmm... I truly wish I could have seen you grow up into the man you are now," she said, her voice softened—but her face had the same, snarky look as she was ready to fight. "If things had turned out differently, you would have made a wonderful asset to us—the army would be at your feet."
Red said nothing at this, only glared at her for a few more seconds before she first charged at him with the sword. He blocked her attack, holding the dagger up, the two blades clashing. He then kicked her back, holding his hand out and using the dark magic to form a rope around her wrists, tying it to the wall from the distance he was.
"Don't assume I can't do the same thing," she mumbled, using the sword to slice through the rope. But that gave him just the right opportunity to run in, holding the dagger to her throat.
The queen stood still, watching him. She did nothing as he scowled, his hand shaking a bit. The only thing she was able to do was laugh at his hesitance.
"I knew you were incapable of doing it." The queen lifted her knee a bit, harshly kicking him back and making him drop the dagger from the shock.
"Shit," he whispered to himself, clenching his fist.
Red barely caught her rushing toward him with the sword. She was ready to strike him but he held his arm up and instead of striking him in the chest where it would be fatal, she got his arm instead.
He grunted, yanking his arm back and watching the blood drip from the wound. The queen had already picked up his dagger, now holding two weapons and leaving him with none.
"Face it, Red," she said softly as she stepped toward him, her arm slowly lifting up with the blade, ready to bring it down once more. "You think you have the willpower to defeat me, but you let your emotions get in the way. With that, you'll never be able to get rid of me."
And just as she was about to bring the blade down and finish her son off for good, a boomerang-like weapon came flying in and knocked the dark sword out of her hand. "What?!"
A flash of blue then appeared, kicking the queen to the floor. Red's eyes widened as he found Jay hovering over her with a glare, Nya catching the weapon that had come back to her and holding him by his injured and still heavily bleeding arm.
The samurai then slapped him upside the head. "What do you think you're doing, letting your guard down like that? We haven't known you for long, Red, we really haven't, but come on. I know you're stronger than that."
"You're a tough guy," Jay agreed, grinning a bit. "So don't let this get to you, yeah? We'll help you finish her once and for all."
"But... what about my...?" he began, a bit at a loss for words at their sudden appearance.
"She's unable to hear us, but... we said our goodbyes. Just in case, you know," Jay answered with a small frown. "I'm sure we'll finish the queen off before Scarlett, so we'll hopefully have time to get back."
"But I mean it." Nya glared up at Red. "No more pity. Jay and I will be right behind you, like he said, but you have to finish the job, you hear?"
Finally regaining his senses, Red nodded determinedly. "I apologize... you are right."
As the queen got back to her feet, she glared at the two who now stood on both sides of Red. "You... you'll pay!"
"No, they won't." Red pointed at her, a stronger knife formed from his own magic appearing in his hand as he glared hard, any remaining sympathy or remorse gone. "It is you that will pay dearly."
This was a fight he couldn't lose.