So this chapter took me a while to write. Classes had started again and I'm mostly doing homework and studying, but I'd write whenever I have a break.

Originally, I was going to write out the Lloyd vs. Garmadon showdown where Lloyd regains his powers, but the thing was already more than 7000 words and I didn't want to have too long of a chapter. Maybe I'll write that as a 'bonus one-shot' after I finish chapter 4 because I still want to write out cool elemental fighting scenes.

The title of this chapter is inspired by a song with the same name: Defeat the Night by JPB and Ashley Apollodor. I thought it fits pretty well with the chapter, and it was an inspiration for the general idea of this chapter.

Summary:
Lloyd comes up with a plan to take Harumi out of the equation, and with a little help from Morro, he succeeds. Then the second and harder part was to defeat the Colossus, and take away the very thing Garmadon used to terrorize the city. Skylor is supposed to use her powers to 'absorb' Garmadon's power of Destruction, as it is the only element that could control the Colossus, but she isn't ready.

There's only one more chapter after this one, and this story would be complete.

Enjoy the story, guys!

-------------------------------

The note was pinned to the wall with a sharp kitchen knife, the words written in a messy, but still legible scrawl.

[Meet us where the danger lies.  Where light snuffed out and dark clouds rise.  By the tower base you shall wait.  Alone but armed, you must comply]

There was no telling how the paper got there.  Mr. E had seen the note when he returned with his daily report from the rest of the Sons of Garmadon and he had immediately brought it to Harumi.

The Quiet One was already in a sour mood, evidently so as she paced back and forth in the base at the top of Borg Tower.  The note only made it worse.  Paranoia and anxiety coursed through her veins.  If the secret messenger had snuck past all the security cameras and guards, then her base wasn't as secure as she initially believed.

It was hard to accept that no one saw anything.  Or heard anything, for that matter.

"I can't believe those guards were that useless," she growled, tugging at her hair.  "They've been trained to stop this exact kind of thing from happening!"  Turning to Emperor Garmadon, she asked, "My Emperor, did you see anything?"  Behind her back, she crossed her fingers.  He must've seen something, right?

"Princess, you must be mistaken," the emperor said coldly.  "I was not on the tower until two hours ago.  I was reinforcing the enchantments on the Colossus until then."

Harumi's face paled as she remembered.  She was dangerously close to angering her emperor, and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Of course, my lord," she murmured, lowering her head out of both fear and respect.  "I didn't mean to assume."

Garmadon only scoffed and returned to staring blankly over the silent city.

"It's most definitely a trap," Ultra Violet said, one hand playing around with her knife. Her shrill voice cut through the silence easily.  "Why else would the note say that?"

"Who sent it?" Killow asked.  He had arguably asked the more important question out of the two.

"Isn't it obvious?" Harumi snapped.  "The Ninja did!  They actually think they have a chance of winning!"

"Nonsense!" Violet cut in.  "With the Wind Master roaming around, the little boy they call the Green Ninja would be too scared to—"

"We don't have to worry about Morro."  Harumi dismissed her generals as if the concern was nothing, which it was.  "His heart and mind are weak and gullible.  Sooner or later, he'll come running back, pledging his allegiance and loyalty the way he had done with the queen of the cursed."

But she will admit that Killow and Violet had brought up a good point.  Speaking of the note, she thought about its contents once more.  The message was strange, written in a quatrain form that she remembered from her homeschooling as the Princess of Ninjago.

It wasn't hard to figure out the meaning of the note, thanks to the constant practice she had as a child with analyzing literature.  She wasn't sure if she could call this note a piece of literature, but the stanza written on it was easily deciphered.

She knew where she had to go.

At the same moment, the Resistance was preparing to put their plan into action.

Lloyd picked up the folded green gi in his hands, taking in the embroidered details and armor attachments.  It was different from the one he had burnt when he first went on the run, but it felt familiar.

A flash of bright blue caught his eye, and for a moment he wondered if Jay had somehow returned from the Departed Realm.  Then he shook his head.  There was no way for anyone to leave the Departed Realm, unless it was through the Realm Crystal, with his uncle's magic teas, or through the Departed Rift that only opened once every few thousand years.

Still, the blue distracted him, and he found it was a part of the embroidery.

He felt tears well up. 

There were seven rings embroidered in all different colors, six of which corresponded to that of his friends' gis as well as his own.  The seventh ring was in the middle and was a bright gold, much like the rest of his gi's embroidery, but it seemed to flash with all six colors that surrounded it.

The little flower-like emblem was stitched on the left side, so it would rest over his heart.

