In my Ninjago One-shot book, I wrote a story where 12 yr old Harumi finds a spell in one of the books from the Palace libraries. She studies it and uses it to cast a spell, one that allows her to speak to one being from any realm of her choosing for a few minutes.

this takes place during Season 8 of Ninjago, and Harumi is about the perform the ritual to bring Lord Garmadon back. It can be a "sequel" to the one-shot in the oneshot book.  Note that this is also a one-shot, albeit a longer one.

I listened to One Hell of a Team by AmaLee while writing, and a lot of the story is inspired by the song.

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Harumi let her lips curl up into a smile as she made her way to the Temple of Resurrection located within the destroyed Palace of Secrets.  All this time, the Temple was hidden inside of the Palace, the one place she never thought to search because "there was no way something of that importance would be hidden here".  Then again, it wasn't called the "Palace of Secrets" for nothing.

She descended the seemingly endless flights of stairs, with the clicking of her heeled boots on stone being the only sound to reach her ears.  She reached out a gloved hand and ran it along the cracked, but otherwise still intact walls.  Her fingers traced over every bump, every dip, every crevice as she walked.

The Temple of Resurrection was located at the very bottom - nearly fifty meters below the surface of Ninjago, and for good reason too.  Harumi knew that this Temple held great power; power that would be dangerous in the wrong hands.  She let out a small laugh when that thought crossed her mind.  It was no doubt something that Lloyd and his little ninja friends would say to her.

The air around her seemed to become stuffier the more she walked.  It felt heavy on her shoulders and seemed to crush her with every step she took.  But still, she pushed these thoughts aside and continued.  She had gotten this far with her plan; the plan that her twelve year old self had thought of initially.  Granted her younger self had not thought about all these elaborate schemes and details, but the main ideas were there.

But what if it doesn't work? she thought with slight worry.  What if I don't succeed?

"I will succeed," she muttered out loud and any doubt she had disappeared almost instantly.  "I've gotten this far, I have all three Masks, and I'll soon have the hairs."  Harumi noticed that she was nearing the bottom of the stairs and let out a sigh of relief.  "And I'm here."

She pushed open the double doors, grunting from the exertion and frowning when she saw how much dust had rained down upon her head.  The Temple was more unstable than she initially thought, but it'll have to do.  She didn't have time to find another Temple of Resurrection, and this would probably be the only chance she had to do this.

Harumi's smile widened when she spotted Mr. E, Ultra Violet and Killow, all standing next to a restrained Green Ninja with the three Oni Masks in their hands.

"I see you brought the masks," she said, her tone biting and condescending.  "And what about our insurance policy?"

"Right here," Killow stated, pushing forwards a startled and frightened Misako.  She stumbled and almost fell onto the ground.

Up until that point, Lloyd hadn't even been aware that his mother was in the same room as him and the moment he laid eyes on her, he lost it.  "Mom!" he cried, pulling and tugging at his chains desperately in an attempt to break free and save her.  With no success, he ended up shooting a withering glare at Harumi, who had a pleasant smile on her face.  "Don't you dare touch her."

"Oh, I won't hurt your dear mother," Harumi cooed, leaning towards Lloyd and lifted his head to meet his gaze.  He maintained the steely glare.  "And you better hope that you don't give me a reason to." she added, her voice seeming to become darker and more menacing in the blink of an eye.

"I just need one tiny hair from her," she continued, plucking a hair from Misako's head.  Then she sauntered back to Lloyd, who flinched back when she neared.  "And one from you."

"Don't touch me!"

"And I already got one from the brother."  Harumi gave Lloyd a smile.  "What was his name again?  Wu?"

With the hairs in hand, she turned back to Killow and Violet, with Mr. E standing quietly at the side like he always does.  "Now, shall we begin?"

The spell was more or less the same one she had found while browsing the Palace Library all those years ago, but alterations were made to fit the requirements of the ritual she was performing.  She still remembered the spell, word for word, with the exact pronunciations and what steps were needed in order for the spell to work.  She could never forget how proud she felt when that ghostly boy appeared, claiming to be from the Cursed Realm.  She had never thought that she could cast such a spell, yet she did.

Now here she was, about to perform the spell again, albeit for a completely different reason.

Harumi placed the Oni Masks in such a way that they formed the points of a triangle.  In the middle of the Masks was an altar, and it was there where she placed the hairs.

Placing her hands on the smooth, glassy surface of the altar, she closed her eyes and started concentrating, imagining the energy from the Masks flowing through the air and then connecting to the Realm of her choosing.

"Clotho venge, clotho decer, clotho haeed!" she chanted as she poured more of her energy into completing the ritual.  "Rip apart the veil between Realms, I summon you, Oni!"

