Chapter by: LillaSmolBean
~~~~~~~
Alas, for the last few nights, everything had been shaky. The resistance tried their best to not let a minor problem like this disrupt their peace.

A certain green ninja was leaning against a pole connecting the small control room and the top towers, he was on the decks and the oni lord had noticed him.

What wasn't known, was the fact that an unidentified visitor managed to get into the sleeping white haired girl's room. They opened the door slowly and—

Garmadon spotted Lloyd, wondering why he was alone. The boy was in fact the resistance's team leader. Therefore, a good leader would be running errands with his team...not remain out here and stare off into the unknown.

"Foolish boy," he mouthed to himself, slowly realizing that he found his feet moving forward. What? Why was he moving forward? This boy, was no ally of his. He had no family—no son.

He stayed rather near to the entrance of the hallways. The thing with onis, they have enhanced healing and strength. He doesn't need to come closer to the boy to hear what he was thinking, even if it was a mere murmur. He listened closely and yet, a small pestering was heard in the distance.

A sigh escaped the green ninja's lips as he rose his head for the tenth time to look at the blue skies. "Rumi, I want to talk to you again. Really badly, you know?" Again, no human could possibly hear such an almost inaudible thought. But Garmadon heard it all.

Following the lines of a simple: "I want to talk to you, I want to talk to you face to face. I want to apologize but I..." oh? Garmadon blinks when Lloyd stops. Did he allow his pride to fall? The green clad ninja whipped his head up from the railings and glared at entrance of the hallways.

Did he spot something? Garmadon rolls his eyes to glance behind him. No, it's not that Lloyd spotted something. The oni lord fixed his look on what's in front of him, the green ninja was now right in front of him with his mask pulled down. Garmadon flinched, stepping back slightly as those serious and agitated green eyes flared at him.

"Did you hear that?" He questioned the four-armed villain. Yes, that was right. They heard a set of barks, it was all coming from Harumi's bedroom door, the sound was loud enough to cross paths with a wooden door. Garmadon nodded gently and with a swift gesture of hand,
two shadowy daggers spawned in his top arms. "Come on, green ninja."

The two of them quietly trotted over to Harumi's room. They'd hoped they'd investigate the source of the noise. No, possibly not source but what has triggered that source to make noise.
"Why do you think Cloud is barking?" Lloyd whispered as they leaned against the wall.

Garmadon shrugged, twirling around one of the daggers with his fingers, it was if he was checking if the blade was sharp enough to harm. Gathering up his courage and assuring that they were both ready to fight, "Let's find out, shall we?" The oni lord used his free arms from beneath his chest to swing open the door.

A shadowy figure turned around at the sight of the front door opening. Garmadon and Lloyd's eyes widened as the matter wasn't so trivial, it seems. They had thought originally that it would be Cloud and Harumi alone in the room. The white Pomeranian stopped barking and instead turned her small head at the saviours, briefly she growled at the unwanted guest.
She would protect her owner at all costs, it seems.

"Oni!" Garmadon yelled out, crouching slightly to ready his weapons. At the moment, he was planning to go all defensive. This was quite a tiny room they were in and it would break not only Harumi's heart to have her room destroyed but the other resistance members would make a pretty big deal about half the ship being obliterated.

Or perhaps, that wasn't quite the reason.
Garmadon didn't recognize this oni, what if this unwanted visitor was able to overpower him? He needed to keep his eyes peeled.

With the initial shock of the front door swinging open, the oni snapped out of his thoughts and charged at the opponent of his that looked similar to him. His fist collided with the lord's jaw and he was pushed onto the deck.

Garmadon gasped for air as not only his jaw was impacted into a punch, his back landed on the planks of the deck. Thing is, the oni punched and pushed him roughly. It hurt him but nonetheless, he managed to get up—only to realize Lloyd not Harumi was behind him.
~~~~~~~~~
Well pride be damned, Lloyd stood in the. centre of the room. It was like he was left to choose a crucial decision that would impact the storyline of a video game he was playing. If he glanced to his left, that was the blasted door. It was basically encouraging the "Help Garmadon" option.