Carefully slipping the gi over his undershirt, he found that it was soft and light, but had the same embedded armor technology, courtesy of Borg.  There were also the additional grains of Deepstone, woven into the fabric itself.  Although the ghosts and the Preeminent had been defeated, Lloyd still wouldn't take any risks.  Having Deepstone in his clothes helped with that anxiety.

He secured the gi with the belt, muscle memory taking over as he tied an intricate, but strong knot.  He sheathed his golden dao at his side and strapped an additional knife sheath to his arm.  He was going to fight Harumi, and he wasn't about to come underprepared.

"Lloyd?" Nya asked, knocking lightly on the door to the room he was in.  "We're getting ready to go."

Lloyd turned, his eyes misty, but shining with happiness.  "Thank you," he said.  He was still admiring the ring of colors.

"It was Morro's idea," Nya said, her words surprising the boy.  To his own shock, he didn't feel any anger at the mention of Morro's name.  Instead, he felt... gratitude?  "He's really trying to make up for what he did."

"I know that," Lloyd said, exiting the room.  "But I will decide when and if I'm going to forgive him.  At least I can tolerate being in his presence without wanting him to die now."

"That impromptu spar you had helped, didn't it?" Nya hummed.  She was dressed in her own gi, with interlocking plates of lightweight metal fastened at her hips as an homage to when she was Samurai X.  Accents of bright blue lined the hems and collar, with silvery threads stitched in to resemble waves.

Lloyd nodded.  He would admit that it was unfair for Morro to purposely rile him up until he couldn't hold onto his emotions anymore, but he knew he'd just keep it bottled up if no one said anything.  He knew deep down that Morro had done him a favor.

"It might be unconventional, but at least it worked," another voice said.  As if on cue, the Wind Master rounded the corner, meeting the two Ninja with a curt nod.  "Lloyd, Nya," he greeted.  His voice had regained some of its arrogant and prideful tone, but Lloyd assumed that that was how Morro normally talked.  "Are we going now?" He sounded a bit impatient, maybe even a bit excited for the mission.

He was still wearing the same clothes as when Nya found him by the entrance of the Resistance base, though the rips and tears had been repaired, and it had been washed.  There were no visible weapons on his person, but knowing Morro, he most likely hid them within his clothing.

"Yes," Lloyd said calmly.  Despite him still wanting to avoid Morro at all costs, he knew it wouldn't be the case if he wanted to win.

Morro had proved to be a huge advantage to the Resistance, from providing information about the SoG base location and guard patrol schedules, to suggesting a way of getting Garmadon's and by extent, the Colossus' attention.

"Why are you even writing that?" Lloyd remembered commenting as he walked past Morro during one of the meetings.  The former ghost was scribbling something on a piece of paper, which he later showed Lloyd.

"Well, we could use this to mess with her head," Morro had replied.  Then, as if he couldn't help himself, he added, "Like how she messes with other people's heads."

Sure, Morro might be a bit annoying and intimidating at times, but Lloyd couldn't really hate him after he had been such a big help.  He certainly didn't hate the Wind Master as much as he did during the Battle of Stiix, but that didn't mean he was ready to forgive him.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind and pulled on his hood.  The feeling of fabric hiding his identity once more sent a burst of confidence through him.  Even though everyone in Ninjago knew who he was, the hood still provided a source of comfort.

"Let's go," he said, leading his small group of elementals from the Resistance base.  He was determined to end this battle once and for all.

***

Harumi walked around the abandoned Kryptarium Prison, wondering why the author of the note wanted to meet here.  The place was practically rubble and debris after Lloyd fought Garmadon here, and lost by a long shot.

She wasn't concerned about a possible encounter.  It was likely that this was all a trap, and she had been set up, but she might get some valuable information if she came.  That was all a very big 'if'.

The only thing she was even mildly concerned about was the place collapsing on top of her while she roamed around.  That would be a horrible way to go.

A clatter from somewhere above her drew her attention.

She whipped around, drawing a serrated dagger at the same time.  A chunk of stone clattered on the ground, rolling around before falling still.  Her eyes narrowed when she caught sight of a shadow on one of the cell rows above, appearing for a brief moment and then vanishing.

The flash of blond she saw when light hit the figure during that fraction of a second told her it was Lloyd.  Which meant he must've sent the note.

So the Green Ninja came out of hiding, she thought with glee.  She honestly believed he would've given up after being so brutally beaten in battle.  And by his own father, no less.  But she recalled that mantra the Ninja kept saying during her brief stay on the Bounty.

What was it again?  Ninja never quit?