"Harumi, don't!" Lloyd begged from his cage, hoping that his words could sway the mad Princess.  "This isn't you!  You can stop this, please!"

She took no notice and focused on the second, more difficult part of the ritual.  Harumi lifted her arms into the air, and in turn, the Masks rose up from their spot on the ground.

"Cóng yuè jiè zài cì shàng shēng!"  Her voice barely wavered, despite the amount of concentration and energy it took for her to keep this ritual going.  "From the Departed Realm, rise again!"  Harumi let out a loud yell as she gave the final push, a bright light exploding outwards, knocking back her generals and caged prisoners.

The Oni Masks clattered to the ground, wisps of smoke rising from the surface and curling in the air.  Harumi lifted her head, taking in her surroundings in her disoriented state of mind.

Her eyes locked onto a pair of worn, black boots before her, the tips covered with steel.  They travelled up, her mind registering the pair of dark, cotton pants, with small tears in the fabric.  Then came the dirtied green gi, with a fraying hem and torn off sleeves, and a long cape that looked to be practically shredded to pieces.

Harumi immediately backtracked as she processed this information - Lord Garmadon did not wear green.  Despite her head still ringing from the shockwave the ritual caused, she looked up and met the confused, yet grateful eyes of a human.  And not just any human - this was the same person that she managed to summon with the spell from the Book of Realms.

Instead of bringing back Lord Garmadon like she had intended, she had brought back Morro.

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"No!" Harumi exclaimed, immediately clutching at her pounding head.  "I...it was supposed to work!"  She remained where she was after being knocked over by the blast; sitting on the ground, shell-shocked and covered in dust and small scrapes.

"Maybe the Masks were placed in the wrong spot," Ultra Violet suggested, though even she sounded unsure.

"The Quiet One couldn't have possibly made a mistake," Mr. E spoke up, taking everyone in the room by surprise.  With how silent he had been for the past hours, you would've thought that he was the Quiet One, not Harumi.

"Impossible." Harumi whispered, still in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Lloyd and Misako were both in shock, their looks of confusion directed at both the Jade Princess and the former ghost.  The Green Ninja was furious and fearful, and rightfully so.  Morro had possessed him for FSM knew how long and forced him to fight his friends before tricking them into almost perishing within the Caves of Despair.  Misako, on the other hand, was straight up frightened.  She had nearly died when the Preeminent temporarily held her hostage, with Morro threatening her son and brother-in-law that he'd kill her the whole time.

And now he was back in Ninjago, though this time, he was fully corporeal and not leading an army of Cursed Souls.  While he looked harmless - as harmless as someone who destroyed a village and nearly killed said village's population with a slimeball could be, neither Lloyd nor Misako were willing to take that chance.

He looked the way he did during the Battle of Stiix, - long, tangled hair with a bright green streak cutting through the black locks, a tattered cape over a dark green gi, fastened in place with a tarnished dragon brooch.  There were some differences.  Unlike when he fought the Ninja in Stiix, he wore a pair of black boots, tipped with steel and a sword hung from his belt, sheathed.  His dark green eyes were no longer sunken and ringed in ash; they were alert and full of life, though they still held a faint green glow if you looked close enough.

Morro walked around the circular room, taking slow, hesitant steps until he grew confident enough and strode across the room, stopping to look at anything he thought was interesting.  He stopped by the Mask of Deception and picked it up.  He turned the orange mask around in his hands, running his fingers along the surface and taking in every detail that was carved into the wood.  Then, to everyone's surprise, he carelessly tossed it aside and moved to the obsidian altar in the middle of the room.

"There's a crack here," he said, the sound of his voice easily filling the silent Temple.  Turning around to face the still confused Harumi, he cracked a smile.  "Looks like your spell did work after all.  Who were you trying to bring back?"

"W-what?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.  Getting to her feet shakily, she half stumbled to the altar.  Her eyes landed on the crack, widening when she noticed a jagged, circular hole that seemed to stretch down deeper than the location of the Temple right at the center of the pedestal.  "B-but I thought--"

She whirled around, facing Morro with anger evident on her face.  "Wait, if the spell worked, then why are you here and Lord Garmadon isn't?"  She started to pace around the room, though it looked more like she was throwing a tantrum.  "Ugh, that spell was casted correctly, nothing should've gone wrong!  I used the hairs from Garmadon's family members, not yours!"

He raised an eyebrow in a mocking way.  "Are you complaining about my presence?"

"......"

"Yes!" Lloyd shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.  "You should be dead, Morro.  Nya sunk the Preeminent and you died--"

"Nya, Nya...where did I hear that name before?" the former ghost mused out loud.  "Oh, yes, I remember her.  The Water Ninja."  Suddenly, he was by Lloyd's cage, making the Green Ninja flinch back for the second time that night.  "Tell me, how are your friends?  Have you realized that the best person to rely on is yourself?"

