Chapter 21: The Stone Army

At the City of Ouroboros, two Venomaris are having a Slither Pit fight when a rattlecopter interrupted them. Chokun sets up a carpet, chair, umbrella, and puts a cocktail umbrella in a cup for Garmadon.

Chokun: "Yup. Ready!"

Garmadon: "Ah. It's so bright. I never understood how your kind could live in such heat"

Skalidor: "Lord Garmadon, what brings you to our humble dwelling?"

Garmadon: "The ninja may have destroyed my Mega Weapon, but I have an ingenious new plan"

Skales: (Whispering to Skalidor) "Are we sssstill allowing him to be in charge of us?"

Garmadon: "Earlier, when pirates mutinied our ship and locked us in the brig, Captain Soto's journal mentioned they have been looking for a fabled dark island created out of evil itself. Once we find it, its concentrated dark powers will help me-I mean, us! We could rule Ninjago together!"

Skales: "Oh, please. You're having us chase after fairy tales, now?"

Garmadon: "Not fairy tales, but a real place that existed long before any of us were around. A place full of untold power"

Skalidor: "Untold power? Count me in!"

Garmadon: "A place dripping with evil!"

Skalidor: "Evil. Sounds nice!"

Garmadon: "I'm looking for a few brave snakes. Who'll join me?"

Fangtom, Acidicus, and Skalidor: "Aye!"

Skales: "Oh!"

They go back into the rattlecopter.

At the Destiny's Bounty, the ninja are sleeping, but the alarm clock starts blaring, waking them up.

Cole: "Ugh" (He hits his head on the top bunk)

Jay: "Uh, Aah"! (He falls off his bed)

(Y/N): "Nope" (He rolls back over, while Spyke tries to shake him awake)

Kai throws something at the clock, making it hit a gramophone and makes it louder. The ninja groans, but Zane, being a Nindroid, is unaffected by the noise. Lloyd uses his Energy to shut it off.

Lloyd: "Is it Wednesday already?"

Jay: "Sunrise exercise. I hate sunrise exercise"

Wu: (Comes in, ringing a mini gong) "Ah. Good morning, morning, morning! Up, up. It's a new day, students"

(Y/N): (Sitting up) "I thought I threw that gong away..."

Wu: "I got a new one. Now, before we begin sunrise exercise, I noticed the dragon made another mess outside. It looks like a two-person job, hehe"

Cole: "Uh, what was that, Sensei?"

Kai: (Simultaneously) "Did I hear an SOS call come in?"

Zane: (Simultaneously) "I sense I need to be somewhere else"

(Y/N): (Simultaneously) "I call not doing it!"

Jay: "Lloyd, haha. I'm sure you got this, heh"

Lloyd: "Aww, you might've been able to dump chores on me when I was smaller, but I'm grown up now. That's not fair!"

Kai: (Sighs) "You're right, Lloyd. We need to settle this like men. With a round of Rock, Paper, Clamp! Okay, on three! One, two, three!"

Lloyd chooses rock but everyone else chose paper.

Jay: "Haha, paper beats rock!"

(Y/N): "Still undefeated!"

Lloyd: (Groans) "How does paper beat rock?" (Lloyd prepares to clean up the dragon) "I always have to do the dirty work"

Cole: "Hey, having a pet dragon requires a lot of responsibility"

Jay: "Didn't your mom ever let you have a pet?"

Lloyd: "I don't remember my mother. She abandoned me when I was really young"

(Y/N): "Hey, same!"

Kai: "She just left? Who took care of you?"

Lloyd: "I spent my whole life at Darkley's Boarding School"

Nya: "Hey, I have a mission for you guys" (She slides down the Bounty's anchor) "It's the Museum of Ninjago! They've asked for you guys! Something really strange has happened"

Kai: "What?"

Nya: "You're gonna have to see it to believe it"

Lloyd: "Here, Nya. Hold this" (He gives her the bag)

Nya: "Wait a minute. What am I supposed to do with these?" (She looks at the dragon) "Oh"

The ninja reach the museum.

Curator: "Oh, thank heavens you're here!"