She really didn't care what the mantra was, but at least it made them predictable... Actually, it made them extremely predictable.  They'd just keep trying and planning attacks until they were beaten to the brink of exhaustion.  Then they would stop and regroup.  She would admit that it was an admirable trait, but it was also their downfall many times.

Sure enough, Lloyd stepped out from behind the broken observation tower, and Harumi was both surprised and not to see that his wounds were mostly healed.  Not to mention, he had on a new gi and his hair, which had grown a bit the last time she saw him, was tied back.  A question nagged at the back of her mind.  How had he gone from the fifth to the ground floor so quickly and silently?

She let her lips curl into a sneer, her hand hovering over the Mask of Hatred that was fastened to her belt.  She had to be careful.  She didn't know if there were other members of the Resistance waiting around, looking for the right moment to pounce.

"Well, well, I didn't expect to see you alive," Harumi said, her voice sounding condescending and bored.  "You know, I really hoped you died when your father defeated you."

"He's not my father," Lloyd said calmly.  Why was he so calm about it?  Last time he was practically sobbing his eyes out and begging the man to not hurt him.

Lloyd shrugged and unsheathed his dao, admiring the green and gold designs on the pommel and blade.  "My father would never stand for this," he continued.  "He's a good man."  The barest hint of a smile tugged at his lips.  "Besides, you only brought back the Oni part of him, so you technically didn't even bring back Garmadon as a whole, you know?"

Of course Harumi knew this, but she didn't expect Lloyd to throw that in her face.  She grinned at the Green Ninja's boldness.  This was actually sort of fun.

"It'll be fun defeating you, Lloyd," she said as if she was conversing with a friend about what to have for lunch.  "And I'll enjoy dragging each and every member of the Resistance to my emperor.  He'll decide their fates."  Then she giggled and unhooked the mask from her belt.  "But of course, they'd be doomed from the start."

Harumi sighed, feigning boredom.  "It's been a really nice chat," she said, yawning a bit.  "But I'm gonna have to shut you up now.  For good this time."

She lunged at him, slipping the mask over her face at the same time.

She felt her clothes melt into hardened stone that glowed with purple light.  The mask seemed to fuse to her face, like a second skin.  Her nails elongated into claws and she could feel power.  So much power and devastation, all within the palm of her hand.

Do it, a voice cooed in her mind.  Somehow she knew this was the Oni of Hatred, or what remained of its spirit.  Rip his head off, kill him, you hate him.  Hate.  Kill.  Maim... destroY HIM, HARUMI!

She ran, aiming for Lloyd's head, intending on ripping it clean off his shoulders.  Her mind fell to the hypnotic voice of the Oni, the power that the Mask gave her... it was amazing, exhilarating, and she loved it.  She tore across the prison floor, drunk on the power she had, on the enhanced senses and abilities and skills.  She barely paid any attention to her surroundings, only doing so just enough to not crash into walls.

Kill him, kill him, kill him, the Oni chanted in her mind.

Yes, she thought, agreeing without hesitation.  I'll kill him, and then I'll bE FREE!

Tears of joy streamed from her face, no doubt looking disturbing and horrific, but she didn't care.  She was so close to being free of this burden that she'd carried for seven years, and she couldn't stop now... wait, she wasn't moving.  WHY WASN'T SHE GAINING GROUND ON THAT STUPID CHILD??

Technically, Lloyd Garmadon is older than you, the Oni said.

SHUT UP, THAT'S IRRELEVANT!! she screamed.

She snapped out of her thoughts, temporarily blocking away the voice of the Oni, only to realize she was contained in the eye of a whirling cyclone.  Debris from the ruined prison swirled around her, chunks of stone occasionally flying too close for comfort.

For a moment she was confused.  Lloyd couldn't control the wind, so who—

You forgot about your dear Wind Master, the Oni cackled, obviously choosing the words it did to anger her further.  Morro, was it?  He would've been a huge advantage for you.

Harumi's face paled and she gritted her teeth.  So Morro was here to play as well.  That was fine.  She can take him on easily.

Or so she thought.

Morro charged forward, materializing out of nowhere, and threw a sharp right hook at her face.  The mask was knocked clean off and clattered to the ground somewhere behind her, the power draining from her body and returning to its vessel.

"That's for making me terrorize those innocent people," he said, sounding calm though his words held a bit of irony.

Harumi laughed.  "You did that too!" she exclaimed, holding a hand to her nose.  A trickle of red seeped between her fingers.  "You did that!!  You summoned the Preeminent right?"

"Yes," Morro said.  "I did."  Then his gaze hardened. "But unlike you, I chose to move on.  I chose to be the better person."