Lloyd didn't respond.

As expected, he didn't learn at all, Morro thought, a smile tugging at his lips.  "Whatever the case, it's good to be back."  He turned and gave Harumi a genuine smile.  "I thank you, Princess."

"Don't call me that!" Harumi growled.  She glared at the Master of Wind and snatched up the Mask of Hatred, about to put it on.  "What you can do is tell me how to get the spell to work!"

The former ghost tilted his head to one side, clearly enjoying how much the Temple's occupants were getting riled up.  "Bold of you to assume I know how to cast a spell." he said, when in reality, he did know how.

"Oh, I know you casted a spell to get that...thing out of the Cursed Realm." she hissed.  She closed her eyes and seemed to calm down slightly.  "So tell me how to get this spell to work, and..." Harumi moved her eyes around the room until they landed on Lloyd, who paled.  "...I'll help you become the Green Ninja."

"You're not actually considering asking him for help, are you?" Violet hissed under her breath.  "He's insane!  Didn't you see the news about Stiix?"

"Funny, coming from you," Killow retorted and they started arguing, their voices rising in volume until Harumi flung a dagger between the two, nearly slicing their faces off.

"Both of you, shut up before I make you." she said as calmly as she could muster.  "And you, you better not try anything funny.  You're human now, which means I'll be able to send you back to the Departed Realm if I wished."  Upon seeing his expression of conflict, she sighed.  "I'm serious.  Help me, and I'll help you become the Green Ninja."

Before Morro could respond, a loud boom echoed through the room and the already unstable Temple started to shake.  Dust rained down from above and a few chunks of stone crashed onto the ground.  He gathered the debris into a rotating ball of dust and broken stone at the center of the room, ready to throw it at a moment's notice.

"Lloyd?" Kai's voice managed to carry down into the Temple.  "Guys!  He's down here!"

"You haven't gotten rid of them yet?" Morro asked Lloyd with a hint of amusement in his voice despite having asked the same thing only moments ago.  "Still relying on others, are you?"

"At least I have friends," Lloyd shot back.  "Where are yours?"

Morro eyed the Green Ninja with disdain, as if imagining himself wearing the mantle of the prophesied saviour that he had desired for so long and remained silent, deep in thought.  There is a chance that she's lying, and using me to get what she wants, he thought with growing suspicion.  The Queen of the Cursed did that.  However, there is also a chance that she's telling the truth.

He moved his eyes around the room, taking note of everything - Harumi whispering quietly with her three henchmen and Lloyd and Misako still locked in their cages, too scared and confused to do or say anything.

"Harumi, I've gotta say, you're quite persuasive." he finally said after a long period of silence.

Lloyd seemed to realize what this meant and his blood ran cold.  More desperate than ever, he struggled with the chains and locks on the cage, trying to escape in order to stop the two.

"And that means?" Harumi asked rhetorically, crossing her arms.

Morro smirked and offered her his hand.  "It means you got yourself a deal, Princess."

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The two new allies stood to the side, talking quietly so Lloyd and Misako couldn't overhear.  Harumi was the one doing most of the talking, despite her title suggesting otherwise, and was trying to get her point across with wild hand gestures.  Morro looked like he was on the verge of falling asleep, which greatly amused Violet and Killow.

"What part of the plan do you not understand?" the Quiet One growled angrily, slamming her gloved hand into the wall beside Morro, who barely flinched.  If anything, he was more amused by the irritation that Harumi exhibited rather than feeling threatened.  "It's simple, or did being dead also kill off the majority of your brain cells?"

Almost immediately, wind picked up in great gusts within the half destroyed temple.  Morro rose, his clothes and hair somehow not affected by the hurricane that now roared around them.  Chunks of broken stone from the temple hovered behind him, ready for him to throw at anyone if he needed.

"I understand the plan perfectly, Harumi," he said, voice dangerously quiet.  "Might I remind you who out of the two of us have the greater experience?"

"Me," Harumi deadpanned.  "You were dead for longer than you were alive."

If Morro wanted to say anything about this comment, he didn't and kept his mouth shut.

"Good," Harumi didn't seem concerned about the fact that she could die if she even breathed incorrectly.  "Then what are you so angry about?"

It was at that moment when the ceiling caved in and the rest of the Ninja dropped into the ritual room.  Morro's wind died down and the stones fell to the ground, cracking the marble floor and some even breaking through and disappearing into the darkness below.  He stepped back, hiding in the shadows casted by the still-standing pillars.  Violet and Mr. E drew their own weapons and faced the Ninja while Killow grabbed the Mask of Deception from where Morro had thrown it aside and he, too, faced Lloyd's friends.

