It reeked charcoal, the distasteful taste of ashes. No one dared to come any closer than needed as they stared in surprise and disgust at what lays on the ground. Aside from charred tiles caused by the incident, a strand of white hair lay atop a pile of stones. It belonged to none other than the Jade princess.

Gone too soon, they all lowered their heads as they paid their respects. That's the one thing that kept them together—hope. Harumi was full of it and now, look what had happened to her. She was gone, really really gone. Sighing and not moving his eyes away after a minute or two, the blonde continued to frown.

He was never going to see her again, after thinking he had made things right and denounced his father for his wrong-doings.
If someone were to ask him why he had such the long face, he'd reply with a mere: "I'll never see her again and it's all my fault, I never apologized." At this point, he was brought to the lowest point, believing his actions were the results of his own selfishness.

But even so, they needed to push forward. They needed to honour Harumi's memory and get out of here for good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a completely different world,

"I knew it, I knewwwww ittttttttt" lashed out the white haired girl as she sat legs and arms crossed whilst mid-air. She glared and growled at the boy who was failing beside her.

No, in fact, they were both falling.

They didn't know what happened, one minute they were fighting on the rooftop and the second minute, poof! Here they were, falling out of Candyland. Kidding, it was a rainbow passageway, it's beauty was way too ethereal to be considered in a human's eyes.

Yet, Harumi wasn't making a big deal out of it despite being possibly the first actual living human to fall through dimensions and rifts.
The Ethereal Divide, a mysterious little paradox.

"What? I didn't know it would do that." Zackery responded with a spat, just like her, he was pretty annoyed with what had happened just now. "I never used the realm crystal before, how was I supposed to know we'd end up here?" He retorted in his defence.

Harumi rolled her eyes, bracing herself for impact as she believes she sees a faint light right below them. "I don't know, maybe I'd have realized that what it does is said exactly in the name!!" She scolded.

For two travellers, they both acted pretty calm about all of this. What they didn't take too lightly, was the landing.

Already predicting that there was a breakaway at the very bottom of this vortex, Harumi landed on the cement, her hand landing first, using it as a support for when her feet would reach the ground below her. Unlike Zackery, she wasn't stunned upon finally making contact with this solid path.

Where the heck were they? This wasn't Ninjago city.

Rubbing his head after being toppled over, Zackery looked around before screeching and moving out of the way as a flashy red vehicle drove their way. The two immediately reached the sidewalk where they both took a deep breath, having avoided the cars for now. That was a close one...

"Where are we?" Harumi muttered, catching her breath and just taking a second to examine for anything familiar. Maybe they were in Ninjago city, just...somewhere else, on an unknown street or something.

However, that was not the case for what they saw next.

"Uh Harumi?" Zackery blinked, raising a hand to point at a metallic vessel following a set of cars. Oh! So that's why the cars have forgotten about the speed limit, they were simply trying to expand their lifespan!

Taking the oni prince's warning as an advantage for her, the Jade princess hissed and used her feet to kick him back onto the streets.
"Take that, get taken away!" She shouted, practically feeding the oni to the spaceship that was ready to disintegrate every vehicle out on the road.

Almost screaming his head off at the surprise attack, Zackery obviously scurried back onto white Harumi was standing and tried to pull her with him. He punched her cheek—missing by a few seconds as she dodged his expected blow and she lowered him to the ground.

"Oh yeah?" She glared at him, twisting his knuckles, the one holding onto the realm crystal.

Zackery spat to the ground, chuckling silently to himself. "I still have the realm crystal, what are you gonna do about it?" He challenged, an ugly smirk taking over his lips.

"This," Harumi responded, bringing a leg up to kick him in the ear. The oni lord, who was being held down by her, didn't have enough time to move out of the way, but he did see it coming.

"Mn...."

So it hurt less than expected.

Still holding onto his fingers, squishing them so they could crack, the two didn't acknowledge a figure coming out one of the few vehicles who parked beside them. Both struggled, fighting for dominance over each other until silently, out of the blue, a loud voice startled them.

"I'm Batman!"

A mask-individual, who was disarmed, shouted with a smile.

"Eh?!" Harumi stepped back from Zackery and the weirdly dressed citizen after hearing the shout. What if it a code-word for them to get attacked by this guy's lackeys? She didn't want to receive a bomb to the face therefore it was an instinct for her to move straight-away.

As for the oni prince. Unfortunately, he wasn't rescued by the lovely princess.

"What in FSM is that?!?!?!?!?!" He screamed in absolute terror as he pushed himself to stand up and tighten his grip on the realm crystal.

"Hey wait a second-" Noticing his considerate hold on the artifact, the white haired girl wasn't quick enough to warn him about his actions.
They both left the slightly-apocalyptic world, leaving behind this weird "Batman" guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
In once again, a rather detailed city this time, the void that they spawned from the last world spat them out as the two of them landed on a telephone box. Said action caused the oni prince to drop the realm crystal he was so previously holding, onto the streets.

It bounced right on the ground, avoiding from being crushed by the cars and landed near a manhole.

In what seemed to be a very advanced bicycle, a black-haired girl stopped right by the manhole and examined with a frown the artifact she found on the ground. "Huh? What's this?" She whispered, picking the crystal up and giving it a good look from up close.

Even with cars driving by, she surprisingly didn't get told to get off the road by a few drivers. She stayed completely out of the way all while not leaving her attention on what she was out here to do.

From behind her, "Hey! What's the hold-up?" À blonde girl that looked a couple years older than her, inquired, pushing the breaks on her own bicycle. There were now three girls with bicycles a few metres away from Harumi and Zackery, realm crystal in their possessions.

"I'm not sure, I just found this by the manhole here, do you know what it is?" She handed the crystal over to the two other girls, her trustworthy friends.

The blonde took a closer look, not quite identifying what it was exactly. Though, it was obvious to everyone's eyes that it was in fact a gem. Considering it's blueish colour, perhaps a diamond?

"Yeah I don't know, it seems legit though." The third girl, who was with the other two, mentioned, deciding to speak before the blonde.

"I know a place just by the corner, they know a lot about diamonds and other gems, they're experts, let's go to them." The girl named Jade suggested. Giving a nod and getting on their bikes, the girls decided that would be their plan for the afternoon.

Opening her jaw in shock, Harumi tripped over Zackery's arm and crawled to the edge of the road. "No wait, hang on!" She tried calling out for the girls, in an attempt to try and snatch the realm crystal before her opponent does. However, it was no use as they were already riding off in the distance.

Harumi sighed and knew that her legs may not be in the best condition. But she ran anyways, this would be her battle, not his, she had friends to return to, not him. She ran and ran, not caring that he had realized her intentions and chased after her.

Pedalling away, mostly watching her friends Lilla and Kaitlyn take the lead. Being the rearguard meant many things. One, you were being left behind so not exactly an ideal position if they were being chased. Second of all, that's when the instinct like came to mind. Jade, having a weird gut feeling, suddenly warns her friends.

"Hey, is it me or do you think we're being followed?" She inquired, trying to catch up to her two other friends.

Kaitlyn, upon hearing Jade's affirmation, checked back and lightly sneers when she notices two individuals—oddly dressed, running after them. "Gosh, they're here for the crystal, aren't they? We aren't letting them steal it. Let's split up!" She decided.

Lilla, the black haired one, slowed down, allowing Jade to catch up to her. She turned her head to look at the blonde before handing her the crystal. "I'm a good decoy. I'll totally throw them off, for now, get this to the experts!" She assigned the blonde to an important task.

Nodding all at once, they separated at the sight of a fork in the road. Lilla going left, Kaitlyn speeding down the middle and Jade pedalling considerately quickly towards the right.