"HAHAHAHA, thE BETTER PERSON?" Harumi nearly screeched.  "You're as arrogant and cunning as you were in the Battle of Stiix!  You still have your anger issues and jealousy and—"

"Oh, just shut up already," Morro muttered.  He stepped to the side, letting the cyclone die down.  Debris and stone fell to the ground in slow motion, and somehow it amused Harumi even more.

"Hehehe you just got rid of the only thing that contained me..." the Princess giggled, rising to her feet.  Her head spun as she moved, but she only thought that added more to the hilarity of the situation.  "You're gonna—"

"Be quiet now," someone whispered in her ear.

She whirled around, only catching a glimpse of blond hair and clothes before she felt a sharp pain in her neck.  She only managed to utter "Lloyd" before her body crumbled to the ground.

---------------------------

"The Sons of Garmadon are gathering at Borg Tower," Neuro reported through a comm link.  Beside him, Griffin's hand moved, practically a blur as he took down notes.  "From what I read in Harumi's mind, Garmadon is planning on launching an attack on Ninjago City today."

"Skylor, how are we for time?" Griffin asked, glancing at the girl's image on the video feed.

"We have two hours at most," she said.

"And what about Harumi?" Lloyd asked.  Using his pure elemental form, Morro had brought the unconscious Princess back to the Resistance base before returning to his teammates.  "She's there and contained, right?"

"We have her in a Vengestone cage, with extra locks, of course."  Skylor moved the camera angle to show said unconscious Princess, slumped against the bars of black stone flecked with gold.  "I don't know where this cage came from, but I'm glad that it's here.  Her mask is here as well, in a locked case."

"Good."  Lloyd glanced at his friends and nodded.  "We'll meet by Zane's statue in twenty minutes.  Until then, prepare, and rest up.  We're gonna need all the energy we have."

"What did you even use to knock her out?" Morro asked once the video feed disconnected.  He was leaning against the side of a garbage truck.  Coincidentally, the same one that he, along with Lord Garmadon and Harumi used to escape Kryptarium Prison.  He had no idea how Lloyd managed to get this, but he wasn't going to ask.  It was slightly amusing.

"I just hit her pressure point," Lloyd said.  He raised an eyebrow as he turned to Morro.  "I could do that to you as well."

"No, thank you."

"Smart answer."

Morro said nothing and continued to look around him.  The air was calm, as calm as it could be with a giant Colossus roaming around, and it seemed almost normal.  But he knew that this was Ninjago City, and nothing was ever normal in Ninjago City.  If anything, the norm was getting attacked and almost dying on a regular basis.

He wondered if the schools taught their students what to do in an emergency.  Did the children have to line up in an orderly fashion during a fire emergency like they had to in the past?  He remembered watching the children file out in a single line from afar when he was about seven.  It baffled him.  There were flames bursting out of classroom windows so why were they walking so slowly?

Did the schools teach the students what to do if they were caught in the crossfire?  He shook his head, dismissing the thought rather quickly.  Aside from Sensei Wu, Morro didn't think schools would teach something like that.  He knew from eavesdropping on conversations that a lot of schools discourage fighting or anything similar.

Maybe things changed in the who knows how many years he'd been dead.

"—ro, Morro!"

Morro blinked when Nya waved a hand in front of his face.  "Huh?" he mumbled.

"We're going now," she said.  "You know, you can go back to the base and rest—"

"No, I'm going," Morro pushed past her and dissolved into a sharp gust of wind.  "See you at the meeting place."  His voice seemed to echo around before fading away.

***

Skylor was nervous.  This was probably the biggest battle of her life, if she didn't count the Anacondrai Cultist vs. Elementals battle.  Not to mention, she had never tried to absorb and use such a powerful element.

The whole ride to Zane's memorial statue was silent.  Her hand gripped the steering wheel tightly, to the point where her knuckles turned white and her fingers almost locked up.  She swallowed thickly, wishing that maybe she could procrastinate this important task for just another day.

"Don't think that," she chided herself.  "Do this for Lloyd, for all those innocent people who died, for everyone whose lives were impacted by this."  Her amber eyes darkened with determination and focused on the road ahead as she drove the rest of the way silently.

She and Mystake were the only ones in the truck, and the older woman was in the back, muttering about something.  Everyone else was either in Lloyd's group, or were at the base, guarding Harumi.

At a red light, she quickly turned around, about to ask Mystake something, but saw that she was practicing her shapeshifting.  The sight of the white-haired Princess, grinning at her while sipping a cup of tea more than unsettled her and she turned back around.

"Hello Skylor," Mystake said, her voice morphing into Harumi's.  The red-haired elemental master shuddered a bit.  She could practically hear the sneer in the Oni's voice — it was a scarily accurate imitation of Harumi.