A full on battle ensued within the already extremely unstable Temple of Resurrection.  Mr. E and Killow donned the Masks of Vengeance and Deception, respectively, while the Ninja harnessed their elemental powers.  Energy balls and chunks of stone flew around, some landing a bit too close to the still caged Garmadons.

"Lloyd!" Cole exclaimed, his eyes brightening when he saw his teammate unharmed and safe, as far as he could see anyways.

"I'm fine!" Lloyd shouted, his voice carrying above the sounds of battle.  "Worry about Morro and Harumi!"

"Did he say Morro?" Jay asked with disbelief, shooting a bolt of lightning at Mr. E and effectively short-circuiting the Nindroid.  "Morro's dead!"

"I am not dead," Morro said, finally stepping out after watching the battle go on without much progress.  "You can thank the Princess for that."  With a wide sweep of his arm, he sent a powerful gust of wind at the Ninja, scattering them across the floor while also (hopefully) making things easier for Killow and Violet.  He frowned when the crazed woman was almost immediately knocked to the side by Cole's hammer and when Killow got his foot frozen in place by Zane, the Ninja having rebounded from the attack faster than anticipated.

"I thought she was bringing back Garmadon!" Kai groaned, pushing himself up from the floor.  "Oh, my back..."

Correction, some of the Ninja rebounded from the wind blast quicker, Morro thought with slight amusement before he focused on the situation at hand once more.

"Well, she didn't," the Master of Wind stated calmly, sending another gust of wind at the Ninja.

"But you said the spell worked--"

"I said you didn't bring back Garmadon, not that the spell didn't work." Morro shot back.  "Calm down, Princess."  He unsheathed a sword and blocked an arrow from Zane before it could pierce his chest.

During Morro's brief exchange with Harumi, the Ninja had regrouped near the wall.  They had mostly taken care of the Sons of Garmadon generals - Ultra Violet was unconscious, Killow was desperately trying to free his foot from the ice block, and Mr. E was occasionally twitching on the ground, but was otherwise still. 

The former ghost was baffled by how easily the Ninja had taken down Harumi's...generals, and how easily they had been defeated.  It was as if both parties, while seemingly skilled with their respective weapons, were actually not as capable with their supposed "signature weapons" as they claimed to be.  He should know, as he had first hand experience with fighting the Ninja and to say he was disappointed would be an understatement.  Even Lloyd, the supposedly "most powerful ninja", had been ridiculously easy to trick and possess.

"Ninjago has you as its saviour," Morro directed his look to the exhausted Ninja.  "And these generals serving the Quiet One can't even hold their own against a few fruit-coloured ninja!" His tone was as sharp and biting as it had been, every time he spoke about something other than himself, or the mantle of the Green Ninja.  "I was given a third chance to return to Ninjago and this is what I get?  FSM, I swear that nothing's changed since I was sent by the Preeminent to get the Realm--"

A green energy ball collided with Morro's back, knocking him out mid-sentence.  He fell to the ground with a yell of pain before being rendered unconscious, with wisps of smoke curling up from his now-burnt clothes.  Seeing her new ally fall, Harumi drew a sharp dagger and charged at the source of the energy ball, only to be shocked by a bolt of lightning from Jay.  She too, fell, her body twitching and spasming until it became still.

"You talk too much," Lloyd said, clearly worn out and tired from spending hours chained up in a cage.

"Lloyd!" the Ninja exclaimed, seeing to regain their energy as the Green Ninja emerged, unharmed for the most part.

"You're okay!" Nya cried, relieved that her unofficial younger brother was alright.

"I don't know if I should be glad that it was Morro who was summoned and not my father," he said quietly.  "Both are powerful opponents, but at least I won't have any doubts about fighting Morro."

"The man that Harumi is trying to bring back is not your father," Misako spoke up, making her way over the rubble to where the Ninja were grouped.  "Your father..."  Her voice choked up a bit.  "He perished when the Preeminent was defeated."

"I know," Lloyd replied, his voice heavy.  Then he glanced at the defeated SoG generals, as well as the unconscious Morro and Harumi.  "What about them?"

"Leave them here and bury them?" Kai suggested, earning a slap on the arm from his sister.  "Or not?"

"If we leave them here, they will regain consciousness and will strike again," Zane said.  "But trying to incapacitate them would make us as bad as them."

"So what do we do?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, those cages are somehow still intact," Jay suggested, causing the other Ninja to exchange looks of amusement.

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To say that Morro was less than amused when he woke up inside a Vengestone prison cell with Vengestone cuffs on his wrists would be an understatement.  The first thing that he tried to do was rip the bars away from the support beams, and failed miserably.  Then he tried to ram the door open with his shoulder.  When the only thing he managed to accomplish was dislocating his shoulder, he resorted to screaming bloody murder.

"You cowards!" he screamed out to the rest of the prison.  "How dare you lock me up rather than dealing with--"  The vast majority of the prisoners ignored him, while some others told him to shut up.