Harumi and Zackery though, noticing what they were doing and split up as well.
~~~~~~~
Thinking she'd be the one left behind without anyone chasing her, it stressed her out a bit to find that a white haired girl was chasing after her. Accelerating, she let out a panicked shout: "Woah! You're fast!" She addressed to Harumi, not knowing exactly how she was able to catch up to her in less than a minute.

"It's called training, kid!" The princess called back, chuckling a little as she found the blonde not terrifying at all. Even if they looked really different from one another. She is really really pretty, that's for sure. Ninjago has never seen someone like that before, she is really unique in her own ways and Harumi bets that deep down, she is the kindest person someone can meet.

The chase lasted for a few more seconds—until the left and right paths crossed each other. Lilla—who was being chased by Zackery as he shot beams of his magic into the sky, caught up with Jade and Harumi. She rung her bell.

"Magic! Hah, these guys are some powerful beings or whatnot!" She laughed to try and relieve some stress. It was already bad enough that she was being chased, what mode could happen to her? Possibly burn to death because of whatever element these beams contained?
Holding tight onto the crystal, Jade took a deep breath and found her match.

"Get away from her!"

With a shout, she pedalled as quickly as she could and flung herself off her bike—scaring Harumi as she witnessed the crash of the bike into the trunk of a car ahead of her. Jade calculated quickly as she grabbed onto a lights pole and swung from it, her hands almost slipping and letting go due to momentum.

"Take that, four-armed beast!" She raged, tackling Zackery and punching him square in the jaw. Screeching, Zackery and Jade crashed into a nearby brick well. That was the end of the chase.

Parking her bike near the pole, Kaitlyn, who had head she crash from a few metres away, came to investigate and found Lilla looking down at the two injured individuals.

"Everything okay? I heard a crash and thought.." Kaitlyn stared them stopped as she noticed Jade getting back up and looked at Harumi with slight confusion in her eyes. She still held the realm crystal in her hands.

"You're really heroic, you know that?" The white haired girl smiled at the blonde.

Lilla chimed, approaching the blonde girl even more. "Jade, you're okay! I was worried that you broke a bone or something!"

Groaning as his back literally slammed gassing brick, he had trouble getting up and used the wall several times for support. "This is...really not fair.." Zackery whispered, hissing as his back was really hurting him.

Harumi sighs and turns her attention to the girls. "What you have in your hands is the realm crystal, it belongs to another world and it's sort of like a travelling ticket to other dimensions." She explained briefly, not knowing how much the girls retained from that or if they even believed such a thing at all.

The first to react was Kaitlyn. "Wow! Supernatural stuff, huh? Here on Earth, no such thing exist. Just myths, stories and dumb internet lies. But seeing something that mysterious in person is intriguing!" She showed interest in the crystal her friend held.

Harumi was glad that someone seemed to believe her, "It's my ticket to return back home. Sorry, do you mind handing it over?" She inquired, extending her hand forward to the three girls.

Thinking about it for a second, Kaitlyn huffed.
"We were gonna bring it to an expert and have it scanned but..." she was stopped when Jade handed the crystal over to Harumi.

"But we'd never block your only chance at going back home, we want to help others as much as possible!" The blonde smiled at the white haired girl.

Giving an appreciative smile, "Thank yo-" she wasn't able to finish as out of rage, the prince of onis, not wanting to stay much longer due to humiliation, shoved her inside of the spawning vortex behind them. Just like that, the portal closed on them, proving to the three girls just now that time and dimension travelling was possible.

Lilla smirked, "If only my writing skills were that good, I'd write a novel about time travel." She jabbed. Most of the girls here enjoyed writing in their free time so it was an easy topic to relate to, in a way. Kaitlyn and Jade nodded before recovering their bicycles and riding away from the now-damaged building.

"Let's collab on one, how's that? But in order to get some ideas, so...ice cream?" The third girl asked her two other friends, taking the lead to take them to the park where she had last seen the ice cream truck.

Jade and Lilla looked at each other before chuckling at Kaitlyn's suggestion.

"Ice cream, we all love ice cream!" They agreed.
~~~~~~~~
"Eh...where are now..?"

This time, the dimension they were in was quite different. No cars trying to run them over, no sign of any mountains nor any weird skyscrapers in the distance.

Zackery and Harumi, upon landing, hit their heads against a wall. No, this was a small room, not a dimension?

"Where are we?" Harumi wondered, examining her surroundings. A small little office of the scent of leftover pizza, it was gross.

Maybe they ended up back in Ninjago? Just ended up in a disorderly workplace. No, it can't be right? There was something weird about this place but the two couldn't make it out.

Sighing and taking a seat on the office chair behind them, Harumi crossed her arms. There was a tablet beside her and curious as ever, she lifted it up and opened it.

Footage was shown, she almost dropped the tablet in surprise.

Beside her, was the oni prince, he was examining the desk in front of them. He grumbled, pushing aside a soft drinks bottle and landing his eyes on a pink cupcake...with eyes?

Weird, definitely weird.

"Um Coll-I mean, Zackery, what are you doing?" Not lowering her eyes from her tablet, she asked.

"First of all. Have these people have no shame? Look how filthy this place is and I'm being as kind as a monarch to even push these leftovers off a desk? I'd have the maids do it, I swear-" he began to rant, picking the papers, that had tomato sauce on them, and checked the contents.

Harumi rolled her eyes, completely ignoring her companion and the nonsense he was sprouting. Then, she had noticed something on the tablet she was looking at.

A puppet with void-black eyes preparing to come out of a box. She held her breath for a second and shifted to her right and spotted a music box on the desk.

"Zackery, play that music box."

The prince raised a brow, clearly offended with her set of words.

"Excuse me, have you forgotten who I am-"

"JUST DO IT UNLESS YOU WANT US ALL TO DIE A TERRIBLE DEATH"

There was a sound of genuineness in her yell, her expression too, widened eyes and sweat rolling down from her cheeks.

What? Were they all gonna die?

Grabbing the music box, Zackery began winding it up, calming down first so that he wouldn't twist it too quickly. If Harumi wanted him to play that music box so suddenly, there must be something that she found on that tablet right?

Groaning and continuing to play, Zackery turned his head to face her.

"Anyways, why did you ask me to play this music box?" He inquired, sitting on the desk since Harumi already took the chair.

She pressed through the different camera footage on her screen, keeping an eye on any sudden movements. She did see loads of these robotic animals though, why were they there?

"I saw a puppet preparing to come here." She explained before turning her screen towards the boy. She showed him what she was currently seeing. "See look? A puppet is here," she showed the oni the creepy white-masked robot.

That's when a thud was heard in front of them.
Harumi and Zackery stopped, immediately turning their heads to look at the exit of this office—an ominous hallway.

"What was that..?"

"Do you have a light?"

They remained silent, afraid of something potentially standing in front of them.

Rolling in her chair, she strolled over to the desk and snatched a flashlight. With Zackery behind her, his hands placed on the top of her chair, he and Harumi watched as she opened the flashlight and pointed it at the hallway.

A fox stood there in the hallway, hook in hand and tilted head.

"OH FSM WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" hollowed Zackery as he sprung back and stumbled on the floor.

Harumi reacted as well, though not as vocal as her companion. She let out a light gasp and exhaled, shutting her eyes. "It's just...a dumb fox." She whispered, standing up from the chair and approaching the fox.

The oni prince scurried over to where she walked, he screeched and pulled her by the arm. "Noooo no no, are you seriously leaving me all alone with THAT?!" He begged the girl not to go off in that direction.

Three other animatronics appeared in front of  the fox.

"Rumiiiiiii" he whined, his efforts on pulling her away from the animatronics weren't working.

"Oh come on, man up, your highness." Harumi spat out with clear sarcasm, actually amused with his childish behaviour for once. She laughed as he cowered out and covered his head in her sleeves.

Foxy, Chica, Bonnie and Freddy.

That's what the files Zackery read earlier had said about these animatronics.

Being close enough, Harumi nearly dropped her flashlight in surprise as she had spotted something shiny in the bear animatronic's mouth, the ringleader of this whole place, Freddy.

Trusting her guts, she got on her tippy-toes, she reached her hand to open the bear's jaw, that's where the glowing came from.

"This is...!!"

The realm crystal, it was inside Freddy's mouth!

She quickly grabbed it with ease and stepped away, a confused look on her face. "Wha..? You won't attack me?" She questioned, wondering why the robotic bear just stood there with his friends.

Zackery, who was now sulking behind Harumi, holding the chair for dear life, "Don't encourage him!" He shouted.

Their prayers had not been answered.

Abruptly, the animatronics lunged out at the two, raising their hands and showing of their teeth. A loud robotic roar gutted from their rusty throats.

Zackery and Harumi screamed, her hands tightening on the crystal, creating another open portal out of this weird and horrifying world.
~~~~~~~~~~~
A blonde haired boy hooded in green glared in the distance, his hands holding onto a large metallic rod. He stepped towards the edge, pointing it at a large mech that seemed to be rushing him. He wasn't going to give up so easily.

—At least, that's what he thought until two travellers rained down from the sky and landed on him.

The two got off him immediately and fought for the realm crystal that was laying on the ground beside them. It was if they forgot that they just used someone as a landing pillow, the blonde felt a bit offended.

He let it slide for now, besides, that was just a little-setback. This wasn't supposed to happen.
He steadied his aim on the gigantic laser pointer then lowered it to the buildings.
It attracted the attention of a tiger-like creatures, a cat.

The boy let out a gasp as the animal recked more havoc into the city, not his intention!
The two stopped fighting for a second to focus on what he was gasping about. Harumi kicked the crystal away from Zackery's reach and joined the blonde, who remains on the edge.

"What is it?" She asked quietly, obviously recognizing the boy. Lloyd Garmadon.

The boy acknowledged her presence and pointed down below, "There." He referred to the citizens screaming in terror as gigantic paws jabbed at their backs. The Jade princess gasped at her turn.

What...was going on?!

Their thoughts couldn't be processed as things were moving too quickly. A mechanical sound along with clashes were heard. This dimension's Lloyd, Zackery and Harumi all turned around and were found with a black-coloured mech nearly about to punch a green blocky creature off the ledge.

Lloyd reached his hand out, "No don't!!"

But Garmadon didn't listen, using his mech, pushed the green-skinned dragon off the building. Much to Lloyd's cries and shouts.

The four-armed creature laughed and exited out of his mech, walking over to the devastated and defeated green ninja. "Foolish boy." He spat, stopping right in front of him.

The green-eyed boy lifted his head to listen to his words. His hood was pulled.

"Ah, just as I thought." The man looked down on the boy as disappointment seeped over.
"Not a real threat, just La-loyd." Again, he messed up on his own son's name.

The blonde exhaled, breaking eye contact with the four-armed man. "I wish you weren't my father." He protested quietly.

As the father and son exchanged painful words,
Harumi felt her chest tighten in grief. Still, she knew what Lloyd was like and how hard his past is. This may not be the Lloyd she loves but it was still him, she could still recognize the man she loved in him. So, she couldn't bear to watch this scene unfold.

Using this opportunity as a distraction, Zackery walked over to the crystal and picked it up.
Before squeezing it to open another portal, he heard the dry set of words being pronounced by Harumi: "Don't hesitate, I'll let you do it this once."

Zackery sighed and nodded, standing beside her so they could both be sucked it. "Haha, I actually agree with you for once." He whispered.

Pretending they weren't even there in the first place, the two realm-travellers exited out of this one.
~~~~~~~~~~
Standing a little bit further away from the rest of the resistance, the four-armed man looked down at the white strands of hair at the ground. He missed her, he had so many things to tell her, to teach her. It was if he had lost a child of his, someone definitely important to him. Garmadon kept the frown on his lips.

