We are getting a bag of mixed feelings here, it seems.
This chapter wasn't as easy as I thought it would be for me.
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*The ninja land the Bounty in Hollow's Bluff.*
"Is this where we'll be living?" Harumi asked.
"Just until we know you're safe." said Lloyd.
"Don't you have a headquarters?" Harumi asked.
"It's too out in the open. The Sons of Garmadon will be looking for you. We'll need to keep moving." [robotic] Nova answered before Lloyd could, sitting in a chair while using her umbrella as a walking stick.
"So, Harumi, looks like we're gonna be...roomies for a while." said Cole.
"You have all been so gracious to take me in since our palace was...taken away, and—"
"You're safe with us." said Jay.
"That assumption is not entirely justified, Jay. We know very little about the Sons of Garmadon's full capabilities." said Zane.
"We know nothing about them. Period." said Kai.
"We do know they're after the three Oni Masks. Unfortunately, they already have two of them." said Nya.
"Pixal scanned everywhere for the third mask, but it came up empty. It's as if...it never existed." said Zane.
Nova let out a small sigh while just watching the others talk. "I hope my leg recovers fast enough when we get to where that third mask is, because I swear to the motherfucking Overlord. I'm not leaving those two alone to find it, only for Harumi to betray Lloyd."
"Then we need to focus on who's giving the orders. A group this organized must have a leader." said Lloyd.
"Maybe someone from our past?" Jay asked.
"If it was someone from the past, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't worthship Garmadon." [robotic] said Nova.
"Delta is right, there is a low chance that it is someone we know. But at the same time we can't rule that option out." said Zane.
"By the way Delta, why do you have an umbrella as a walking stick? Wouldn't it be better to use a crutch?" Cole asked.
"I understand your confusion, but rest assured, there is more that meets the eye with this thing." [robotic] said Nova.
"What are you, Master Wu?" Jay asked.
Nova giggled a little by that question. "Yeah right if I was him I would be drinking tea right now, and stroking my beard" [robotic] She said.
"Uh, forgive me, but is that...underwear?" Harumi picks it up.
Jay takes it and chuckles. "We're usually more organized. Ahem. But our leader got lost in a time-stream. Uh, they're Cole's."
"They're blue!" said Cole.
"You're lucky they're not yellow." [robotic] said Kai and Nova in unison, as they laughed at that giving each other a fist bump.
"Heh."
"What about the suspect captured at the heist in Borg Tower? I can stay behind with Harumi and Delta if you wanna press him on who he works for." said Nya.
"The police have him in custody, but he has refused to talk. He is set for release today." said Pixal.
"Then if Johnny Law can't get him to talk, perhaps Johnny ninja can?" said Kai.
"What!? No I am not sitting this one out." [robotic] said Nova, quickly standing up which was a bad mistake as pain shot through her injured leg.
"No, you're still hurt, so you are staying with Nya and Harumi." said Lloyd.
Nova narrowed her eyes at him as she walked towards him using her umbrella as support. [robotic] "No I am going, whether you like it or not Lloyd."
Both of them was staring at each other for a good minute, while the others was watching since they hadn't seen them fight this much with each other. Not even when Nova was still "alive" they wouldn't fight more than once.
"Maybe where you guys are going, has something that could help me recover faster if you know what I mean." [robotic] said Nova with a raised eyebrow.
Lloyd let out an annoyed sigh finally giving in. "Fine but you're staying close, and if we run into anyone from the Sons of Garmadon, try and avoid any fighting."
"Yay!" [robotic] Nova cheered happily with a fist into the air.
Lloyd couldn't help smiling a bit at her cheerful attitude, he hadn't seen that for a while and it was better than seeing her being all grumpy. "Cute....wait what?" He quickly snapped out of that thought he just had, though couldn't help but blush a little luckily no one seems to have noticed.
*The ninja and Nova walk to Mystake's tea shop.*
"Uh, I thought we were in a hurry to get to the police." said Jay.
"A quick stop. If the perp won't talk, maybe we can get something to loosen his lips." said Lloyd.
"Mystake's Tea Shop. I wonder what magic tea she can brew up for us." said Cole.
"Is Mystake here?" Lloyd asked an older woman.
"Never heard of her! Ooh! Apologies, young Lloyd Garmadon. I didn't recognize your voice, and dear No-Delta too I see. Oh, it's so good to see you again. It's been years. Well besides with sweet Delta here." said Mystake.
"Hi Mystake. Nice to see you again." [robotic] said Nova smiling.