"The first thing that I hear when I wake up is you screaming," Harumi's annoyed and tired voice came from behind him.  "Really, Morro, I thought you were a fearsome opponent and a trustworthy ally, not a whining child who cries when they don't get what they want."

"And I thought you were the leader of the Sons of Garmadon," Morro replied without missing a beat, his voice as condescending as it always was.  "Where are your generals, huh?  Oh yeah, they got knocked out by some ninja.  I guess we were both wrong about each other."

"Yeah, well--"

"The newbies are finally awake," a new voice cut in.  Both Morro and Harumi stopped their arguing to see an older, middle-aged man wearing a police hat standing outside the cell.  "Are you enjoying your accommodations?"

"You!" Morro angrily slammed the bars again.  The police officer was barely fazed.  "Let me outta here so I can give those Ninja a piece of my mi--"

"We're not allowed to do that," the man replied, seemingly trying to hide his amusement.  "Based on the reports that the Ninja gave us, the two of you aren't going to be leaving this cell anytime soon.  Especially you, Morro."

The Master of Wind growled at the response he was given and sulked.  He couldn't even send a gust of wind at the officer and blow him clear across the prison.  Stupid Vengestone prison cells.

"Think about the bright side, Morro," Harumi said once the police officer left.  She appeared relaxed and content as she leaned back on her cot.

"I'm having trouble finding that."

"Well, we could always brainstorm about ways to escape," she continued, her tone becoming sarcastic and patronizing.  "Y'know, instead of, I don't know, acting like a child."

"I'm not a child!" he argued.  "I'm the Master of Wind!  Commander of the Cursed Army and wielder of the Sword of--"  He stopped mid-rant when he realized Harumi wasn't paying attention to him, and was scribbling on a piece of paper.  "Are you ignoring me--"

"Oh, give me a break, Morro," the Quiet One hissed.  "I'm trying to figure out how to get out of here!"

As she was writing on her third paper, another officer arrived outside their cell and opened it.  "The Commissioner wants to question you." he said, sounding tired and slightly scared.

"About time--"

"He wants to question the Quiet One." the officer said, sparing a glance at Morro, who was now beyond livid.  "He said something about the Master of Wind being too unstable."

"Much like his element," Harumi snickered as she followed the officer out of the cell, leaving Morro alone before he could think of a comeback to the jab.

As Jade Princess followed the officer to the interrogation room, she felt something in the air shift.  It wasn't noticeable to anyone, and by all means, she could very well be mistaken.  But she felt as if she wasn't.  The air felt exactly the same as it did inside the Temple of Resurrection; when she was summoning Lord Garmadon and ended up bringing Morro back.

A spark of hope filled her as she walked into the interrogation room - maybe the spell just took a long time to bring back Garmadon.

A smile crossed her face and it remained on even while the Commissioner told her that she would most likely be spending the rest of her life in prison due to her actions.

"--in prison for a minimum of twenty years with no possibility of parole--Princess Harumi, are you even listening?" the Commissioner looked at her with concern.  "Do you need something, Princess?"

"I need you to shut up," she muttered under her breath.

It was at that moment when the officer who escorted her to the interrogation room burst through the door.  "H-he's...here!" was all he managed to say before he passed out in the doorway.

A loud boom echoed through the entire prison, shaking the walls and even loosening some of the bars on the cells.  Harumi's smile widened, even more so when the Commissioner ran from the room to investigate the source of the boom.

Another explosion shook the building, and this time, Harumi could see who was causing this destruction.  Her already wide smile became wider, if that was possible.

A figure dressed in all black appeared in the doorway, easily ripping the door away from its hinges and throwing it aside.  Lord Garmadon stepped into the room and stopped in front of her, his hands glowing with bright purple energy.

"She...calls me," he rasped, closing his fists to dispel the energy.  "Princess."

Harumi ran from the destroyed room, following Garmadon as he threw purple energy balls left and right.  She passed Morro, still in the cell, though he was observing the scene with interest on his face.

"Wait!" she called, stopping by the cell.  "Free him."  She pointed to the still-locked cell and looked at Garmadon expectantly.

Garmadon turned around, giving her a confused look.  "The Elemental Master of Wind?" he questioned.  Then he waved his hand dismissively.  "I have no use for one."

Morro's mouth dropped open with outrage and he was about to launch into another rant when Harumi gave him a warning look and tried again.

"Please, My Lord, he can help!" she said.  "I've seen how well he fights, and trust me, you'll want him on your side.  Or would you rather him join the Ninja?"

Garmadon stared at Morro for a long time, deep in thought.  Then he raised a hand, shooting a glowing energy ball at the cell, destroying it.  The Master of Wind stepped out, a grateful look flashing across his face before disappearing.  Then he raised his cuffed hands.