Wu: "We heard there was an emergency?"

Curator: "Yes, come, come. Quickly, this way. The Stone Warrior exhibit opens to the public tonight, and this couldn't have come at a worse time"

Kai: "Uh, what couldn't have come at a worse time?"

Curator: "Ninjago City appreciates your help in destroying the Great Devourer some time back, but it appears its toxic venom has seeped into the city sewer system and has had the most unusual after-effect"

Ninja: (Simultaneously) "Aargh!"

Kai: (Simultaneously) "Ugh. It stinks!"

(Y/N): "My nose was just assaulted..."

The Curator opens the doors to the gift shop revealing the transformed merchandise

Curator: "The toxicity in the venom somehow brought our merchandise to life! They're so unruly. I just don't know who else to call!"

Zane: (Gets hit by one of the figurines) "Ah!"

Jay: "We've got this covered. I think we can handle a few toys"

Curator: "And please, could you contain the fighting to the gift shop? The doors to the new exhibit will be opening soon. Thank you" (He closes the doors and let the ninja do their job)

Jay swings his Nun-Chucks, breaking a few of them, at the same time, Lloyd is backed into a corner and gets a large metal bust dropped on his head.

Lloyd: "Whoa! Stupid little guy"

The toys drop a glass jar filled with rubber balls, which go ever and make Cole and Kai slip.

Kai: "Alright. Playtime's over. Ninja, go!" (He uses Spinjitzu)

Jay, Cole, and Zane: "Ninja, go!" (They do the same thing, only to destroy the entire gift shop)

(Y/N): (Now covered in broken toys as Spyke tries to push them off) "Why!?"

Zane: "Uh, oops"

Figurine: "Hahaha! Whoo! Hahaha!" (It escapes the room. Wu chases after it)

Wu: "Come here, you little..." (He stomps on it) "Ah. Huh?" (He sees someone come out of the other room) "Misako?"

Misako: "Wu"

Wu: "I, uh..."

Misako: "It's been a long time"

Jay: (Clears his throat; the ninja approach them) "So, uh, you gonna introduce us?"

Wu: (Clears his throat) "Uh, yes. This is Misako, Lloyd's mother"

Everyone gasps.

Lloyd: "My...my mother?"

Misako: "Ah. Lloyd? My little boy. You're so much bigger than I remember"

Lloyd: "Yeah, well, it's been a long time"

Misako: "I didn't want us to meet like this. I have a reason why I've been away"

Lloyd: "Well, I don't wanna hear it" (He walks away)

Misako: "Lloyd, wait. Please!"

Lloyd closes the door behind him.

Garmadon and the Generals are flying over the Endless Sea.

Garmadon: "The Endless Sea. I don't get it"

Skales: "It's because there is no land outside of Ninjago. We've been searching all day"

Garmadon: "The island must be out there. We'll do another lap"

Skales: (Whispering to the other Generals) "He's without his Mega Weapon. He's vulnerable"

Skalidor: "So how do you recommend getting rid of him?"

Garmadon: (Talking to Snike, the pilot) "Turn around. We need to find the island today!"

Snike: "Yes, Lord Garmadon"

Skales: "Ooh, there! Is that the island?"

Garmadon: "Where?" (Skales pushes him off.) "Aah!" (He lands in the Endless Sea)

Skalidor: "It's about time we had a Serpentine back in charge! All hail, Skales!"

Everyone: "All hail, leader of the Serpentine!"

Skales laughs maniacally.

Back at the museum, the ninja are trying to find Lloyd.

Misako: "Lloyd? Lloyd!" (They find him at the bottomless pit exhibit) "I'd watch your step. That sinkhole doesn't have a bottom, son. It's where I found the ancient Stone Warrior"

Lloyd: "Uh, 'son?' You've been gone my whole life! There's nothing you can say"

Misako: "Well, I'm going to talk anyway. You wanna know what I've been doing all this time? Long before Sensei Wu ever knew who would be the Green Ninja, I knew it would be you. And I knew you would eventually have to fight your father. I dropped you off at the Boarding School so I could go learn everything I could about the prophecy, in hope of one day preventing the final battle. Of good and evil. All this time, son, I've been trying to save you and your father. Long before time had a name, Ninjago was created by the First Spinjitzu Master-"

Lloyd: "Yeah, yeah. We've heard this story a hundred times"

Misako: "But you've only heard half of it. In Ninjago, there has always been balance between good and evil. So you know about how the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, but what if I were to tell you in order for there to be light, there must be shadow, and within shadow, there is darkness. The blackest of darkness that existed from the very beginning. An evil spirit called 'The Overlord'."