From the skies, a shout was heard: "Watch out!! I'm coming through!" A certain white-haired girl flapped her hands as if she was trying to glide through the air.

Obviously failing, she did have a rough landing. She landed on her feet, yes. But a stung of being paralyzed hit her. She stretched her arms out and her smile dipped into a sour trance.
"Ohhhh owww owww, that hurts..." she muttered, trying to collapse down to the ground.

It became worse for her when she felt a dead weight land on her back. Landing on her stomach, Harumi coughed. Initial shock and feeling her spine being crushed, she tried to move. Zacker landed on her back after the portal closed. He sighed and got off her.

"Not the best landing, would prefer a cushion. But thank you, Harumi. I had a soft landing thanks to you." He grinned.

Saying such a thing was a mistake, especially with Garmadon overhearing. The four-armed Oni growled and approached the uncultured prince of demons. Raising a fist, he punched him, not exactly hard. But due to the passion in getting him to shut up, Zackery was flung to the edge...like a falcon had slashed him away!

"What'd your do that for?" Harumi blinked.

Garmadon shrugs, "What? He deserved it. Besides," he extended one hand forward to help the girl up from the ground. Clutching her stomach, Harumi listened. "There's only room for one winner, and that's you, Harumi Jade Ariane." He smiled.

A small smile appeared on her own lips as she raised her arms in a shrugging posture. "Ahhh, I'm glad. I'm so tired, I'm so happy this is all over too. I fought all night...saw so many people and things in so many realms!" She briefly described him where she had been the entire time. Garmadon chuckled quietly.

Despite being punched, Zackery wasn't finished. He laughed and held the realm crystal in his arms. Garmadon and Harumi had been distracted with seeing each other again that they didn't notice the oni prince behind the scenes grabbing the crystal.

"Ohhh I'm not done yet! I'm not done yet, don't start celebrating too soon!!" Zackery threatened, charging towards Garmadon and Harumi. Turning their heads, the two noticed him coming their way in quite an impressive speed.

Gasping, Harumi, having being too tired out from the fighting, let her guard down when the oni prince grabbed her by the arm. "H-Hey, what are you doing?! We are done!!" Harumi protested with a distressed shout.

Garmadon clenched his fists and used two of his arms to form an elemental orb. "Stand back." He told Zackery.

The prince shook his head, using his free hand to raise the realm crystal. "Don't bother!" He laughed vigorously. Garmadon halted. Dammit, they were too close together, if he fired now, he'd have a chance to hit Harumi. Or, Zackery would use her as a shield.

Dammit, dammit. Time was running out...

He lifted his head to glare at the prince again but to his surprise—the two were already gone again.

The Volcano, that's where they returned to, that's where the crystal led.

The prince had time for preparations. Twenty-five minutes passed and he used that time to search for resources. Rope, it was already provided there on the stepping stones by lava. He tied the girl to a rock and sighed.

"Honestly...your father's such a pain." He addressed to the white haired girl, who began to struggle.

"This isn't fair." She spat, unbothered by the insults towards Garmadon. Zackery shrugged and walked away to stare at the lava. "What isn't?" He played along.

She really needed to spell it out for him?
"I won the fight. You were cowering out the entire time!! The bears, that giant Garmadon mech! Chicken!" She tried to growl, failing miserably as the ropes brushed her wrists, she flinched.

Hiding among the rocks, a helmet was sticking out. Someone was listening in on the conversation. Humming and remembering to stay silent, Garmadon waited for the right time to attack. Yes, he managed to get through. Just in the nick of time.

Having seen the portal appear above them at the time and seeing Harumi and Zackery disappearing, he jumped into the portal, taking the risks of not knowing was through and landed in a piles of rocks. Obviously, he recognized his surroundings, they were back in this place. There were too many painful memories here.

Focusing back on listening the conversation, Garmadon heard a chunk of metal and Harumi whimpered as she was lowering down to the lava. She struggled even more, her life on the line. "W-What are you doing?!" She panicked.

Zackery continued to lower her down. "Biding you farewell, of course! No one's here to save you and I've got to help Father Dearest to run a kingdom." He teased.

Harumi didn't say a word, she couldn't. Not at a time like this. Her skin was drenching in sweat, she was panicking now—oh clearly panicking. She could feel the heat burn her skin any minute now..

That's when he knew he needed to get out of hiding. Garmadon hissed to himself and lunged out towards the two individuals.

"Haha, goodbye Harumi. It's been fun." Zackery gave a mocking wave, not spotting Garmadon immediately. "You know, I've always wanted a travel buddy. Guess I never had the time to explore the world with someone.."

The four-armed Oni, who intended to save the white haired girl, jumped from stone to stone, his feet almost touching the lava beneath him and knowing he couldn't reach the girl if he didn't try hard enough, broke out into a spinjitzu tornado. "Ninjago!"

As he spun, his hand took out a dagger he had been powering up and used it to cut the ropes, thus freeing the girl and catching her with his two arms. She seemed weakened down, reduced to exhaustion. She did say she was tired earlier.

Then, he remembered. They were inside of a burning volcano, surely..she was burning! Onis weren't affected with this, at least, not as efficiently as humans. He lowered her to the ground before fleeing and contemplated for a minute. What would a good parent do?

He puffed a fit of the already musk air and applied it to her, lowering his lips to touch hers. He gave her air, then pulled away, purses his lips for more air and pushed back in.

Then, after a few minutes of wait, Harumi coughed and shook her head. "I'm not...dead..just...on the verge of melting." She told the man with a weak grin.

Garmadon smiled at the girl, bringing her back up on her feet and carried her. "Harumi my child," his fingers stroked her hair as they began to walk out of the flaming hot volcano.
He paused to take a deep breath. "I'm glad you're alright.." he told her.

Harumi shut her eyes, honestly too tired to stay awake. But she was fine, after Garmadon provided her with air just now. "I'm glad I'm alright too...I'm so tired." She reminded the four-armed man. He chuckled and nodded, wanting to help her needs first after all.

"Come on, let's return home. Good idea, yes?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the bounty, everyone had gathered around the planning room's table, not for a quick meal but for a little discussion between them all. Lloyd sighs as he looks over the map set out on the top of the table.

"My father really didn't bother coming?" He wondered, staring at the other members in the room with him, in which only gave him an apologetic look.

Was he lingering around again, up to no good?

There wasn't much that could be said from their current predicament. Only two hours ago had Garmadon returned Harumi onto the boat and disappeared right after. No one knew where he had gone afterwards.

There was barking being heard from the deck.
The resistance's eyes lit up in almost-wonder as they instantly knew who it was since one of the two dogs was here with them.

Nix yawns and groans as he forces himself to sit back up, not really liking the cool breeze wafting through his stomach. The wooden planks on the ground guaranteed him warmth, now though, not so much. "Is that Cloud?" He asked quietly.

Not wasting another second, the resistance headed out to the source of the barking.
There, they saw an incredible sight: the Pomeranian puppy was pushing a crate, that was twice her size mind you, towards the edge.

"Found a cat in there?" Nix teased, referring to a cat presumingly being trapped inside the wooden crate. Cloud just gives him an exhausted eye roll.

Lloyd frowns and rushes over to push the crate for her and stopped when it almost reaches the edge. He then looked down and used the back of his hand to pet the top of her head. "What's the matter, Cloud?" He inquires with a coo.

Instead of her hostile and sassy nature, she simply looks away—to glare at the city below them. "Harumi." She mutters—only barely did the green ninja make that out.

He raised a brow, "Harumi?" He asks again.

She nods and directs her eyes to the green ninja's pocket. "Check your pocket, Lloyd. Harumi gave you a communication device, no she gave you all one."

Everyone reached for their pockets to take out a mere metallic device they had been holding on. It was blinking red.

Cole was the first to react, "Huh? Why's it red?

"Is she in trouble?" Lloyd joined in, mainly addressing to Cloud. The puppy barks and brings them all over to the edge of the bounty.

"Now look down, what do you see?"

Their eyes searched the buildings, the busy roads...

The tram appeared and the ninjas barely made out a flashing red light onto the top of the speeding flying train.

They came to a realization.