"Hello, Mystake." said Lloyd though did give Nova a look as she seemed to know her.
"I'm sorry to hear about Master Wu. He was a dear friend." said Mystake.
"Was?" We haven't given up on him. We just have more urgent problems." said Cole.
"We seek—"
"The Tea of Truth!" said Mystake.
"She's good." said Zane.
Nova let out a soft giggle at his statement. "Yeah she is, you'll be surprised by how much she kno—OW!!" [robotic] said Nova but was cut off by Mystake hitting her head hard with a chop.
"Shush, young one." said Mystake before turning back to the subject.
"But be forewarned...the truth can be...dangerous." She said.
Nova was rubbing her head as it was still hurting a bit from that hit. "Old hag, it wasn't like I was gonna spill any secrets." She thought grumply to herself.
"She's also creepy." said Jay.
"Par for the course in a mystical tea shop, Jay." said Cole.
"I'll have a look in the back to see if I have any. But don't...touch...any...thing." said Mystake but was mostly glaring at Nova before going out back.
"So how do you know Mystake?" Lloyd asked looking at Nova.
"Since I wanted to get better control of my powers, I went to find her for some help. I thought she might have some kind of tea that could help, but nope, she just gave me a necklace and dropped me on the Dark Island right after." [robotic] Nova explained but did leave out a few things that they didn't need to know, at least not yet.
"Oooh! So that's why you have that necklace on you, I thought it was just for show." said Cole.
Nova turned to look at him. "...Cole I don't wear jewelry unless for a good reason, I'm not much for making myself all pretty." [robotic] She told him.
"Why not? I'm sure under that mask you have a beautiful face." said Lloyd, smiling at her.
Nova started blushing behind her mask at that comment from Lloyd. "...I.....well—"
"Of course, besides, that awful attitude you can have at times." He quickly added.
"Oh boy." said Jay as he facepalmed knowing what was coming next, since he knew that if he ever said that to Nya he would be so dead.
"OW!" shouted Lloyd as he was hit in the head by Nova's umbrella.
"Stupid idiot!" [robotic] Nova complained as he just ruined the moment.
"Hey what was that for? What did I say?" Lloyd asked, confused and annoyed as now he was the one rubbing his head.
"I feel so sorry for Delta." said Jay as he clearly had caught on to her having a crush on Lloyd by how she was acting.
"Lloyd need to work on his charm." said Zane.
"What? I was just being honest." said Lloyd, still confused about what he did wrong.
"...Lloyd there is a saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything." Maybe you should think about that next time." [robotic] said Nova in a monotone voice as she raised an eyebrow at him.
*They see a painting in the back as Mystake comes back with the tea.*
"Mystake, wait! That painting..." said Lloyd.
"Hm? Ah, yes. The Oni and the dragon. But you are not ready for that tale." said Mystake.
"Please. We need to know." said Lloyd.
"It is a long tale. Do you have the time?" Mystake asked.
"We only had time for a quick stop." said Zane.
"Cole and Zane, go to the police with the Tea of Truth and find out who's giving the orders. Jay, Delta and I will stay here to learn more." said Lloyd.
"Come, my childs. To know the tale, you must drink the tea." said Mystake before giving Nova a different one.
Nova smiled while taking the tea as she knew this one would speed up her leg's recovery, and she already knew the story about the oni and the dragon. So she didn't have to drink the tea the others was getting.
*Mystake gives Lloyd and Jay some tea.*
"Aah! Thank you for the tea. You were right, it really calmed my nerves. I feel so..." Jay drinks more "...warm and fuzzy."
"Good. Then the Tea of Enlightenment is working...to help you see the tale, the original tale, The Tale of the Oni and the dragon." said Mystake as she also gave some tea for Nova.
Nova gave her a confused look since she had told her that she already knew it from seeing the future, she shrugged but took the tea anyway not wanting to be rude or be hit in the head again.
Jay gasps. "You lied? Mystake, why would you do that? I thought we were friends."
"What are we supposed to see?" Lloyd asked.
"See...the beginning. Long before time had a name, there was the Realm of the Oni and the Dragon." said Mystake.
"One of the sixteen realms?" Lloyd asked.
Nova gently punched his arm. "Shush, I wanna hear this." [robotic] Nova whispered before turning off the lower part of her mask and drinking her tea.
" Not "one of!" The first. The dragon had the power to create. The Oni had the power to destroy. Their war was never ending. But a child arrived, born of both worlds. The child understood the power of both. Without one, you could not have the other. But when the Oni and the dragon fought over which side the child should choose, the child abandoned their world to start a new one called Ninjago." Mystake explained.