Zane: "Did you know about this, Sensei?"

Wu: "I had hoped if I'd kept the secret, that name would never be spoken again"

(Y/N): "Wait... Is that the dark evil that Zoroln was talking about?"

Lloyd: "Who is Zoroln?"

Kai: "Long story..."

Misako: "The balance was at stake, and their battle could have gone on for eternity. Each side powerful, neither could conquer the other until the Overlord created his indestructible warriors: the Stone Army. The Spinjitzu Master did what he could, but he knew he would soon be defeated. So instead of losing the war, he divided Ninjago in two. And lucky for us, since then there has been no trace of the Overlord or his Stone Army, until my recent discovery"

Kai: "So that's why the battle has yet to be decided. It was never finished"

Cole: "But where is this Dark Island? I've never heard of it"

Misako: "Disappeared, I presume. But the legend states that so long as the balance between good and evil remains even, the Overlord shall remain trapped from this world. I have always feared your father's ambition will ultimately lead to a shift in the balance. That is why he must be stopped"

Wu: "We have each felt the power of the First Spinjitzu Master, passed onto us in the form of the elemental weapons. But now that power has been inherited by the Green Ninja, which is why only Lloyd can defeat the ultimate evil, or else all of Ninjago will fall prey to its darkness"

Misako: "Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But faced with saving you and the world, I had no other choice"

The Stone Army exhibit opens, and the crowd chatters.

Curator: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you this museum's greatest find. It outdates every other piece we have here, found right underneath this very building. I give you, an ancient Stone Samurai Warrior!"

Everyone: "Whoa!" (The Devourer's venom seeps through the ceiling and lands on its head)

Man: "It's alive!"

Curator: "Impossible! It just looks life-like" (He gets grabbed and thrown onto a pillar)

Lloyd: (Offscreen) "Have you discovered a way to prevent me" (onscreen) "from facing my father?"

Misako: "I'm sorry, not yet. But I have reason to believe there's still hope"

The Stone Warrior breaks in, shocking everyone.

(Y/N): (To Stone Warrior) "No one invited you here!"

Jay: "Whoa! Excuse me!? Would somebody please tell me what the heck is that!?"

Misako: "The Stone Warrior"

Zane: "The Devourer's venom has awakened him!"

Cole: "Oh, great! Kai, take care of him*

Kai: "Um, me? Okay, blockhead. Take this!" (His sword breaks from the impact) "Well, in my mind's eye, I saw that playing out entirely differently. Whoa!"

Misako: "The Overlord created his Stone Army from an indestructible material only found on the Dark Island"

Kai: "Ah, great. You could've mentioned that earlier"

Wu: "Lloyd, use your powers"

He does so, and the Warrior is knocked back. The ninja cheer, but it wasn't damaged.

Cole: "Wait a minute. How are we supposed to destroy this thing?"

Misako: "You can't"

(Y/N): "Ok, that's just cheating!"

Jay: "Aaahh! Hehe, easy big guy, maybe this is a sign you need to lose a few pounds, hehehe" (The Warrior pushes him back and he almost falls into the Hole. Wu extended his Nin-Jô for him to grab) "Close call!"

The Team are thrown out of the room. Misako groans.

Cole: "Ah! This is gonna be much harder than a bunch of bobble-heads, fellas"

Jay: "Yeah, well, then it's a good thing we're in a museum"

Misako: "Why is that?"

Jay: "'Cause we're all about to become history! Run!"

Lloyd: "The guy's got a pair of sneakers on him. Pick up the pace, go, go, go!"

Kai: "Oh, man. He's pretty fast for a big guy!"