"Harumi!"
~~~~~~~~~~
As strong winds blew over Ninjago's fallen city, the night skies couldn't wrap their star-like warms around the white haired girl as she was thrown once again back down onto the top of the tram. Letting out a sharp gasp, she instantly hissed at her opponent in front of her.

"You shouldn't have come." Zackery reminded her as he towered over her, pressing his foot to her waist. "You shouldn't have gotten arrogant and believed you could defeat me on your own."

Spitting, Harumi shook her head. She shut her eye and tried to stand, falling back down as she couldn't do so in avail. She stretched her arm forward as that's where her communication device was and muttered: "Guys...help.."

Zackery laughed, "it's no use. You're all on your own now, Harumi. No one can stop me now." He raised his fist, aiming her forehead for another attack.

Harumi shut her eyes, bracing herself for impact. "Here it comes...!" She inhaled.

But the hit never happened. Instead,
Zackery was flung to the side by a ball of fire. Hope returning to her, realizing she had been saved from the clutches of another attack, she looked up, smiling to find the Bounty flying down.

"Who dares?!" Zackery gasps, holding onto his now bruised cheek. A voice immediately responded him from high above.

"We do." It's the fire ninja from the resistance.

They're really here to save her, her loving family. Lloyd, Cloud, Nix, Nya, Mistaké...Ultra Violet and Killow! They were all here, smiling and waving at her.

"Rumi!"

"We're coming to save ya!"

"Hang on!"

Harumi tries her best to stand back up, for their sakes...they were already doing so much, she couldn't let their attempts go in vain!!
"Guys.." she whispers, happy to see them.

She faces Zackery with a cold glare, requesting a round 2. Now with her friends here, she knew she couldn't afford to lose. They're all here, supporting her.

Zackery crossed his arms, using one of his free hands to grab an artifact from behind his back.
"Pfft, cute. So they all came just in time." He sulked, putting on the familiar mask of hatred.
Harumi takes a step back and prepares herself
for any attack.

Zackery charges, using his now stone-made fists to punch her, it worked like a charm. Flabbergasted, Harumi was thrown to the edge of the team, gasping out and spitting out blood.
The resistance shut their eyes, wincing as they heard the thud.

The oni chuckles and walked forward, raising two of his four-arms in the air. He doesn't have any reason to apologize for ending her once and for all. "Say goodbye.." he forms a ball of black mist, his beloved power. Darkness and destruction.

Backing away from Zackery, whilst using every ounce of her strength, she tried to desperately look for a way to escape from this situation. No, she couldn't die like this, right? She escaped death so so so many times, why would it suddenly give up on her like this?

She dug her hands in her pockets and widened her eyes as she felt something tight wrap around her fingers. She recognized this texture all too well due to the amount of times it had been used on her. 'This is rope.' She told herself, getting an idea.

She had to be quick about this or else Zackery would notice something was up and stop her chances of escape. Flinging out the rope, she charged towards the end of the tram—particularly in the oni's directly and using her elbow, pushed the prince off. Though, he was quick to spot this diversion and he held on the edge, using his strength to lift himself up again.

"Hgg...." the prince struggled for a second, not catching that Harumi tied her rope to the main line in which the train was going through. Then, with a mighty amount of bravery; she held onto the rope and threw herself off.

"What is she doing?!"

"Harumi!!"

The resistance cried for their family member as she jumped off the tram, the only platform keeping her safe.

"Woah!!" Harumi wasn't dead yet. She swung from the left to the right of the tram, passing Zackery along the way and gave him a smile.
The two got into an eye contact, Zackery dreadfully looked over at her while she gave a victorious smile.

"This is it...!"

One hand holding onto her rope for dear life, she used her other—making sure not to let go altogether, she pushed the mask of hatred off the boy's face, revealing his horrified and outsmarted expression. "You..." he was speechless as they both watched as the mask fell to the grounds below.

With her main priority of getting the mask off of him out of the way, she felt no reason to hold on anymore. So timing her jump, she gave Zackery one last look before allowing herself to fall into a canal, the water being able to save her this time. No, she had no parachute, but this'll do.

Falling from the skies, she could hear the angry protests coming from the oni prince as he yells in complete fury: "You...! You! You...! How dare you!!"

Landing in the water safely, she hisses as the cold water presses against her bruises and other injuries. Coughing out the water, she swam out of the way and got out, her hands shaking as she pressed onto the concrete roads.

"Rumi!!"

She heard a joyful bark coming from in front of her. As she coughs some more and looks up, she spots the white-furred Pomeranian puppy running over to her. Confused for a second, she tilts her head. "Cloud, what are you doing here?"

The puppy jumps in the girl's arms and she returns the kind gesture by wrapping her arms around Cloud. "They let get down and help you!" She explained happily, licking the girl's cheek. Harumi giggled.

"Is everyone doing alright?"

"Yeah, we're here to support you all the way!"

The all-too perfect reunion didn't last for long as what felt like a bomb, dropped in the water a few inches away from where they are. A black and atrocious figure submerged from the waters, spitting out the substance.

"We've got company.." Cloud warned the girl.

"Yeah...now stand back, I've got this." Harumi assured her, setting the puppy down. Cloud shakes her head—completely disobeying that order and steps forward instead.

"Cloud...it's not the time for games." She protested, standing up despite how uncomfortable it was to walk in wet clothing.

Zackery eventually got out of the water and gave a charming smile to the white haired girl. "I took my time coming down here, didn't I? Well that's because I was actually contemplating whether to come after you and—" he began to blabber, thinking everything had been all casual with them. That's until the puppy had shut him up.

"Shut your mouth, Collin." Cloud growled and without hesitating, pouncing into the oni and ripping his shoulder's skin apart. "I'll kill you, I'll hate you forever!" She promised, her claws ripping apart his bare chest. The prince howled in pain as he tried to desperately save himself in the waters below him.

Harumi sighs, a little glad that Cloud was beating the oni with ease like this. She would have never forgiven herself if the puppy managed to get hurt after offering to deal with the prince herself. But still, she fetched for the realm crystal that was still with her. "We don't have time, come on!"

Obeying, Cloud jumped into Harumi's arms and before Zackery could grab on to their hands, he was too late as they teleported onto the building's roof.

It was a small building, a noodle shop of some sorts. Harumi and Cloud stood on top of it, backing away from the edge as they see Zackery climbing the small building up with ease. He chuckles. "Not gonna escape now, are you?" He teases.

As Harumi wanted to kick him off the ledge, Cloud stops her and before Harumi could ask why, Cloud hinted with a little: "It's all apart of the plan."

The scene unfolded before her very eyes. Two ninjas came onto the roof with them. Previously hiding into the parallel buildings' tops, they summoned respectively an energy orb and an Earth punch attack.

"Energy!"

"Take this earth punch!"

Cole and Lloyd collided their powers into the oblivious opponent in the centre of the building. The oni prince was completely off-guard as he was thrown off the rooftop and fell back down onto the ground.

As Harumi was about to take a breather, she feels a tight grip on her arm, she holds her breath. Until she hears the voice of the blonde ninja speak to her. "What's that you looking for?" He chuckled quietly.

Slightly embarrassed that she almost prepared herself to hit Lloyd, thinking he was the oni prince, she shrugs and softens, there was no reason to tense up, right? She was safe now.
"Sorry, old habits, you know?" She chuckles back.

"You okay though?" Cole walked up to the two of them. Harumi gives a nod.

The two boys gave her a smile as they turned around to face a taller building beside them.
"What, did you really think we'd leave you? You're family, remember. Family always comes first." Lloyd reminds her. That's right, the rest of the resistance were there, even a few unfamiliar faces like...that movie realm they visited! The alternative ninjas, they were waiting on the top of the other building. They were there for backup in case Lloyd and Cole failed.

Then who was navigating the ship...if they were all here? Was it a trick illusion to her eyes?
Harumi shuts her eyes to prevent tears from seeping out. "Aha!" She gives them a bright smile, the brightest one yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The oni prince, who recovered the fall, climbed back up on the rooftop. He sighs and clutches his fractured left arm. "Oh boy, you sure do have amazing friends, don't you, princess?" He readies an attack with his remaining three-arms. He glared at her as his mojo seemed to have returned to him.

"He's back...why doesn't he just give up already?" Cloud whines, rushing towards the building behind them and calling for Mistaké.
"Don't get so cocky now, Zackery. We will defeat you. Unlike you, Harumi's got amazing and supportive friends." He remarks with crossed arms. It was all spite in this arena.

Mistaké runs over to Harumi after being called by Cloud and stands her ground beside the three others. "Stop this, your highness." She calmly asks of the rebellious boy.

The oni prince, a little surprised at the formalities for a second, grinned in arrogance.
He steps away and gives Mistaké a look that meant he wasn't going to listen to her. Bloodshot eyes and a widened twisted smile.
"Who says? I'm your highness, aren't I? I don't listen to commoners." With that, he fired all of his orbs into Mistaké, pushing her to the side.

Harumi gasps and runs to the old woman's side and she shakes her head. "Just leave them alone!! Leave my family alone, this is between us!!" She growled, true rage finally igniting within her.

The prince stands, "Why defend them?" He interjected. It caused Harumi to go silent for a second. "Haven't you seen what they've done? They've betrayed you, haven't they? Let's not forget what Lloyd-" he was cut off by surprise by the white haired girl.

She clenched her dagger, "No! Lloyd has done nothing wrong. It's...it's..." she wanted to say it was Garmadon's fault. But that man saved her, so so many times. She couldn't stay angry at him completely, maybe she could be angry later but for now, she needed to be thankful he was always there at the right times. "It's no one's fault, it's just a bunch of misunderstandings! Whatever happened, I've forgiven Lloyd and he has yet to apologize and...and I'll like to hear his reasons, I want to wake up everyday to hear my love's voice, my family!" She argued.

Zackery rolls his eyes, "Like I said, you've been brainwashed—"

She cuts him off again. "I love Lloyd, I want to spend all eternity with him and I'm deciding this for myself. I don't need some four-armed jerk to tell me so. His smile, his eyes, his hair, his kindness, I love everything about him. His goofy laugh, his knowledge and his support. I love him so much and nothing is changing that." She pauses to look at the green ninja she was addressing to.

"Even...if he does look adorable when seeing honey chicken." She laughs. It caused a newborn blush to appear on the blonde boy's cheeks. She really did love him, ah...she really does. Then, he really did make the right choice to open his eyes early instead of being in denial all the time.

Being already battered, she kneels down onto one knee and focuses on trying to stay awake. But it was so so incredibly difficult. She holds onto her dug-down dagger and screams at herself to try and get up. But having her vision blurred up like this, it was all going to no avail.

She barely made out the noises going all around her. She knew her body was finally giving in. "Guys.." she placed a hand on her forehead, hoping she could just...stay awake a little longer.

A drape of arms were wrapped around her and she soon felt herself being lifted off the ground.
It was warm, it was if, it was comfortable to pass out right here...right now.

"I'm telling you, you need to bring her to safety. I'm trusting you with this, Father." Lloyd glared at the newly arrived four-armed Oni. He was a little late to the party but hey, he always came right on time. When his children needed him the most.

"Leave it to me." Without another word, Garmadon, who now held onto Harumi, fled off.

Lloyd sighs, knowing that keeping Harumi away from Zackery was the right choice. But not for them, the oni prince laughed as he spotted Harumi being taken away by the other Oni. He laughs even harder.

"Cleverrrrrr! So so clever! Hahahaha!"

The resistance including the alt. Ninja from the other direction soon fell into Zackery's grasp after he had shown his true abilities.
~~~~~~~~~
"I'll protect you...no matter what." Garmadon growled to himself, a vow that should not be broken especially now that his son, Lloyd, had reinforced it. He clenched his eyebrows and keeps running. She wasn't too heavy luckily, he ran from rooftop to the tiles on the ground.