"Are you telling me the child born from both worlds is the First Spinjitzu Master?" Lloyd asked.
"Hey, hey! You're related." Jay gasps. "That means you're part Oni and dragon too! Like Delta, I think."
Nova narrowed her eyes a bit at that comment before a thought came to her mind. "...I might be part dragon.....from what I saw in my reflection, back at that maze two years ago....But so far I've only grown more of my oni part than anything."
"Like I said, truth can be dangerous. After the First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago, he fathered two sons of his own. He thought he could escape the war. He saw the evil of the Oni was waiting to be unleashed in one of his sons, Lord Garmadon! It was up to Master Wu to control his brother's undying thirst to destroy, and with some help—" Mystake went on but was cut mid sentence.
"Hey! Haha! That's us!" said Jay.
"Have some more tea. Lord Garmadon was destroyed by the most powerful force of all: the love of his own son. But in his absence, a void was created. A new darkness has arisen." said Mystake.
"The Sons of Garmadon." said Lloyd.
"The three Oni Masks are relics from the first realm, and they wield tremendous power. The power to deceive. The power of vengeance. The power to hate." said Mystake.
"What happens when they're united?" Lloyd asked.
"You cannot let that happen." said Mystake.
"Tell me...what happens when the three masks are united?" Lloyd asked.
"Resurrection. They will have the power to bring back your father! But it won't be the man you recognize! There will be no light left in him!" said Mystake.
Nova let out a low growl, her fangs and teeth on full view before she turned the lower part of her mask back on, but was still growling though a little louder.
"She is scary when growling without the lower part of her mask on." Jay whispered to Lloyd who just gave a short nod.
*At the ninja's sleeping quarters, Harumi searches through her things and pulls out two photos of her biological and adoptive parents. Harumi smiles fondly at her birth parents' photo but her expression changes to one of sadness as she looks at the one with her adoptive parents. Harumi then pins both pictures in the bulletin board with the ninja's own photos of their own friends and families. She looks at a picture of Lloyd with Master Garmadon.*
"If you can believe it, that used to be Lord Garmadon." said Nya.
"Lloyd's father?" Harumi asked.
"He made some mistakes, but he's made up for them." said Nya.
"I've heard so many stories of him. Such anger. He hurt so many people. How did he change?" Harumi asked.
"Master Wu once told me holding onto anger is like trying to throw a hot rock. Only you get burned. Lloyd helped his father let go. But all of that is behind us now." said Nya.
"Or so I thought." said Lloyd coming into the room.
"Lloyd. You're back." said Harumi.
"Where's Zane and Cole? I need to see everyone." said Lloyd.
"Following a lead. Why? Is everything okay?" Nya asked.
"The Sons of Garmadon want to bring back my father from the dead." Lloyd explained, causing Nya to gasp.
"What's that!?" Harumi yelled in shock as she pointed at a shadow-like form of Nova that was leaning against a wall watching them.
Nya and Lloyd turned around to see that it was a shadow clone.
"That's just one of Delta's clones.....Wait where is Delta!?" Lloyd asked before he started to panic a bit since she still wasn't fully recovered.
"Didn't she return with you and Jay?" Nya asked, a little worried.
"Last I checked she was, but I don't know when she switched herself out with a clone." said Lloyd.
*Zane and Cole hid when the Sons of Garmadon entered Laughy's.*
"Our informant's intel has paid off. Two high-ranking Sons of Garmadon just arrived. The one they call Ultra Violet, and the mysterious man with the swords." said Zane.
"Good. Then we're one step closer to finding out who's in charge." Cole climbs out of a dumpster with a disguise.
"Huh?"
"It's me, Zane. Cole. Or should I say my alias, Rocky Dangerbuff. If we want to infiltrate their gang and gain their trust, they can't know we're ninja. I even scrounged up a disguise for you!" said Cole.
Nova couldn't help but laugh at that as she found that name so funny.
"What was that!" said Cole, hearing the laugh looking around.
"Relax Cole, it's just me." [robotic] said Nova coming out of the shadows.
"Delta, what are you doing here? Where is Lloyd and Jay? You shouldn't be here as you still aren't fully recovered." said Zane.
"Relax guys I'm just gonna stick to the shadows, and don't worry. Lloyd and Jay sent me to see how it was going." [robotic] said Nova.
Zane and Cole looked at each other. "Well if they sent you, I guess it shouldn't be a problem." said Cole.
"But you need to stay out of any fight. Since your leg is still injured." said Zane.