The ninja close the doors but the Warrior is slowly breaking it.

(Y/N): "Panic Summon!" (He starts summoning random things in front of the door. Including a TV, a book titled Portrait of Markov, a mini-fridge, among some other things, until Spyke snapped him out of it)

Cole: "Ah. This thing is unstoppable!"

Zane: "Indestructible, to be precise"

Kai: "That door ain't gonna hold him forever

Jay: "Then let's settle this like men. With Rock, Paper, Clamp. Loser has to face him, so the rest can escape" (Everyone, including Lloyd, joins) "Nu-uh, not you, Chosen One"

Kai: (Sighs) "On three. One, two-"

Lloyd: "Wait a minute, that's it!"

Wu: "What's 'it'?"

Lloyd: "If you guys can keep him busy, I think I know how to stop him"

Cole: "I say we give the kid a shot"

Jay: "You're just saying that 'cause you're too afraid to face him"

Cole: "Do you wanna face it?"

Jay: "I say we give the kid a shot"

Lloyd goes through an air vent.

Misako: "Be careful, Lloyd. And good luck"

Lloyd: "Thanks, mom"

Misako: "I can't believe that's Lord Garmadon's son"

Wu: "Don't forget, he's yours too"

Misako: "Hm. He's had a good teacher"

Wu: (Referring to the ninja) "You mean 'teachers'."

Garmadon finds himself on an island other than Ninjago.

Overlord: "Ah, I've been waiting for you"

Garmadon: (Gasps) "Who are you? Where are you? What is this place? Where am I? This isn't Ninjago"

Overlord: "It is the place you were always meant to find. Destiny brought you here"

Garmadon: "This...this is the Dark Island! The one mentioned in Captain Soto's log! But, who are you?"

Overlord: "I go by many names, but you may call me 'Overlord'."

Garmadon: "I... I order you to give me the power to defeat the ninja. Give me the power to turn Ninjago into my own image!" (The Overlord laughs at him) "Why do you laugh at me?"

Overlord: "Soon, you will have everything you desire, but first, there is something you must do for me"

Garmadon: "And what would that be?"

The ninja are trying to distract the Warrior. Cole cuts some ropes, making a skeleton model fall on it.

Jay: "Whoa! Direct hit! Haha!"

Kai: "All right!"

Cole: "Hey-hey! Did we get him?"

The Giant Stone Warrior emerges from the debris.

Kai: "He's still here!"

(Y/N): "Knowledge Attack!" (He throws the book from earlier at him, but the Stone Warrior isn't fazed)

Zane: "You think Lloyd's ready with his plan?"

Cole: "I hope so"

They run away.

Misako: (Trips) "Ah! I may not be a ninja, but I can look after myself" (She slides down a banner, instructing everyone else to do the same. She hides behind a pillar, but the Warrior sees her)

Lloyd: "Over here!"

Misako: "Lloyd!" (She runs to him)

Lloyd: "Shh. Hey, loser! Paper beats rock!" (As it runs towards him, he grabs his mother out of the way. The Warrior falls through the floor, revealing the bottomless pit)

Misako: "Of course, the bottomless pit. I'm so proud of you. I feel like the balance has brought us together"

Wu: "Stay with us. Help us fight the good fight"

Misako: "If that's okay with my son"

Lloyd: "Hey. The more, the merrier"

Jay: "I know it's not my say, but if a Spykor can be on our team, I see no reason why you can't ((Y/N) and Spyke glare at Jay while the rest of them laugh)

At the Dark Island, the Overlord is leading Garmadon somewhere.

Garmadon: (Grunting) "How much further?"

Overlord: "Until I say so. You do want to turn all of Ninjago into your image, right?"

Garmadon: "Of course, it's all I've ever wanted!" (He comes across a boulder with four handles) "Four hands. Is that a coincidence?"

Overlord: "I told you, it is destiny"

Garmadon: "Whatever" (He rotates the switches. The rest of the island emerges from the ocean)

Overlord: "The ultimate battle between good and evil has been foretold. And with your help, we will rule this world!"

(Garmadon evilly laughs)

2767 Words

Comment