He looks down at the girl briefly before lifting his head back up again. He concludes that when they go back to the bounty, she definitely needed medical treatment. Their little escape however, was foiled the minute Garmadon felt a sharp pain shoot from his back. He wails in pain, causing him to drop the nearly-conscious Harumi.

She rolls to the ground and whimpers, feeling the cold tiles on the floor overpower her stomach. "Wh.." she stretched her arms out to try and stand. Garmadon fell to the ground beside her and growls in pain. Ah, he knew what had gotten him, it was a darkness orb coming from the oni prince. Their line of resistance had fallen down so quickly?

Her family, all of them, defeated on the grounds. Their heads lifted to stare into Zackery's threatening eyes. Cuts, blood and bruises, all over them. What a terrifying burst attack he had unleashed over them. No, why wasn't she there to stop them? Why?

Zackery notices the white haired girl who sat by the ground several inches away. He grins. "Why the long face? Would you rather we fight on top of an apartment?" He teases, knowing full well that was the last thing on her mind.
Harumi feels her heart shattering at that taunt. Dammit, why did she have to trust him?

"I trusted Collin, not you." She spat.

"Oh but Rumi, I am Collin. Collin is me." The oni prince reminded the girl. Then, he eyed over to the rest of the beaten down ninja.
"Speaking of Collin, you know what else he did..?"

Her eyes shot open despite looking ready to collapse a minute ago. "You bastard...don't you da..." she hisses rather quietly. No, he couldn't, not around all of her friends, her precious family..

Without any mercy, he spilled the beans, causing an uproar of reactions to spread across everyone's faces. Garmadon and Harumi were the only ones unphased, as they've heard it over and over again. Like an endless neverland.

The blue ninja blinked several times, not believing a word the oni prince was saying.
"You didn't...no way you did.." Jay had hard time processing this information through.

Cole, Nya, Kai and Zane loomed over the oni prince with disgust on their faces. "You bastard, how could you?" One muttered out.

Even people who have fought alongside them for a little while wasn't agreeing with his actions. The resistance roared back.

"FSM, how could you?!" Ultra Violet raged, earning nods from the alt.ninja.

Lloyd tried his best not to tremble down directly. "Oh FSM Harumi...oh Rumi, how could this happen to you..." he whispered.
He couldn't give in now, he had to remain strong despite being beaten down to the core.
"I won't let you get away with what you've done to Harumi!!" The green dragon raged.

Just hearing all of these protests coming from her friends...Harumi definitely listened. But it just pushed her into an endless pit, one that had no escape. She soon broke out in a sob, lowering herself further on her knees and crying out: "Whatever I do, I can never save anyone! Why?! Why must it be this way, why can't I just save one person?! I'm so...I-I'm so weak..."

Garmadon frowned, recovering rather easily from his injury due to the fact that it was an attack sent out by his own species. He walked over to where the white haired girl was and lowered himself too. He brought a hand to stroke her lovely hair and pulled her in for an embrace. "Shhh...calm down.." he tried.

Looking down and staying in his hold, "T-This is my fault...I-I let it happen...n-now everyone's paying for my consequences...I-If I had only been s-stronger.." she was stopped by the oni lord who placed a finger on her moving lips. She shushed immediately. She just desperately wanted love, affection, comfort. She wanted to be told that she was good enough for this world, that she still held a purpose.

"No, you and Lloyd are the strongest people I have ever met. Never forget that, just because something bad happened, doesn't mean it's your fault—"

"B-But it is...If I had been s-stronger...and f-faster..."

He shakes his head.

"Everything happens for a reason and you are so so strong and brave for still holding on. So fight, Harumi Jade. Show this world what you're made of."

That was it, "Show this world what you're made of." Uh huh, she wasn't finished yet, right? She still hasn't shown this loveless prince what she still had within. Smiling at the comfort she had received, she wiped her tears and decided to go through with that advice. She stood up and limped over to her friends.

"I still have one m-more trick up my sleeve, s-so don't go celebrating yet...!" She threatened—even if it fell flat on several occasions.

Zackery laughed, practically forcing himself to be reeled in with this nonsense she was blurting out. He found it absolutely boring and ridiculous of her. "Enlighten me." He obliged.

But first, there were far more important things to be taken care of. Nervously, she looked all around her. She wanted to make sure they were all alright first before facing off with Zackery once and for all.

She reached Lloyd and bent down to hug the blonde-haired boy. She hesitantly nuzzled her cheek against his and sighed. "I'm sorry this h-happened to you.." she croaked. It was all too difficult to remain hopeful under all this despair.

He shakes his head and slides his hand into hers. "No, I'm sorry we weren't able to stop him sooner.." he apologizes and tried his best to smile for her. But both of them knew it was just a forced one. He couldn't actually have one on his lips due to the pain striking him down on his chest.

She let go of him and both looked over their badly injured friends. Nelson, Mistaké, Skylor, the former baddies and the ninja, all looked like this was their final straw. She shut her eyes, the pain of seeing her family like this...it was unbearable. The tears escaped and she broke down again.

"It's such a shame that no one will be there for you anymore, leaves me to play nurse one more time." The oni prince taunts, summoning a purple-tipped blade with his magic.

It didn't hit for a second, no, it didn't even sink in their minds what he meant. But when it did,

"Garmadon!!"

"Dad!!"

Blood splattered all over the ground, the oni lord fell from behind, the blade stuck between his ribs.

It was too late.

"Whatttt a pityyyy!" Zackery giggles, approaching Rumi to remove her from Lloyd's grasp. He succeeded and threw her against the wall of a small shop. A bolt of destruction was then thrown to her neck to make sure she wouldn't be able to stand anymore after that.
The white haired girl yelped in pain and lowered her beaten up body to the ground.

"I never liked him anyways!" She heard the prince pronounce with a sing-song tone.
Then, the most irritable thing: "I win~!"

That pushed the line for her. Using the wall as support, she stood up to face Zackery, hatred filling her heart. "Why?! What did I do to deserve this crap?! You tell me!! What did I do?!" She yelled, her lungs ripping apart at every word she screamed out. Really, she just wanted to know. Why this world was being so immensely cruel to her.

"You haven't figured it out yet? It was all according to a plan I conducted! Tell me, why did you think that I kissed you, Rumi?"

She went silent, listening to his words.

"I do have an interest in you, yes. Beautiful mortal and perfect Queen for the oni. But I dodged Lloyd's punch that night, hoping it'll all tear you to bits!" He paused to see the startled expressions on the others' faces.

Yes, they all just walked into a little trap.

"And it worked! Look at you all, thinking one betrayed the other...hah, please! You were only betraying yourselves!" The more he informed the white haired girl about the acts he committed in order to lure her away from her previous family, the more she felt fuelled up to fight him.