To his right, was the white haired princess, who was still in bed. If he were to wake her up, he could possibly get more help for Garmadon. However, it only risked the both of them being overwhelmed by the oni despite the both of them being pretty skilled fighters. Lloyd tightly shut his eyes.
Ah, FSM. He had to do it.

"Harumi, wake up please!" He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and shook it. He didn't completely shake her out of bed. First of all, it would be rude treatment for a princess and second, Cloud was watching. His time was running out and he knew that if he allowed Harumi to continue sleeping, he would receive a scolding from Garmadon and her later on.

To his luck, Harumi was immediately shaken up and awake after she heard him call for her. She rubbed her eyes and laid on her back only to realize he was looking down on her. She slightly blushed—it was not every evening that she finds herself waking up to handsome boy. Ah, what is she thinking? If Lloyd was waking her up, their lives were on the line.

"Lloyd?" She calmly pushed him away from her, giving them both some space and sighed. She got out of bed and peered under it only to grab a silver blade.
"What happened?"

"No time to explain, grab your weapons and follow me." In a half hushed and rushed tone, Lloyd gave her the instructions and left the room. Had he left his father out there for too long? What had happened?

Harumi crossed her arms, a small pout escaping her lips. Truth be told, she was still a bit tired but if someone like Lloyd went out of his way to wake her up, it must be important. "Geez, Lloyd." She found herself blurting out.

Well what is there left to lose? She needed to attend to whatever Lloyd was so partial about. Harumi held her sword tightly with one hand and proceeded to walk towards the front door. She thought she would have left either ease, however,

She felt the back of her shirt being tugged—captured by a set of teeth. "Huh? Oh..." she gasped in surprise and was flung back to her initial spot. Her eyes quickly landed on the cause, it was Cloud, her pomeranian. The puppy barked at Harumi, it seems that she was disagreeing with following Lloyd.

Harumi sighed, "Cloud, I know it's dangerous. But Lloyd woke me up for a reason. I can't just leave hi-" she paused to change her words a bit. "I can't leave my family in danger. Well...the ones who still believe in me, that is." She rephrased and with a swift movement, dislocated her clothing from Cloud's sharp teeth. The princess then ran out of the room, ready to see what's going on.
~~~~~~~
"You think I can't match your skills?" inquired a rather battered up Garmadon as he lifted himself off the ground for about what seemed to be the tenth time.
The opposite oni stood there, a few metres away from the other and waited for an actual physical response. Not some plain words to pass the time.

It was at that scene that Lloyd ran out to the scene, he gasped and checked his surroundings. He needed to find something that would be to their advantage. Checking his father's state, look how beaten up he was! He approached the four armed man that he recognized and stayed behind him.

"How strong is he?" He murmured, not intending for his question, that could lead to praise with however Garmadon responds, to be heard by his opponent.
Being told how strong you are will only fuel your arrogance and eagerness to fight. He learned that much.

Garmadon huffed, taming a second to appreciate that the green ninja didn't just leave him on the battlefield to sort out his relationship issues with his lover. Then again, it wasn't like he was asking for an ally. "Too strong," he responded simply.

"I wasn't paying attention to the royal lineage of onis, but I have no idea who this guy is." He felt the need to remark this much.

Lloyd clenched his teeth. Damn it, if one guy would be able to knock down someone was powerful as Garmadon...
His head cocked to the side to spot Harumi running out of the hallway. His heart slightly sank and his eyes shifted in place. "Rumi..." he began to worry. Was it a bad idea to bring her out here?

Raising her blade, Harumi immediately noticed the threat. The last time she spent time with her family, there was only one fully shifted oni present. There weren't two of them! What was going on? She ran over towards Lloyd and Garmadon. "Hey, what's happening?" She blatantly called out.

Garmadon's eyes widened as he pushed forward towards his enemy. "H-Hold on...!" he growled out, trying to retreat his fist from crashing towards the other. But the momentum of the wind and power refrained him from doing so.

The latter only snickered, he paid no mind that there was some pointless girl standing in the middle of their collision.

"Rumi!!!" Lloyd tried to scream out. This time, he didn't stand on some building and watched her fall. He stretched his hand out to her, to grab hers.

But it was too late, Garmadon and the oni's fists punched right through the white haired girl.
~~~~~~~
It was too much of a shock for anyone to react at first. Not even Lloyd could find himself rushing by to help her...in the end of the day, powerless, he watched as the princess lay on the deck. A blood puddle was seen forming onto the planks, the impact of the punch caused her to lose all consciousness.