"What about these?" he asked.

"We'll find a way to get them off later," Harumi said with little concern.  "It's--hey, what are you doing?"  Morro had stolen a hair pin from her and started trying to pick the lock open.

"I swear Lloyd said this worked." he muttered under his breath as he worked.

Lord Garmadon turned around at the mention of his son.  "Lloyd?" he hissed, taking Morro and Harumi by surprise.  "My son?"

"Y-yes?" Morro gave an awkward laugh as he managed to free one wrist.  "That's him."

Harumi rolled her eyes and pulled them along, escaping the now-destroyed prison.  Spotting a garbage truck nearby, she threw open the driver's door and hopped in, thanking the FSM when she saw the keys still in the ignition.  Morro and Garmadon followed, and without waiting for them to buckle their seat belts, she turned the ignition on and tore away from the prison.

"Harumi, be careful!" Morro shouted as the Princess ran several red and yellow lights, as well as occasionally driving onto the sidewalk.  "I've already died several times and I don't plan on dying again!"  He let out a scream when Harumi narrowly missed hitting another car.

"This is what you call an ally?" Garmadon asked, sounding more confused than he had been inside the station.  "He screams at the littlest things."

"Well, it's either have him against me as an enemy or have him as an ally." she responded, never taking her eyes off the road.  "And once I saw him fight, I knew he would make a powerful adversary, so I offered him a deal."

"A deal?" the Lord of Darkness asked.

"Yeah," she said.  "In exchange for helping me, I help him become the Green Ninja."

"Lloyd is the Green Ninja," Garmadon said, as if trying to make sense of what Harumi just told him.

"Yes he is, which is where you come in," she said.  Turning to give Garmadon a wicked smile, she continued.  "Have you ever thought about unlocking your true potential?"

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Lloyd walked into the empty and newly rebuilt Kryptarium Prison, his green eyes darting around as he searched for his father.  He wasn't even sure if he could call the man that Harumi brought back his father anymore; his real father would never stand for something like this.

So far, the main sector of the prison was empty, but Lloyd knew that if Garmadon really was here, then his two second-in-commands wouldn't be too far away either.  His assumption was proven to be correct when he spotted a flash of green disappear behind a pillar on one of the upper floors.  That was without a doubt the Master of Wind.

His shock when he discovered that Morro and Harumi were helping Lord Garmadon couldn't be compared to anything else he'd felt in his life.  When his team dropped into the Temple of Resurrection to save him, they, too, were equally as shocked, having thought that he died when the Preeminent sunk into Hollows Trench. 

Morro was a worthy opponent, Lloyd would give him that much credit, but he knew that if he had tried to speak up, or maybe try to convince the Master of Wind otherwise, the former ghost maybe could've been on his side.  Of course, with his luck, Harumi had already convinced Morro to join her, using the promise of the Green Ninja mantle to sway him.

Lloyd clenched his fists tightly as the thought of the Jade Princess crossed his mind.  He had never trusted someone so quickly as he did her, and for a while, he had even considered her to be more than just a friend.  He thought about how he had been trapped by the vines on the Strangler's Path, and how Harumi had thrown a sword with deadly accuracy from quite a distance away.  And when he had questioned her on how she could wield a weapon with such skill and ease, she had dodged the question by kissing him. 

Closing his eyes to remove the painful memory from his mind, he let out a sigh.  What had happened was in the past; he couldn't dwell on that anymore.  She made it clear what she had thought of him, and he shouldn't let it bother him, yet it still did.

"Where are you?" he shouted, having lost some control over his raging emotions.  His voice echoed around the empty prison before it faded away.  "Show yourself, you...you coward!"

"It was foolish of you to come here, Lloyd," a familiar voice said, the dark tone sending chills down his spine.

The Green Ninja turned around to see the man that was once his father, standing before him with both pairs of arms tucked behind him.  He looked exactly the way he did before all the evil was cleansed from his body - dark skin, dark clothes, and glowing red eyes.  Even that samurai helmet was still on his head.

"You've changed, Lloyd." his father said, his voice still calm and neutral, though it held a bare hint of surprise.

"So have you," Lloyd spat, his anger getting the best of him.  He forced himself to calm down, though he ended up becoming more emotional than before.  "Please...I-I don't want to fight you.  I can help you, Father."  A few stray tears leaked from the corners of his eyes and he wiped them away.  "Please."

A bright purple energy ball flew towards him, and he spun away before it could collide with his chest.  His hands glowed green as he called upon his own powers, desperately trying to defend himself from the continuous barrage of purple fire.

"This is the new me," Garmadon said, as emotionless as he was before, and that only fueled Lloyd's desperation and sorrow.  "Stop staggering around and fight me, Green Ninja."