"Sure, sure." [robotic] said Nova before going back to the shadows. "Also Zane don't forget, you have to sell it. With the disguise." [robotic] She quickly added.
"Hm. That won't be necessary." Zane changes to his human form.
"But you still need a cover. Something tough. Something that says "I'm bad." said Cole.
"In my estimation, Rocky Dangerbuff is pretty bad." said Zane.
"Very bad." [robotic] Nova mumbled.
"Ugh! Do I have to do everything? Fine. You're...Snake Jaguar." said Cole.
"Snake Jaguar. Hm... you were always much better at this than I was." said Zane.
"You ready, Snake Jaguar?" Cole asked.
"I am, Rocky Dangerbuff." They strut into Laughy's.
Nova had to hold back from bursting out laughing hard by how they were walking, mostly Zane because of how funny it was.
*They walked into the Laughy's. Where some of the Sons of Garmadon was complaining about the song that was being sang on the stage.*
"Barkeep! Another boba." said a Son of Garmadon grunt.
"Ugh! Yes, sir! Coming up, right away. Please don't break anything." said Dareth.
"Dareth? What are you doing here?" Zane asked.
"Cole? Cole! You came to visit me!" said Dareth.
"Aw! Is my disguise so much worse than Zane's?" Cole complained.
"Zane? Is that you under there? You guys gotta help me. I bought this stink hole, hoping to hold onto the glory days when I was fighting side-by-side with you guys." said Dareth.
"Side-by-side... really?" [robotic] said Cole and Nova in unison but Dareth didn't notice her in the shadows.
"Only now the Sons of Garmadon have moved in and made my place their dive. I can't get them to leave! You gotta help me!" said Dareth.
"We can't. We need to keep our cover to get close to those two." said Cole.
"I'm a rocker. You're a fan. And I'll sing it cuz I can." The two singers are thrown out and the Sons of Garmadon cheer.
"You mean Mr. E and Ultra Violet?" Dareth asked.
"Mr. E?" They asked in unison.
"Nobody talks to those two because he doesn't talk and she's off her rocker." said Dareth.
"If we can't talk to them, how are we supposed to gain their trust?" Cole asked.
"Ugh! I said, where's my boba!?" complained a Sons of Garmadon grunt.
"Sorry, can't help. Gotta go." said Dareth.
"All right, Snake Jaguar. Fire up those processors and tell me how we do this." said Cole.
"I've already ran countless simulations, and of the 1,572 ways this could go, there's only one. But it's complicated...and dangerous." said Zane.
"Then it's a good thing my last name is Dangerbuff. Lay it on me." said Cole.
"You have to sing~" [robotic] said Nova in a teasing tone as she giggled from the shadows.
"I can't sing! What did I say earlier? There has to be another way." said Cole.
"You're the son of a Royal Blacksmith. You went to the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts. You have to trust me. What would Rocky do?" said Zane, which seemed to convince Cole to get on the stage.
"I'm Rocky Dangerbuff, and here's something mean to sing." He throws a coin to the jukebox. "Song number 159, pronto!" Nova giggled as she chooses the wrong song on purpose. "What? No, no, no! No! Not this. I wanted 159: Creeping Death!" Zane only looks apologetically at him. "Shine little glow worm, glimmer glimmer. Hey there don't get dimmer dimmer." Everyone laughs at him. "Glow little glow worm. Glow and glimmer. Swim through the sea of night, little swimmer. Shine! Glow little glow worm. Glow and glimmer. Swim through the sea of night. Little swimmer." The ninja at the Bounty watches him on TV.
"What is Cole doing?" Jay asked.
"I don't know, but please tell me you are recording this." said Kai.
"Zane informed me he has a plan to gain the Sons of Garmadon's trust. But for it to work..." Pixal explained.
"Shine!"
"...we must trust him." said Pixal.
"Uh, no one answered my question." said Kai.
"Yes, Kai, yes, I am recording and I am making copies. Lots of copies." said Jay.
"Hey didn't that shadow there in the background just move?" Kai pointed out as he noticed a shadow moving as if it was laughing.
"From what I can understand. That shadow is Delta. It looks like she is laughing." said Pixal.
"WHAT!!" They shouted.
"Light up you little 'ol bug of lightning. When you gotta glow you glimmer glimmer." The crowd starts to get annoyed.
"Boo!"
"How long is this song?" They pelt things at him. "Time for the Triple Tiger Sashay." He accidentally slipped and his disguise falls off.
"Hey! He's one of those ninja!" said a grunt.
"Grab him!" shouted Ultra Violet.