Garmadon growled, standing back up from such an attack and quietly stepped in front of the fallen Harumi, mainly to defend her. He glared at his opponent, who only glared at the victim from the decks. "Lloyd, watch over Harumi." He strictly instructed the boy standing behind him and Harumi.

However, quivering In place, Lloyd sighed and pulled his hood back up. "No need, father." He was vulnerable, he allowed such emotions to show at a scene like this. Not only did he yell out for Harumi, begging to be spared from the sight, but he didn't flinched slightly at the almost cold eyes he received when his father glanced back at him.

No need? What did that mean? But those words seemed sincere. Alright, Garmadon doesn't attack the other oni any further. Instead, he focuses on defending Harumi alongside the green ninja. It all came clear though that the four of them wouldn't be left alone like this.

Footsteps were heard coming from the dorms' hallway. "Okay I know there's a fight going on because my senses tell me that we need to get all 'ninja' up on you!" The voice of the aggressive fire ninja was heard being called out first. It was the ninja including Mistaké and Skylor.
They all halted though at the sight of two onis and a collapsed and bloody Harumi.

"There's two Garmadon's?!" Jay freaked out, retreating back slightly only to be pulled forward by Nya, who dug her nails into his unpulled hood. "No, there's not two Garmadons. Can't you see one is different?" The water ninja replied to the lightning ninja's remark.

Though, to their surprise, Mistaké was the one who stepped forward. She was slightly shaking, Nya and Skylor had realized that much. Was she...afraid to meet another oni? This makes three onis in the room. At least, that's what the girls' thought the main concern was.

"This is Omega." The elderly woman spoke with a breath lacking both relief and safety. She left the team behind to join both Garmadon and Omega on the battlefield. "I didn't think his royal highness would be partial to a small alliance like us." She greeted the unfamiliar oni with shaky words.

Omega chuckled, dropping his gaze from Garmadon for just a second. "Ah, Mistaké is that you? I didn't recognize you in that form. Long time no see." Omega seemed to not be playing along. What confused the team was....Mistaké and this Omega person knew each other?

"Wait Mistaké, you know this guy? Who is he?" Jay prompted. Of course, with someone with such a vibrant and cheeky personality, he's point out the obvious instead of keeping his shock a total secret like the rest of the ninja.

Mistaké nodded and Zane flinched slightly. "Yes, he is Omega, supreme leader of the onis." She introduced. All the ninjas included Lloyd gave a surprised reaction. They all tried to suppress their own gasps and immediately glared at Omega, who laughed amusingly at their expressions. "Foolish. But I appreciate such a reaction nonetheless, Mistaké." He commented.

Groaning, Garmadon brushed dust away from his shoulder. "So that's who he was and why he refuses to be defeated." One of his hands pushed his helmet back a little.

"Unfortunately, my visit will be cut short. It's nice to see you again though, Mistaké. Come visit again, it's been years." Omega mentioned, sighing at what seemed to be pitifully. Was he trying to send off a teary farewell? However, Mistaké shook her head. "I will never visit your kingdom again." She retorted.

As more retorts between the king and the elderly woman passed by, Kai turned around and formed a little circle with his ninja team. "We can't let him leave," he voiced out the main idea to his comrades.
There was a brief silence as the bickering between the two only got louder.