Lloyd narrows his brows, finding that exact same energy too. He looks down at his injured friends, squinting his eyes as so much blood filled his vision. "I told you guys!" He repeated, full of spite. But he wasn't going to let this prince get away with everything here.

Raising his blade, he charged towards the prince. Harumi gulps, not liking the sudden movement. It made her dizzy with anxiety. But still, she forced herself to watch.

Zackery smirked, readying another sword of his own. He aimed it.

"Lloyd—"

Harumi urges.

"Hello there, aren't you a ferocious dragon?"

Zackery cooes.

"LLOYD!!!"

The green ninja stopped mid-attack, realizing a blazing pain reach his abdomen region. He dropped his own sword and looked down to find the horror of a blade stuck within him. He splattered blood all over Zackery's cheeks.

"LLOYD!! LLOYD NO!!"

Zackery dropped him to the ground, stepping away as he allowed the Jade princess to make her way, rather pathetically, over to him. She held him and shook him, the tears overflowing at this point.

"D-Don't leave me, y-you can make it th-through this...just...please...p-please don't leave..." she sobbed, burying her head into his cheeks. Lloyd faintly nods, not saying a word.
He was getting weaker by the second. Harumi wasn't naive to believe that he wasn't losing a lot of blood.

The oni prince thought that time was up between them and he picked her off the ground, holding her up by the neck. The green inks desperately tried to reach for her, obviously failing as he was far too weak to even raise a hand.

"You see my dear Harumi, you SHOULD be scared of me. I know what makes people tic! I know what keeps them up at night!"

She stayed silent, her small hands pressing against his as a sign that she wanted him to let go already. She couldn't breathe.

He refuses and gives her a spin, another reason for her to see her collapsed friends on the ground. She shuts her eyes, beginning to get dizzy.

"Ohhh, I know that your greatest fear just came true, don't lie to me!" He smirks, throwing her back down to the ground. She croaks, shuddering and curling into a ball.

"Enough.." Lloyd begged, whispering out his words as if they were his last. "S-She doesn't want to fight anymore.."

But he didn't back down, even after releasing the girl, he didn't stop. Neither did she, though.
Standing back up after regaining at least half of her health, she wobbled over to the oni prince, however, too slow to have the time to really deal a blow on him.

His fist collided with her shoulder first, a powerful punch that sent her flying back to the wall she leaned upon. The chopsticks in her hair falling out, leaving her hair undone.

This may be her last resort, her final chance to stop him once and for all. She leaned down to grab the chopsticks.

"I win, I win now and you can't stop me!" Zackery jabbed childishly.

Harumi screeched as he kicked her back to the ground and used his foot to secure the fact that she won't be able to stand again. She groaned as he stood on her arm. Using his sword, he made another injury, he slashed at her forehead.

Crying out, she let go of her chopsticks and grasped her now wide-open forehead as blood gushed out. Lots and lots of it, she'd need stitches before long. Nearby was a puddle in which she found herself staring into, she could see as the blue tint of it began to change into a bloody moon. Ah, the look she gave, was as empty and hopeless as when she applied red face paint as the Quiet one. Except this time, it was the blood of her own sins that made a mask.

"This is my lowest point.." she whispered to herself, so close to succumbing to pain.

"Wait a second!"

Her eyes reopened as she tried to look for the source of the sound.

"You can't give up just yet!" Cloud barked out, a little bit of blood spilling out from a gash from her leg.

Nix groaned but nodded. "She's right...you can't lose, stand up!"

The ninjas all joined in, even Lloyd despite his incapacity to speak much.

"Come on Harumi, you can do it!"

"Please don't give up!!"

"You can stop him!"

A sight for sore eyes. Harumi was speechless, so so surprised to see her friends still cheering for her even...if she failed them.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry, no, I can't! I'm too weak!" She turned to them, revealing her newest injury.

But even so, they didn't stop. They ignored the blood and continued to protest against her words.

"Don't give up, you mustn't!"

"Think of all the good times we'll be able to have when this is all over!"

Mistaké and Skylor respectively cried out.

Harumi shook her head, tears falling down on her cheeks. "No...no! I can't...he's gonna beat me..I'm weak, too too weak..."

Then, from behind:

"Go...my child."

That was enough to shut her up. Harumi turned around, her eyes widening as she saw a four-armed figure trying his best to stand despite the large gash on his chest. Garmadon...he was still alive!!

"Maybe...there's still hope. Maybe I can stop him!!" She pushed the idea through. Yeah! Maybe if she continued to think this way, she won't lose motivation—she won't lose hope!

"Go Harumi!"

"You've got this, girl!"

"Keep workin' it!"

Her fellow SOG ex-generals supported with frank smiles.

"Okay!! I'll give it my best shot!!" Harumi wiped the blood off her forehead, creating a smudge.

She remembered.

A light in the darkness. All the good times she spent with her loving  family.

The times where she trained with them, when she met Cloud, when she and Lloyd snuck out from their quarters to have conversations on the Bounty...

She didn't want to forget about those times...

That's why she must fight!

She faced Zackery with a look full of determination.

This is for Justice!
~~~~~~~~
Approaching the oni prince with a newfound energy rilling her up, she shocked the boy as he spat out the soft drink he had time to acquire from a nearby vending machine. He threw the can and looked at her.

"Hit me up with a strawberry fizz pop, alright?"  She chimed, waving a hand at him.

"How in FSM's name do you still live?!" He gasped, wiping the excess drink on his lips and prepared to attack.

Harumi shut her eyes and pressed her hands together. This was much more than energy, this was...it was bursting out, ready to leave her body entirely!

"This is the taste of hope, Zackery. Remember it well."

A golden eminence flew out of her as she stretched a hand forward.

A beam, acting as a barrier, travelled across everyone present in said area.

Cloud blinks, she feels herself standing up way faster than usual. "Huh..? That's weird.." she muttered out. There was only one solution to this. So, she had to see whether it was true or not. The puppy looked down at her legs—where injuries would have sat and bled, but noticed they were gone.

With a chime, "Nix, get up!" She called for the black and white coated Husky. He groaned and rolled away from her, honestly a little irritated that she seemed so happy at a time like this...couldn't she see with her own eyes what was going on?

"Cloud, shut up. We're done for.." he grumbled.

"No! Get up!!" Cloud protested, starting to get a little annoyed herself at his pessimistic behaviour.

"I feel weak." He sighed.

She rolled her eyes and bit his ears. If he wasn't going to stand up, she'd have to do it for him.
So, she did, she pulled him up by the ears and he winced in minor pain.

"Ow."

He still didn't get it?!

"Geez, how stupid are you?! Haven't you noticed ANYTHING?!"

Nix gives a confused look, Cloud growls at his density.

She flaps a paw in his face then directs her eyes to her stomach. No injuries seen anywhere.

"Can't you see?! I'm healed, you're healed too! I feel like no one laid a finger on me in the first place!!" She pointed out with an impatient snarl.

Hearing her words, Nix looked down at his left paw, that's where a scratch would have been but he didn't see anything there, just his fur..
Not complaining anymore, he sighs and turns
towards the light—that had a great impact to them all.

"I think she's the one responsible." Nix says.

"I knew she was special!" Cloud chimes.

Their injuries all healed, the resistance looked at one another in confusion. Mutters of "what was going on?" and "Where is Harumi?" filled the ramparts.

"We're...healed?" Cole questioned, pressing a hand to his jaw—that's where a bruised up wound was earlier, but he found nothing there. He really was healed!

"Healing powers?" Nya suggested.

"Much more.." Misako approached the light. So did Lloyd and the rest of the team.

Harumi, surrounded by an unknown light had no affect to Zackery's dark orbs. It was quite the opposite really, she was the one overwhelming him and she hadn't even entered close-quarters just yet.

Frustrated, "Impossible! Impossible!!" He threw a dagger, aiming for Harumi's right thigh. But only raising a finger, she managed to deflect it and send it back flying in his direction. The oni prince screeched and ducked for cover.

"Come on...this...this isn't fair.." he breathes a lengthy laugh, preparing to raise his hands in the air as sign of surrender.

Harumi nods, the light around her disappearing once more. "You're right, it isn't." She agreed with the oni prince.

The resistance including Zackery himself shot her a look as if her hair had become green.
"HUH?!?!?!" They all cried in confusion.

Facepalming, Ultra Violet intervened.

"Harumi, the heck are ya doing?! This was your opportunity!!" She screamed out.

The white haired girl shakes her, turning to her friend for a second.

"This guy drives me nuts—"

"Why thank—" Zackery wanted to thank her with a charming smile before being interrupted by Harumi again.

"And that's exactly why I want to defeat him fair and square. So I can take in the satisfaction of putting an end to his reign." She spat, returning her look back to Zackery and charging in his direction.

He stepped away and smirked. Raising his blade, he slashed at her arm. "Too slow, I'm afraid. You should've kept your godly light." He commented.

Wincing at the strike, she manages to throw the chopsticks she picked up from earlier into the air before stumbling back and grasping her injured arm.

Screeching, Zackery didn't anticipate the chopsticks swinging towards him from above, he didn't have time to step away as the wooden sticks dug into the brick wall—pinning him.
"This...this isn't your big trick, now is it?" He laughs nervously as she came closer.

She aims her dagger at his neck. She wasn't smiling, she was relieved. She was finally putting an end to his reign over Ninjago.
"No, this is it. This is your end." She hisses, digging the blade deeper into his neck, drawing blood.
~~~~~~~~~
All healed, they had the energy to run over to her, all cheering and applauding her for finally defeating the oni prince himself. All on her own, but with her friends always watching and supporting her.