"Hello," Skylor muttered, keeping her eyes on the road.  "Your shape shifting is really good."  And that was the end of the conversation. 

She laughed softly to herself and blamed her anxiety for acting up.  She almost forgot that the eccentric tea lady was also a millenia-year old Oni from the First Realm.

At least she knew Mystake had her part down.  The appearance and voice were spot on, and the attitude was as well.  The only thing that gave away her true identity was a subtle red glow in her eyes.  But that was only visible if Skylor or anyone else looked really closely.

She arrived at the statue, parking the truck a few blocks away and walking the rest.  She didn't need to have someone see her and report it back to Ultra Violet for her TV show.  Mystake lagged behind, humming to herself as she held a cup of tea.  She seemed almost unconcerned, maybe even content with the plan.

"Skylor!" she heard Nya call.  "Over here!"  The Water Ninja was resting by the pedestal of Zane's statue, playing around with a ball of water.

She quickly walked over, holding a finger to her lips.  "Shhhh, we don't need to attract any unwanted attention!" she warned.  Then she lowered her voice even more and said, "We're gonna go through with the plan now?"

Lloyd nodded from his place beside Nya.  "Yeah.  Mystake should bring you up, pretending to be Harumi."  He paused a bit, thinking about the next steps of the plan.  "Then, while 'Harumi' is explaining how she 'caught' you, you'd be handed to her generals, or better yet, some random soldiers to be shoved into a cage."

"But don't I have to get Garmadon's powers?" Skylor asked.  "How do I—"

"When you walk past Garmadon, just pretend to stumble or something," Morro suggested.  As he had done in Kryptarium Prison, he materialized out of thin air.  Skylor's mouth dropped open, having seen this ability for the first time.  "Don't people do that in... what are those called, movies?"

"You know what movies are?" Lloyd asked.

"I know because I possessed you, Lloyd," Morro said.  "When you're not trying to break free of my possession, you were thinking about that Frizz Donnegan series, whatever that is."

"It's Fritz Donneagn," Lloyd corrected.

"Same thing."

"No it's—never mind," Lloyd shook his head.  "Skylor, you ready?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said.

***

"My Emperor!" Mystake called as she dragged a tied up Skylor to Garmadon's main 'throne room' at the top of Borg Tower.  "I've managed to capture one of the Resistance members!"

"Interesting," Garmadon said slowly, his red eyes narrowing and glowing slightly.  "Where did you find her?"

"I caught her wandering through the streets," Mystake said, doing a perfect imitation of Harumi's smug voice.  "She thought she could get away."  She pushed Skylor toward Garmadon.  The redhead purposely stumbled and managed to catch herself before she crashed into Garmadon's throne.  He pushed her away, not knowing what he had just done.

Garmadon hummed in acknowledgement, his red eyes glowing brighter than before.  "You caught her?" he asked.

"Of course, my Emperor," Mystake said.

"Don't lie to me," the warlord hissed.  "Did.  You.  Catch.  Her?"

"Yes—"

Garmadon lifted a hand, cutting off Mystake's words.  "Don't lie," he said, walking closer to the Oni in disguise.  "You don't think I can't sense one of my own?"

"My lord, I'm not sure I understand..."

"You're not the Princess," he hissed.  "Who are you?"

Mystake only laughed, letting smoke surround her form.  There was no use keeping up the disguise if Garmadon already figured out that she wasn't Harumi.  Her laughter changed from Harumi's voice, to her own, then lowering in pitch until it was nothing more than a demonic-sounding rumble that echoed around the room.

"The question is," Mystake's disembodied voice whispered.  "Who are you?"

"Show yourself!" Garmadon demanded.  His hand shone purple as he called upon his powers, red eyes glaring in all directions as he searched for Mystake.

"If that's what you want," Mystake said.  From amidst the smoke and dark clouds came a figure.  A tall, horned, dark-skinned figure that radiated ancient and destructive power.

Garmadon was fuming by the time Mystake revealed her true form, and he immediately charged at her, his intention to end her clear as day.

"Go!" Mystake ordered, giving Skylor a glare so harsh she quickly scrambled to her feet and bolted away from the scene.

Skylor had already made it halfway down Borg Tower before she came to the realization that it wasn't likely Mystake would be coming back.  With a grateful look cast back in the direction she'd come from, she continued to make her escape from the Sons of Garmadon base.

She pushed the doors open, stumbling out into the empty streets and was immediately picked up by an invisible force.