Skylor winced and she shook her head. "We cannot possibly defeat someone who's close to killing Garmadon and already knocked out Harumi. How about we just let Mistaké handle all of this?" She suggested to the rest. Now, that wasn't such a bad idea. Sure, it hurt their pride that they'd acknowledge that they couldn't defeat an enemy like him. But if they wanted to cause less casualties, they needed to consider the suggestion.

Zane nodded and pulled himself away from the strategy circle. "Let's at least try to look menacing." He told his friends as he pulled out his bow attached to his back. The rest of the ninjas nodded to his command and pulled out their respective weapons. Alongside Mistaké, they got into their battle stances.

Omega growled, seeing the ninja and Garmadon get all apprehensive. "A fight you're looking for, is that so?" He paused to let out a breathy laugh. He slowly began to retreat into the railings. Mistaké and Garmadon only closed the gap between them. As far as they were concerned, Omega was cornered.

"Too very bad for you. I will not be entertained with such poor warriors. Perhaps if you trained your oni more, I will fight you." But, Omega would rather cross the arrogant path and escape the fight that would fuel him for hours. He flung himself off he edge of the ship and fell towards the ruined city. Garmadon and Mistaké both growled at his escape.

"Was the king that much of a coward?" The four armed figure asked the old woman. She gave a silent shake of head.
~~~~~~~~
Skylor and Nya sighed, lowering their weapons and even putting them away. He couldn't possibly jump back into the air and launch an attack on them. Sure, he was the leader of onis but he couldn't do something that amazing and accurate?

So instead, the two girls walked over to Harumi and lifted her off the ground, not bearing to face her prone bloody position any longer. "She looks badly injured, do you know what happened?" Skylor mentioned casually and albeit coldly, her amber eyes lifted to the skies to face a trembling Lloyd. During Omega' reveal, he didn't pull out his weapon, only stood there quivering to himself.

"I-I tried to, I swear I swear!" The green ninja tried to make an excuse, for his cowardice, for his absence in battle.

Mistaké sighed, coming over to where Harumi, Nya, Skylor and Lloyd were.
"No need to worry, she is only unconscious." She informed them all of an information that most of them would have figured out. She stepped even closer and held Harumi by one of her hands. "Skylor, help me bring Harumi back to her room." The old woman requested.

Using teamwork to carry over Harumi, Nya glanced back at Lloyd. "Hey, you tried to stop her from getting hurt, right?" She tried to smile at her little brother. She could feel like Lloyd had a story to tell.

A bit confused on what Nya was trying to do, he reluctantly nodded. "I tried, but... once again, I couldn't save her.." he whimpered. It's not that he was ready to cry for being a failure. He was supposed to still be angry at her, remember? But, Lloyd was too shaken up about this whole thing.

Frowning, the water ninja placed a hand on the green ninja's shoulder. "But you did speak out to her, you tried to save her from disaster. That little heart of yours still cares, doesn't it?" She joked. She was aware about the whole conflict going on between the two lovers. However, she only tried to lighten the mood. To cheer the boy up.

Lloyd shrugged and began to walk off towards his room like the rest of the ninjas were doing. "I don't know how to feel, alright? Sometimes, I have the need to protect her. But I still didn't forget about what happened. Don't worry." With that, he closed off the conversation entirely.
Nya shook her head, crossing her arms at the response.

"Don't worry." That was not at all the message she was trying to remark here.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning rolled by really smoothly. Harumi woke up pretty easily despite the lack of sleep she received thanks to Omega's invasion on the bounty.
Her and Cloud slipped out of bed to the scent of some tasty stew being cooked by the kitchen.

Both followed the scent and walked right into the kitchen to meet the chef himself. It was Cole...accompanied by Garmadon? Harumi stood by the doorframe and shot a glance at the four armed man. What was he doing in the kitchen, he wasn't hungry, now was he?

"Oh don't look at me, I just came." The man dismissed her suspicions and quietly glanced back down on the table cloth.