The four-armed oni lord joined in, looking over to the white haired girl in mild shock, he had no idea that she had a skill for  coordination. He chuckled and crosses his arms.

"Great job..." he whispers.

From behind her, the blonde haired boy wrapped an arm around Harumi. She smiles as he nuzzles his cheek against her shoulder.
"You did great, princess." He teases earning him a small poke on his nose.

"It's all thanks to you guys." She retorts with a bashful huff.

Lloyd shifts away from her and locks his hand on the quillion as she held the handle of the dagger altogether. "Are you ready to do this?" He asks, referring to ending the surrendering oni in front of them.

She nods and faces Zackery with a victorious smile. "I am."

"Take your best shot—" Zackery laughs, not struggling, accepting defeat.

The blade didn't completely go through. It was stopped with a call.

"W-Wait...h-hold on.."

Lloyd and Harumi all stopped what they were doing and glanced over to the one who called for them to halt.

There, stood a purple-eyed Mirage as tears began forming in her pupils. She clutched her chest tightly.

"What's the matter, Mirage?" Lloyd inquired worriedly. Was she hurt somewhere?

"I-I..."

They all waited.

"Please..."

Incoherent words made her shake with uneasiness. She lifted her head up to face the two older resistance members.

Even if what she was saying didn't make sense at first, Lloyd and Harumi gave her patient looks. They didn't rush her.

She spoke, after being able to catch her words.

"Please...I-I know...I know h-how hard this is...but please...d-don't take my brother away from me. D-Don't...I-I still.."

Mirage cried, her small hands wiping the tears away. It wasn't working.

She told herself that she wouldn't cry when this would happen—she knew this would happen. In fact, she even spited her brother, she waited for this to happen. But having this scene before her very eyes was way more overwhelming than expected from the scenarios going on in her head.

Harumi frowns over to the sobbing oni who trembled behind her.

"I know how hard this is for you, Mirage.." she holds the dagger tightly.

"But he has caused us so much pain that it just needs to happen. We never know when he may become a threat again."

Mirage nods with a whimper and looks away.
"I-I know...I know this needs to happen..I'm sorry— I'm just... I don't know why I still.." she blurted out excuses.

A scoff was heard from behind the three of them.

"Empathy from my baby sister, oh how lucky I am..." Zackery chuckles, not being able to move two of his arms. Mirage, despite knowing he was dangerous but still restrained, approached him calmly.

Her cheeks sticky from crying and opened jaw, as if ready to pronounce more words to defend herself or scream out her sadness. Her pigtails were all messy from all the fighting her cheeks were swollen red.

"Don't cry so much Mirage, I uh...messed up, okay? Big brother Zackie messed up." He scratches the back of his head with his two remaining hands.

"You two can have all the time you need if you want-" Lloyd offered, feeling sympathy for these two Leviathan siblings.

Mirage nods and steps close enough to her older brother before wrapping her arms around him—one last time.

"I'm sorry I ran away, I didn't mean to leave you behind, father was just so..." Mirage whimpers.

Zackery shakes his head. "You, apologizing? Please. I shouldn't have neglected my own sister. I'm sorry too." There was a hint of genuineness in his tone.

Lloyd sighs and glances over to the white haired girl. "I never had a sibling, you know? I never knew they could be this attached to one another despite being on opposite sides." He pointed out.

Harumi shrugs, giving a bitter smile. "I never had one either. So I'm just as surprised as you."
They exchanged more words between one another as they waited for Mirage and Zackery to have one last talk with one another—to sort things out and move on from this sibling drama.

After ten minutes, Mirage pulled away from her older brother and wiped her tears away.
She turned to face Lloyd and Harumi. There was a clear smile on her face now. The two were a bit surprised that she was able to recover that quickly. Whatever her brother had told her...it must have calmed her down.

"Don't be so scared Mira. Don't let these old rules hold you down." Zackery smiled at her, encouraging her to go on and move on from his mess.

Lloyd, Harumi and Mirage approached him, they all held the dagger together.

"Even if I didn't spend enough time with you, I'll never forget you, brother. You were the best brother!"

The pigtailed girl began to cry again, the smile forcing her lips to stay together. She sobbed and shut her eyes, pushing the blade as quickly as possible.

Feeling his hands move without his authority, Lloyd gasped and tried to stop the momentum. It was going too fast.

The blade that all three of them held struck Zackery in the lungs. He choked on a bit of blood before sighing and leaning his head back.
The oni prince chuckled as he stared at the sky.
But Harumi noticed something.

A few tears rolled down from his cheek, actual tears. Was hearing his sister's praise one more time the only thing he needed to soften again?
After being disciplined to become a tyrant by his own father, prince Zackery Leviathan showed kindness in his smile.

"Best brother? Well...I'll say..."

His eyes shut and his face fell, the prince of the oni falling into eternal rest forever.

A sharp inhale was heard from the sixteen year old girl. This was it, it was all over now.

She cried again, broke down in hysterics.

"Awww Mirage." Harumi mouthed.

"Come here." Lloyd joined in.

The two hugged her tightly as they lowered themselves to the ground to comfort the sobbing oni princess.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later as everyone managed to recover from this battle both emotionally and physically, they made it just in time for Thanksgiving. Everyone aside from Harumi was awake, the elderly woman along with Mistaké was making tea and the ninjas were cleaning the deck in case any leaves from trees managed to land in several places.

As the pups were decorating the doorways with the Thanksgiving decorations, a white haired girl yawned

"How's Mirage doing? Still upset about what happened?" Nix inquired, stepping away from the box of party decor.

"Let's not talk about it when she's around." Harumi shushed the husky with a faint smile.

The two puppies nodded and continued to decorate as the white haired girl made her way over to the kitchen, where her eyes met with the green ninja who was sitting by the table drinking tea and the two other women.

"Hey, Rumi!" He smiled, leaving the tea cup on the table and stood up to join her.  "You took a while to get up this morning. Forgot what day it was?" He teased.

"Ah sorry about that, I was a bit dizzy this morning. I was out for a while?" Harumi shakes her head apologetically.

"Kinda yeah. I was wondering when you'd show up. But I'm glad you did."

She smiles and scratches the back of her head.
"See, I didn't know when I'd regain my footing. I feel kinda iff.." she told him hesitantly, not wanting to start a panic.

Luckily, he didn't say a word and instantly, led her out of the kitchen and onto the deck.
Harumi blushes at the certain contact and locked her hand in his, feeling safe with him around. "Lloyd?" She yelps in surprise.

Onto the deck, she had the surprise to find herself getting lifted up onto the skies. Lloyd laughs and holds onto her waist, twirling her around. "Rumi, Rumi Rumi Rumi!" He coaxed her with her nickname, making the girl blush even more.

Hearing sound coming from outside, Nix and Cloud looked at one another before rushing onto the deck and spotting the two lovers sharing some alone time. The two puppies smirk and Cloud gestures the husky to run over to the sprinkler.

"How cute." Nix grins as he turns on the sprinkler, giving off a romantic atmosphere where a rain-shower enveloped the two lovers.

Lowering Harumi down to his level, Lloyd blushes and pulls her lips closer to his, giving her a soft kiss as raindrops covered them both from reality.

Wrapping her arms around him, Harumi gladly returned the kiss, happy to finally be with him again. After all these arguments, love always wins. No matter what.

"I love you.." the green ninja whispers against her lips, not pulling away just yet. She is the love of his life, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. No one would stop that...

Pulling away from each other due to lack of air, they still stayed in eachother's arms. "I love you too.." Harumi whispered back, making sure that her love for him was validated in his mind. She was never leaving him, ever again.

"I sure hope you aren't intending to do something reckless and almost die on me again, you know? I'm never leaving you out of my sight." He promised, holding her tightly—almost over-protectively as he wanted to stop anything bad from ever hurting her ever again.

Harumi chuckles and boops his nose. "I know, I knowww." She whines childishly. The two laughed and Lloyd pecked her on the cheek again.

"Love you so so much." He kisses her nose.

At this point, both extremely flustered and dizzy with happiness, she giggles very softly at his affection. "Such big talk for someone who never apologized to me yet." She jabbed, mainly as a joke.

Lloyd grins, understanding where she's coming from. Therefore, he let go of her waist and pouted. "I'm very sorry for doubting you, I shouldn't have doubting you for a second and leaving you open to someone like Zackery. I promise I'll only love you and you only, we belong together."

Harumi smirks at his childish expression on his face. Her hands make their way to her waist.

"How's that for an apology, Rumi?" He raises a brow with a playful smile.

She figured she could turn the tables on him.
That'll be her payback for making her flustered back then!

"Why yes, apology accepted. But you know, I didn't need an apology in the first place, Montgomery." She knew how much he hated his middle-name and whenever someone used it.