"OH MY FS—"

"Quiet," Morro said.  He materialized out of the air, carefully holding onto her as she calmed her racing heart.  "Don't alert them."  He nodded to the ground, where some SoG members were running toward the tower.  They didn't seem to notice the two people hovering above them.

"You can use my powers, right?" he asked.  "Skylor?"

"Huh?"  Skylor blinked, almost fumbling for a grasp on the wind.  She nodded once she managed to snag a breeze.  "Yeah, I got it."

"Good," Morro said, letting go of her and turning to fly in the direction of the Resistance hideout.  "Then let's go."

***

The next part of the plan was to draw the Colossus out, and it was up to Skylor to control it while Lloyd and the others did their best to bring it down.

"What if I can't—" Skylor tried to say, but she was met with reassurance from her teammates.  "I've never used the power of Destruction before!"

"I know, Skylor," Lloyd said gently.  "But you can do this.  We'll all stand behind you."

Skylor wanted to protest, to leave the room after the meeting and curl up on her bunk and pretend this never happened.  But she knew she couldn't.  This was something only she could do, since she was the only one with the ability to absorb other elements and use them.

She nodded, not saying anything else.  She fiddled with the edge of her shirt, wringing the fabric in her hands as chatter resumed around her.

She could feel the destructive power swirling around in her soul, threatening to burst out and tear everything apart.  She kept it contained, not wanting to be the one responsible for the injuries of her friends.

Destroy them, the power seemed to whisper.  Destroy them all.

Destroy the ones who hurt you, the ones who betrayed you, destroy—

"Skylor?"

The Master of Amber looked up abruptly, panic and anxiety evident on her face.  Morro had been the one to call her name, and he was the only one left in the room.  Everyone else had left.  When, she didn't know, but she didn't really care to find out.

"Yeah?" she asked, quickly walking to the whiteboard to analyze the plan again.  She would be standing on the top of a skyscraper, using the power of Destruction to control the Colossus.

"Don't worry too much about this," Morro said.  He was looking out the window, watching the sky darken from gray to black.  "The responsibility, the power... don't worry about it."  He turned around, face a mask of neutrality.  "If you worry too much about it," he paused, shaking his head while laughing softly to himself.  "You saw how I was when the Preeminent sent me back to complete her mission."

"I didn't actually see much of it," Skylor said.  "But I did watch the news.  They were somehow broadcasting the Battle of Stiix live."

"Yeah."  Morro seemed to not know what the broadcasting thing was, but he nodded.  "Just don't worry about it too much.  Go with what your gut tells you."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, turning around to give him a look of confusion.  "You have nothing to gain."

"I'm trying to make up for what I did," he said.  "If there's anything I learned from the whole Preeminent thing, and running away from the Monastery to prove myself, it's that I've been given this power for a reason, and I should be grateful to have this power."  He shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets.  "I should use this power for good, because why else would I be gifted with it?"

"Because you deserve it?" Skylor suggested.

"Yeah, sure," Morro said, smiling a bit.  "Just... think about it, okay?  Don't stress yourself too much."

He walked to the door, pausing for a moment.  "We'll wait for you outside.  Come out when you're ready."

Skylor watched him leave, wondering what happened to Morro to cause him to change.  If anything, he reminded her of when she still lived on her father's island.  When she looked up to him and followed his every order without hesitation.  His behavior now reminded her of the way she felt after her father was defeated, how she was desperate to prove to the Ninja, especially Kai, that she wasn't trying to hurt them, that she was going to help them.

She glanced at the board, looking intently at the orange circle that represented her position on the rooftop.  It was right by the edge.  If she were to fall... no don't think about that, she chided herself.  You can do this.

With that thought in mind, she walked out of the room with newfound determination.  She was going to succeed.  Failure wouldn't be an option here.

***

Wind whipped past the group huddled on the rooftops despite Morro's best attempts to keep the air calm.

"Alright," Lloyd said.  "So once we draw the Colossus here, we all know what we're supposed to do?"

A chorus of 'yes' rang out, save for Skylor, who nodded.

"Okay," Lloyd glanced around at the silent city.  "Morro, you're up first.  Draw the Colossus out for us."  He turned to Skylor, whose heartbeat quickened when she remembered what she had to do.  "And Skylor, once the Colossus is in sight—"

"I use the power of Destruction to control it," she said, reciting the words that were written on the whiteboard.  "Just long enough for the rest of you guys to bring it down."

Morro sped off, using his wind powers to fly away over the city.  As he flew further from the Resistance base, he slowly allowed himself to become a gust of wind.  It was starting to be easier than ever, given how much he used this ability, but he knew to not rely on his powers too much.  However, in this circumstance, it was extremely useful.