"Help me, Zane! Delta! Where are you guys?" said Cole.
"Find this Zane and Delta and grab them too!" shouted Zane.
"Sorry Cole, you are on your own. Besides, I can't let myself get caught, it would ruin my reputation of never having been caught." [robotic] said Nova from the shadows as she was giggling.
"Why isn't Zane or Delta helping him?" Jay asked.
"Zane has blocked all communication. And I don't have any way to communicate with Delta." said Pixal.
"This is our only lead. We may never get a second chance." said Nya.
"Zane wanted us to trust him. But I'm not sure what Delta are planning." said Lloyd.
"Zane and Delta is letting this happen!" said Jay.
"I'm not waiting for the coach to put me in. I'm going." said Kai.
"Pixal watch over Rumi." said Lloyd.
"My apologies, Princess." said Pixal.
"I can handle myself." said Harumi.
"I know how it feels, but Lloyd's right. Our first order is to protect you." said Nya.
Nova's shadow gave a small nod while not making a sound as it was keeping a close eye on Harumi.
"Ready, ninja? Go!" said Lloyd.
"The ninja's got backup! Get the bosses out of here!" shouted Chopper Maroon.
"We gotta split!" shouted Ultra Violet.
"Go get 'em." said Dareth.
"Don't let him get away!" shouted Lloyd as they chased Mr. E.
"Aw, I always hated doing laundry." said Jay.
"We can't let him escape!" said Kai.
"I got you." said Lloyd.
"And I got you." Nya flings Lloyd to the rooftop.
Zane stops Lloyd from attacking Mr. E. "Hurry! There's no time!"
"No!"
"He's getting away!" Jay frees Lloyd.
"Wait! That was Zane's plan all along...he's just gained their trust." said Lloyd.
"Yup, pretty much." [robotic] said Nova standing behind them, causing them all to jump and turn around.
"Delta, what were you thinking!?" Lloyd shouted.
Nova rolled her eyes at him as she walked towards the end of the roof still using her umbrella to support herself.
"I thought that I could maybe help, and besides they never saw me." [robotic] said Nova turning to look at them.
"You still aren't fully recovered Delta, what if they caught you." said Lloyd crossing his arms.
"You forget one thing greenie, I've never been caught. And I still wouldn't, so relax a bit." [robotic] said Nova.
"You left without saying anything and just left us with a clone that can't speak." said Kai.
"And it wouldn't stop beating me in each video game!" Jay complained.
Nova giggled a little. "Sorry about that, when my clones get bored they just do whatever." [robotic] She said before letting out a sigh.
"But I am sorry that I didn't say anything, but if I did you guys would just say no and have me stay on the Bounty. And I don't like feeling like I'm being locked up." [robotic] She said but the real reason was that she didn't want to be in the same room as Harumi, and she thought she could maybe steal one of the masks while helping Zane and Cole.
Nya looked at the team with a small sigh. "Guys how about we drop it for now, and Delta, we understand that you wanna help. I've been in that position myself, but doing what you did made us all worried. We didn't know where you were and if you had got hurt without us knowing where you were wouldn't help."
Nova looked over at Nya and then at the others, understanding what she did was probably wrong. But she just didn't like sitting around and doing nothing if she was able to actually help. "...I'm very sorry everyone I didn't mean to cause a panic....I guess I'm still not all used to this whole team work thing, and doing this only made you guys worried." [robotic] She said in an apologetic tone.
Lloyd sighed, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "We understand that you wanna help, and being in a team is still very new to you so old habits die hard. But you still aren't fully recovered which would only make us more worried if something happened."
Nova looked down at her feet as she thought about what they were saying, actually feeling a little guilty on that stunt she pulled on them. And while they couldn't see it because of the mask they could still hear a few sniffles as she tried to not cry.
"I....I-I'm sorry guys.....I really *sobs* didn't mean to...I just wanted to help...all I've done so far *sobs* is n-nothing but sit and not being a-able to...support the team....in a-any way." [robotic] She said as tears was running down her face behind her mask.
Lloyd pulled her into a hug as he tried to comfort her. Before looking at the team.
"We forgive you Delta." said Nya.
"Just don't do that again okay." said Kai
"Changing to a team player from a solo player isn't always easy in the start, just like in a video game." said Jay.
".....I'm still very sorry.....I-I'll try to *sobs* g-get better at.....team work." [robotic] Nova said.
"And that is all that we are asking of you. We will take it slow okay?" said Lloyd with a soft smile on his face.
Nova simply nodded but didn't say anything else.