Shooting an embarrassed expression, he gasped in surprise and turns away from her.
"That's not fair..." he sulks.

"That's what you getttttt!" She lightly taps his shoulder, claiming victory over him in this little flirting banter of theirs.

It took a few seconds for Lloyd to snap out of it but when he did, his hand made its way to his pocket to take out a golden amulet. He luckily managed to find a shop that sold one of these out a few weeks after Ninjago city had been rebuilt.

He got down to a knee and handed one half of the artifact to the white haired girl.

Harumi stood there, dumb-founded as she took the artifact with her other hand.

Her real mother told her about these things and how she'd find her one an only one day.

"Lloyd...are you..?"

The boy smiles at her. "Rumi, when we first met, I developed a crush on you of some sorts. A princess, brave and intelligent, I had so much fun exploring that jungle with you in order to find that oni mask. You are so beautiful and kind, you are also very funny and you put a smile on my lips each time I'm feeling down so please.." he pauses to take a deep breath.

"Will you be my yang?"

Looking down at the yang amulet in her hands, she had always dreamed of this moment. She had been so interested in Ninjago's culture and traditions. But having this happen before her very eyes, she just couldn't...

Pinning it to her clothes, she smiles widely and jumps in the boy's arms. "Yes!" She accepts with great pleasure.

She loves him and he loves her, nothing will separate this unbreakable bond.

She pressed her hands against his cheeks and kisses him gently, happy to really and officially be back together with him.

Meanwhile, back in the doorframe of the sleeping quarters' hallway, "I didn't trust him at first but oh man, he's a good person." Cloud snickers to herself as she enjoys the moment. She turns over to her companion but shoots a confused look as he's nowhere to be found.

"Nix?"

She races out of the hallway and finds him passing Harumi and Lloyd to go below deck.
She spots him and instantly catches up to him by biting on his tail. "Hey, wait up!"

The husky turns around, stopping in his tracks and giving her a dismissive look. "I'm going, Cloud." He tells her coldly.

Not being able to take in the news, she goes silent. She steps away from him and gives him a dreadful look. "You're...what?" She asks him to repeat that, not actually wanting him to though.

"I've served my purpose here, I'm just a tag-along, right? It's been fun, Cloud. Really. I've enjoyed meeting and helping you all. It's been a real adventure for me." Noticing the Pomeranian shocked with his quite obvious response, really, he thought she'd expect this. It wasn't like their first encounter was friendly either.

"But...you've been such a great help here! And...and those skills would be put to waste, really Nix, we make such a great team.." Cloud opened up to him about how she truly felt. Even if it wasn't exactly a great time, she enjoyed their conversations and even banters, believe it or not, over the dumbest of things.

Hearing the commotion, Harumi and Lloyd, with the ying and yang amulets pinned to their attires, the green ninja raises a brow and follows Nix out over to below the bounty.
"What's going on here?" He asked.

Whining, "Nix's a bully and he wants to leave!" Cloud ran over to Harumi for comfort. The white haired girl chuckled and hugged the puppy lightly, reassuring her that everything will be alright.

"Please deal with Cloud, it's sad to see her like this." Nix admits with a small chuckle.

"Then if it makes you sad, why are you leaving then?!" Cloud snapped, holding onto Harumi for dear life.

He shuts his eyes and continues to walk. "Because, I already told you, my deed here is done. I've helped you guys enough and frankly, I miss being a street dog."

A lie, that ending was a lie. There was really no privileges that a street dog had aside from remain hungry on the streets. Irony on that one, mind you.

However, preventing him from backing away any further, "Now hold up a second, Nix." The husky was surprised to find the blonde boy stopping him from leaving. He scoffs to himself. "What are you gonna do to stop me, leader?" He challenges.

Lloyd turns him around so that he was facing Harumi, Cloud and himself and the bounty too—that would be his new home.

"I'll take you in, Nix. You can stay with me and you have so much to learn. You can hear it from Cloud, she'll be here to guide you! So please Nix, if you want to leave so badly, just know...that I'm willing to adopt you. You don't need to go back to the streets anymore." With honesty and kindness, Lloyd reached a hand out to his new pet.

Not knowing what to say at first, Nix hesitantly came a little closer to the blonde boy. He wasn't used to these words.

"No one has ever said this to me before, I was always mocked for being filthy and wild...Am I...really welcome here?" He wanted to make sure he wasn't falling in for another trap.

He snickers. "Of course you are, Nix. Come here, puppy." Lloyd beckons him.

He was soft, way too soft for these scenarios. The ones he dreamed about the most: being adopted and finally being loved by someone who actually cares. He didn't need to worry about growing attached to someone only to have them abandon him.

Barking and a smile lifting his spirits up, Nix ran over to us new owner and licked him on the cheek, happy to finally be accepted and stay in the family he has grown to love protecting.
Lloyd chuckled and he pulled the puppy a bit closer to him.

"Ahaha! That tickles, Nix! That tickles!"
He cheered.

Harumi, who was watching behind the two and smiling at her turn, she looks down to Cloud.
"Guess we're finally matching now. How about a puppy play-date?" She teases the Pomeranian.

Her cheeks becoming red for a second, "It's not like that!!" She yells in embarrassment. Then turns her head away to smile graciously at the green ninja and Nix. "Thank you Lloyd.."

Setting him down, Cloud makes her way over to the husky and gives him a smug grin.
"Yo, so look who's changed his mind now." She teases, nudging his paw slightly.

Nix rolls his eyes. "What do you want this time?" He inquired a little frustrated that he lost this sort of "bet". Cloud was giving him that "told you so" expression and he hated it.

She got a bit closer to him.

"Wanna know another reason?"

"I've been through enough."

The Pomeranian puppy made her way over to the husky and hesitantly stopped. Her muzzle was in such close approximation with his and feeling her cheeks burning with embarrassment, she moved it away and kissed him on the cheek instead.

Nix sat down, his tail wagged. He was wordless. He didn't know what to say after that.

"Oh Cloud..I-"

"That goes for a collar and a tag! Oh and strict rules that you gotta follow! We can't have you getting hurt!"

Nix felt disappointment rise as he noticed Cloud ignoring what had just happened.

"Really?"

But already walking away from him to rejoin Harumi, "So you better stay! Or else I'm changing my mind about you." She huffed, giving him the sassy treatment. 

Watching by the ledge, Harumi and Lloyd chuckled.

"Tough love, right?"

"They'll get it one day."
~~~~~~~
As the preparations for Thanksgiving were accomplished, everyone were out onto the deck, celebrating with a feast. There was honey chicken on the table as well as some dog food for Nix and Cloud.

"Guys, I have a story to tell!" The Pomeranian pup rushed over in circles towards the other resistance members. They all sat down on the planks of the deck, light-heartedly having conversations with one another.

"What is it, Cloud?" Antonia asked as she took a bite out of the chocolate cake on her plate.

Setting down onto the centre of the deck,
"Well since Nix's joined us today, how about he hears about that time

"Good thing there's honey chicken, I don't think I wanna listen through that with an empty stomach-" Lloyd blurts an excuse as he scurried over to the dinner table.

Harumi chuckles and points out, "Oh Lloyd. Don't eat so quickly now. We don't want you jumping off the edge the bounty again." She joked.

Giving her a death glare he lands his hands on the spoon to grab the meal, "Next time, I'm throwing you all off the bounty." He threatens.

Some replies were heard from the rest of the ninja including Mistako: "Oooh scary!" They were obviously messing with him.

All listening through Cloud's story, Harumi felt a light tap on her shoulder and she turns around to find the four-armed oni lord with two hands behind his back. She gives a warm smile.

"Hello Harumi." He sits down next to her.

She noticed two of his hands didn't raise to greet her and instantly poking her head out, she asks: "What's that?"

The man chuckles and figured it was useless to play tricks with someone as witty as her. It was a bowl of vanilla ice cream and Harumi graciously looked down on it. "You..."

"It's a reward for defeating Zackery Leviathan. Really, you saved us all back there." Garmadon smiles at her.

Harumi nods and takes a scoop out of her ice cream, enjoying the taste of the frozen treat she hadn't had in ages. She didn't know Garmadon had time to get some from the super market.

"I do have to thank you though, for always being there. I don't know how you manage to always come right on time." She laughs as she takes another bite.

"Let's just say, it's the choice of a demon like me to come and save you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of the Oni Arc
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Heya!! Welcome to one of the very few chapters where I poured my entire soul and heart in, I really do hope that you all enjoyed the conclusion to this Oni arc!

On my part, thank you all so so so much for sticking with us to the finale of this Arc! I must say, I really enjoyed writing Zackery's character near the end, ironic right? It's like I wasn't so hellbent on wanting to kill him off like I was in the beginning anymore. It's funny how we always end up liking the villains by the very end when they die, huh? I kinda felt bad for killing him off even if I hinted it many times to Jdizzle that it would happen eventually, haha!

Anyways, Harumi and Lloyd did it—the rest of the resistance too, they defeated the oni! But that's not the end of the journey, there's still questions left to be answered about Harumi, it'll all be answered in the next Arc!

Reconciled hearts will be taking a 2 month hiatus from now on to gather ideas and to just take a break! We'll be back on January! See you all next time!!

-Lilla