To his surprise, he didn't see the Colossus for several minutes, which was a feat on its own considering that thing towered over most of the buildings in Ninjago City.  But he eventually found it, standing in the middle of a courtyard.  The eyes were glowing purple, but it seemed to be resting, if it rested at all.

He let the winds dissipate away from his body until he remained hovering in front of the stone giant, wondering what to do next.  Usually, riling up a giant powered by elemental magic wasn't something he'd do, but this was his task.  He couldn't back out now.

"Hey!" he shouted, feeling extremely stupid as he did so.  "Wake up you giant chunk of rock!"

The Colossus didn't move.

"Are you deaf?" Morro called, sending a sharp gust of wind at the Colossus and knocking a piece of rock away from its shoulder.  "Hello?  FSM, you're worse at defending your so-called Emperor than I initially thought."

"I mean, I thought those ghosts I summoned during the Battle of Stiix were bad at patrolling, but you really take it to the next level and—oh my god it's coming alive."

Morro flew up, narrowly dodging a swipe from the Colossus.  He laughed, zipping away from the courtyard and heading in the direction of Lloyd and the others.

"Catch me!" he shouted, laughing some more as he flew literal circles around the Colossus, taunting it and angering it further.  "You're too slow!  You're even slower than the Preeminent!"  For a moment, he thought the Preeminent was going to appear and kill him, but he remembered that the cursed entity was dead.

The Colossus lunged again, a stone fist glancing off of Morro's calf.  He yelped in pain, but pushed on, half falling and half flying before he crashed onto the rooftop next to Nya.

"Hello," he mumbled, face resting against the gritty surface.  "The Colossus is angry at me and broke my leg."

The others on the roof barely had time to pay much attention to Morro, because the Colossus suddenly appeared and brought its fists down, narrowly missing Skylor.

"Skylor!" Lloyd called, drawing a sword.  "Come on!"

Skylor's eyes glowed purple as she raised a hand, a wreath of energy surrounding her hand and arm.  The Colossus paused, slowly turning its head to stare at her intently.

"Back... off," she forced out through gritted teeth.  "Don't... don't hurt us."

Very slowly, almost painstakingly, the giant took a step back.

"G-good," Skylor whispered.  Her entire body trembled with the effort to keep the Colossus at bay, even more so as it suddenly moved forward again.  Garmadon had started to fight back.

"Back," she hissed, thrusting a hand out.  The action seemed to push the Colossus back several steps and Skylor dropped to one knee.  She braced herself on the ground, panting heavily.  When she looked up, her eyes were empty and shining with a mix of red and purple light.

"Skylor?" Lloyd pulled the girl away as the Colossus responded to whatever command Garmadon sent it, bringing its fist down on the roof.  "Get to the trucks!" he shouted to the others.

Morro rose to his feet, limping as he moved to help Lloyd.

"Get her to the truck and I'll hold this thing off," Lloyd said.

"What about you?" Morro asked, one arm supporting Skylor.  She was unresponsive and stared blankly at the ground while energy radiated from her body, seeming to pull hope and light away from their surroundings.  "You can't take on that by yourself!  You don't even have your powers—"

"I got this," Lloyd snapped.  His hand suddenly flared up with green light and Morro flinched when the energy came too close for comfort.  "I do have my powers, Morro.  I got them back a while ago, when you were hiding away in the Resistance base, wallowing in your misery."  He closed his eyes, exhaling to calm himself down.

"If you want to prove yourself to be useful, then help Skylor get to the truck!  She's in no condition to fight right now, and I don't have a broken leg like you."

"I..." Morro stopped when Lloyd glared at him.  "Right, I'm going."

The last thing he saw before he turned and ran was Lloyd turning his glare onto the Colossus and brandishing a sword at its face.

"Is Skylor okay?" Nya asked once Morro's feet touched the ground.  She helped the redhead into the truck bed and laid her down on a blanket.  "Her skin is freezing."

"I think she overexerted herself," Morro said quietly.  "Destruction must've been too intense of an element for her."  He looked to the rest of the Resistance, who were scattered around the feet of the Colossus, distracting it with their various powers.  Then he glanced at Nya, hoping that maybe she had an idea.  "What do we do?"

"We can't just leave her here," Nya murmured.  "But we have to help them."

As if her words were a cue, a glowing circle of golden and white light swirled into existence above their heads.  It drew the attention of everyone, even the Colossus, who temporarily stopped trying to beat the Resistance into a pulp.

Five dragons flew out, with five extremely familiar figures on their backs.  It was—

"Kai," Nya whispered, spotting her brother, sitting on a dragon with bright red scales and black horns.  Then she jumped up, waving a hand frantically.  "Kai, you're back!!  They're all back!"