"I've saved you once before," Lloyd said, trying to keep his voice steady.  "I know the father I loved is in there somewhere, I can save you again."

In response to Lloyd's plea, Garmadon sent multiple energy balls flying at his son, both out of annoyance and anger.

"There is nothing to save!" he growled as he continued his unrelenting attacks.  "I've played many roles, worn many masks...but one, and only one of those was brought back."

***

On one of the upper floors, Harumi and Morro were watching Garmadon and Lloyd battle, the former with interest and the latter out of boredom.

"It's the fight that fuels him!" she realized, voicing her thoughts out loud.  Morro gave her a confused look as he rested his head and elbows on a railing.  "Look, the more Lloyd tries to fight his father, the stronger Garmadon becomes!  He's finding his true potential!"

"And?" Morro questioned.  "What's it to us?"

"Us?" Harumi laughed.  "What do you mean by 'us'?"

"Are we not allies?" he asked.  "What do we get out of Lloyd being defeated?  Aside from me becoming the Green Ninja, and you getting your revenge, that is."

"Is that all you ever talk about?" she asked, amusement dancing in her eyes as she focused on the battle happening on the main floor once more.  "It was just Green Ninja this and Green Ninja that for the past week."

"I'm just curious," Morro replied.  "And I think we could've gone about this a different way.  Maybe if we--"

"Morro, remember who's in charge here," she said coldly.  "Be grateful I didn't kill you when you appeared in the Temple."

***

Lloyd was thrown back against a wall, cracks spider webbing from the location of impact.  A low groan of pain escaped his lips and he looked up, his vision spinning.  His eyes widened when he saw a ball of purple coming closer and closer and he managed to dodge the energy ball that was thrown his way.  However, he was still too slow and it collided with his leg, burning through the fabric of his pants and singeing the flesh.  Biting back a scream of pain, he somehow staggered to his feet and faced his father once more.

The green energy was slowly flickering out as his energy was spent, and in a desperate last attempt, he tried to reason with Garmadon.

"Please," his voice was weak and full of despair.  "This isn't you!  You don't have to do this."

"Don't I?" Garmadon responded, tilting his head to the side.

"Harumi is just using you!" Lloyd cried, unable to contain his tears anymore.  "She won't care for you once you've fulfilled your purpose, trust me, I know!"

Purple flames suddenly came to life, surrounding him and growing close with every passing second.

"Y-you wouldn't hurt m-me," he muttered, on the verge of passing out from exhaustion,  "You-you wouldn't h-hurt your s-son..."

"Son?" Garmadon loomed over the fallen Green Ninja with a purple energy ball in his hand.  "I have no son."

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

A loud explosion shook the entire prison, and Morro and Harumi had to grab onto the railings to steady themselves.  When the dust settled and the smoke cleared away, they realized that there was now a gaping hole on the eastern wall of the prison; right where Lloyd had been lying only moments ago.  The Green Ninja himself was nowhere to be seen while Garmadon remained pacing around the main floor.

As he made his way down to the main prison area, Morro asked himself if he was doing the right thing.  Sure, becoming the Green Ninja had always been his innermost desire, but he wanted to earn that title.  He had believed his whole life that you can only get something if you show that you deserve it, and so far, what he was doing didn't make him deserving of the Green Ninja title.  He glanced over at his ally, trying to read her facial expression, and it wasn't hard.

Harumi's face was set in an expression of glee and happiness as she practically sprinted down the stairs to examine the destroyed walls.

"Morro!" she called, facing him with a strange, twisted sort of happiness.  "Can you believe it?"

He reached the hole and peered through, his mouth dropping open when he spotted Lloyd, lying on the pavement outside in a crumpled heap.  Smoke rose from his charred, green gi and there were bleeding cuts and bruises all over his body.  He felt something tugging at his chest, and, after realizing that it was guilt and shame, decided that he didn't like the feeling.

"Is he dead?" he asked, his voice rising in pitch.  "Oh my FSM, you just killed someone--"

"What, are you worried about his well-being?" Harumi asked as she also took in Lloyd's battered form, though she was more amused than anything.  "I thought you wanted to be the Green Ninja, so why does it matter if he's de--"

"I do want to be the Green Ninja, but at least I have morals," Morro snapped.  He mentally slapped himself at the irony of his words - he recalled a time when his morals were practically non-existent, and he had summoned a monster just so he could be the Green Ninja.  "This is just wrong, why go through all this just to make him suffer?"

He felt uneasy when Harumi looked at him, an unknown emotion hidden behind her calm and stoic mask.  "I've told you, he killed my parents." she replied, her voice steely.  "And look who's talking.  If I recall correctly, you did something just as bad."

"It doesn't mean that you should stoop this low to exact revenge," he said.  "I should know."