Stepping inside and looking around, she is greeted by the black ninja who is seen with a chef hat and apron. He laughs at their arrival.

"Morning Harumi, why don't you try my stew?" He requests the white haired girl along with her puppy. Harumi instantly raises an eyebrow as once again, she tries to make eye contact with Garmadon in which he sadly ignores. "Stew? But didn't you say it was the morning. Oh wait I get it, it's a trap." She pointed out.

Cole was a little bit shocked with such an assumption as he grabbed a bowl and poured the stew into it. "What? No traps at all. I'm just saying it was morning since you just woke up, right? In reality, it's pretty much the afternoon." He says, grabbing the second bowl and filling it with the food.

It didn't really convince Harumi much as she still kept her arms crossed and puffed out at him. "The special sauce there is not rat poison, now is it?" She was merely joking around. She didn't actually think that Cole would do anything to poison her and his team's food and she would be absolutely delighted to try his cooking.

Cole jokingly gasped, but he did play along though. "What? Of course I wouldn't do such a thing. Now, here. Please try this." He reached the counter and grabbed two bowls. He placed one on the table for Garmadon and the other to Harumi. Garmadon and Harumi glanced at one another before the man spoke out:

"Well at least someone here has manners go serve an oni." He, too, intended to joke around. But with the fact that he said it with a dull and unenthusiastic voice, made it seem to the two others that he was actually glad of such a thing. Cole nodded and leaned on the wall, waiting for the two of them to try his meal.

Harumi dug her fork into the stew, scooped up a piece and brought it to her mouth. She took a second to pause and think about the flavouring. However, not content with judging with just one bite, her fork dug into the food once more to grab another piece.

Garmadon ate the food he was given indifferently. He made no remark whatsoever. Then again, an oni would eat anything. Even if it was power itself. Now that, would be quite a grand feast for an evil warlord like him.

"Not bad, but I do think it needs a little something." Harumi placed the bowl back down and walked over to the counter and opened one of the cabinets. A bit distraught that his food wasn't perfect, Cole sighs. But nonetheless, he didn't give up. He raised his spirits and waited for Harumi to explain what he did wrong.

"You see, for stew, you need to add a little bit of this." She pulled out a small bottle filled with a white material.

Cole chuckled and Garmadon almost spat out what he was eating. She was showing them a bottle of salt. The black ninja took it and continued to laugh. "Alright I'm not sure if that intentional to Garmadon but-" he was interrupted by a brief yell.

"Hey, I was not at all salty lately. What are you talking about?!" Garmadon snapped back, standing up from his chair and leaving his half finished stew bowl sitting on the table. The table shook from the way he so violently stood up from his spot.

"What, do you believe that I've forgotten everything? That we're on such great terms?" Harumi fluttered her eyelashes at him, trying to act so darn innocent at a situation where she knew she was absolutely right. Cloud tilted her head in confusion, wondering what her owner was up to. She recognized it being as a mischievous look.

Not moving from his spot, Garmadon started at the tablecloth once again, blocking out reality itself, who was yelling at him from a few metres away. "What do you mean?" He confronted her calmly and shakily. He did retort back, he was a bit out of breath.

"Sure you cared about me, I appreciate it, like yesterday. But don't forget about that time where you sent guards after me to harm me. Not only that, isolate me in the dungeons." Pulling up a smug smirk, Harumi turned her back on Cole and Garmadon and started to head out of the kitchen with her puppy.

These were just one of the days where one of the ninjas feel like they weren't meant to hear such a conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hiya Lilla here and thank you for reading chapter 89, I appreciate it! Now here we go, the reason why this arc is called "Choice of the demon" is finally being revealed! Goodness, Omega finally appeared and he almost kicked the living being out of Garmadon out there! Will the resistance stand a chance? Alas, tell me what you guys think and I hoped you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless the drama that happened. Cya later^^