Morro watched with awe as the dragons soared above them.  His expression of delight only grew when another dragon shot out, this one gray, beige and light green in color.  The Wind Dragon came to a halt in front of him, bright green eyes staring into his own.

Somewhere in the midst of chaos that was fighting the Colossus, he heard Kai shout "I guess we know why she followed us now," most likely referring to the Wind Dragon.

He raised a hand, slowly reaching out to let the dragon sniff it.  The dragon cocked her head, purring lowly as she lowered herself so Morro could climb onto her back.

"I..."  He looked at Nya, who was looking at him with amusement.  "You want me to..."

As if she was impatient, the Wind Dragon grabbed the edge of his cape and threw him up, catching him on her back.

"Right, okay," Morro carefully balanced himself, keeping a firm grasp on his powers in case he fell off the dragon's back.  The dragon joined the rest of her kind in battle, weaving in and out as she dodged the Colossus attacks.

"Morro!"

Morro looked up, seeing something thrown at him.  It was a gun with a grappling hook attached to vengestone chains.

"Use this to tie this thing up!" Cole shouted, pointing to the Colossus and demonstrating what he meant.  There was no hint of hostility in his voice, only urgency.

Despite having no previous experience with shooting guns, Morro aimed the grappling hook at the Colossus and pulled the trigger.  The chain shot out, somehow wrapping around the Colossus' ankles and pulling taut.

More chains wound around the giant as each of the Ninja shot their grappling hook guns.  To his surprise, Sensei Wu was there too, though he looked significantly younger than he remembered.  His former teacher was wearing a set of golden armor and was holding a beautiful sword with a golden and ivory handle.

Wu fired the last chain and Kai's dragon swooped in, breathing a stream of fire to weld the chains together.  The large red dragon Wu stood upon flew up, toppling the balance of the Colossus and the stone giant fell, its body crumbling to pieces as it hit the ground.

Despite the glowing purple energy that still swirled around the stone fragments, it didn't reform.

The Wind Dragon landed, allowing Morro to dismount.  He watched as the other Ninja also followed his example, though they were immediately swarmed by the Resistance members.  Nya remained by the truck bed, helping Skylor sit up.  The purple and red energy had faded from her body when the Colossus was defeated.

"They're back?" Morro heard Lloyd ask.  He turned, giving the blond a tight smile.

"Yeah," he said.  "You should go greet them."

"You should too," Lloyd said.  "You helped us."  He offered Morro a smile.  It was small, but it was genuine as far as he could tell.  "You deserve the recognition as much as everyone else who helped in this battle."

Then Lloyd turned to his friends, waving them over before Morro could find an excuse to slip away.

"Morro," Kai said.  One of his arms was around Skylor's shoulder, the other hanging loosely by his side.  "You're not dead."

Morro resisted the urge to say something sarcastic and said, "Yeah, I guess not."

"He helped us," Lloyd said.  "You guys saw."

"Really," Kai muttered while Jay protested, "He tried to kill us!"

"I-I could go if you want—"

"No, Morro, you did help us," Nya cut in, much to the surprise of the other Ninja.  "Thank you for that.  I mean it."

Wu also made his way over, a surprised look on his face.  "Morro, you've returned from the Departed Realm," he said.

"Um, yeah," Morro scratched the back of his neck and looked away.  "It's kind of a long story, but, uh, to make it short, I helped Lloyd and Nya."

"So, where are you going now?" Lloyd asked as the shock from the aftermath of the battle slowly wore off.  He watched as another truck pulled up, this time with Dareth and Misako inside.  His eyes widened when they dragged a still-tied-up Harumi out of the back and pushed her toward the Commissioner.  "Oh, I honestly forgot about her."

"I'm probably going to just wander around," Morro said.  "Be a free spirit, ya know?  No pun intended."

"You could stay at the Monastery," Wu said.  When Morro didn't respond, he continued.  "You were, and still are a great ninja."

"I am?" Morro asked, his voice suddenly quieting.

"Because you learned from your mistakes," Wu said.  "And you took responsibility for it.  Not many people can do that."

Morro looked at the ground, silently counting the stones for a few minutes before he nodded.  Almost hesitantly, he looked up and asked, "Could I have my old room back?"  His cheeks burned at the embarrassment.  Why would he ask such a question?  Wu probably wouldn't do that.  He probably already gave the room to another one of his students.

Wu nodded, the beginnings of a smile forming.  "Of course," he said, sounding as if he was holding back laughter.  "You can have your old room back."