"Oh, right, you should.  What was it that you did again?"  She pretended to think.  "Oh, yeah.  You possessed him and threatened to kill him just to set your slimeball of a master free."

He didn't miss the glance that Harumi sent his way afterwards.  He knew that getting on her bad side would be a terrible idea, as she would probably get Garmadon to kill him or something, but he couldn't help but doubt the things that he had done.  When he was brought back by Yang on Day of the Departed a few years ago, he tried to make amends with his former Sensei, and succeeded, to some extent.  But he might've just done all that for nothing because he accepted Harumi's offer without a second thought for what could happen.

In the past week alone, he had done nothing but strike terror into the hearts of the citizens of Ninjago, and it had brought back too many memories of when he did the exact same thing at Stiix.  The only difference was that this time, if he screwed up, he wouldn't have the backup of hundreds, if not, thousands of cursed souls.

***

Lloyd had been rescued by his friends, and Morro wasn't bothered by that.  If anything, he was glad that his friends had saved him.  What he and Harumi (though mostly the Princess) had tried to do to the Green Ninja could not be justified, even if he tried.

"Let him live," Harumi had said when Garmadon moved to end his son's life.  "Let him live to see the reign of Emperor Garmadon."

"Emperor Garmadon?" Morro had questioned.  "Why not just Lord Garmadon?"

"Because I think it's about time Ninjago met its rightful ruler." she had replied.

She made that sound like she was doing Lloyd, and by extent, Ninjago a favour, and in that moment, Morro knew that he had made a mistake in joining Harumi.  He should've known that her offer sounded too good to be true, especially since the Preeminent had used the same excuse right before she sent him through the portal to Ninjago.

As of now, the Master of Wind was standing beside the Sons of Garmadon as he watched Harumi and Emperor Garmadon terrorize a helpless village.  Guilt struck him when he saw the fear in the villagers' eyes as one of them stepped forward, donning a helmet and chestplate and unsheathing a sword.

"We have nothing to offer you," the man said fearfully.  "I--"

"Your village is surrounded," Harumi snapped, cutting the man off mid-sentence.  "Kneel before your Emperor!"  She glanced back at Morro, expecting him to say something.  When he didn't, she sent him a withering glare.

"No," he replied defiantly.  "Our village will defend itself...to--"  The man's sentence trailed off when he saw Garmadon raise his hands.  Purple energy surrounded the hills, twisting and morphing the earth until a colossal statue made of rock and stone stood before them.

Defeated and outnumbered, the man dropped to his knees and removed his helmet.  "My apologies, Emperor," he murmured.

All around him, members of the Sons of Garmadon started to laugh and Morro had to stop himself from laughing along with them.  He let a few forced chuckles escape his lips when Harumi glared at him yet again and stopped when she looked away.

***

"What was that about?" Harumi shouted at Morro the minute they returned to their base on Borg Tower.  "You didn't back me up!  What happened to 'we're allies, are we not'?"

"Harumi, you are delusional!" Morro screamed right back, emphasizing each word as he clenched and unclenched his fists.  "You've gone too far!"

"Says the one who unleashed a monster on a defenceless village!"

With a scoff and a roll of his eyes, the Master of Wind grabbed a sword and a spare set of knives from the side.  Securing the weapons on his belt, he faced Harumi.  The Princess was fuming, the Mask of Hatred clutched tightly in her hands.

"I'm sorry, I'm done," he said, voice neutral and devoid of emotion.  "This was a mistake, I never should've accepted your offer."

Without giving her a chance to respond, he continued.  "Yes, I want to be the Green Ninja, I have always wanted that, but I believe in earning the title."  His eyes flashed with a subtle glow as he spoke.  "Wu showed me what I was capable of doing and...and I abused that power.  And based on what we did--what I did in the past, makes me undeserving of such an important role."

"Oh, so now you're trying to be a hero?" Harumi asked, her tone condescending and angry.  "You want to go help your ninja friends?  Be my guest, by all means."

"I never said that."

"Of course you didn't!" she laughed.  "You never say anything!"

"I'm leaving." Morro cut in, one hand resting on the door handle.  "And this time, instead of helping to destroy Ninjago, I'm going to help save it.  Despite everything that went to shit for me, this place is still my home."

He left, slamming the door behind him as gusts of wind tore through the building.

"As I expected," Garmadon said, having witnessed the entire exchange.  "He would've served more purpose locked up in Kryptarium."

"That idiot deceived us all," Harumi growled, unaware of how ironic her words sounded. 

"What will you have us do, Quiet One?" Ultra Violet asked.

"We wait," she replied, pacing around the room.  "We wait and let them think that they got a break, then we strike, right when they least expect it."  She stopped pacing and looked up, meeting the eyes of her generals and also Garmadon.  "But this time, we leave none alive."