A little while earlier,

"What's going on here?" muttered the Jade princess as what she rode into the ruined city wasn't a noble stead—but a crab, a rather atrocious-looking one. She sat in front as the oni lord accompanying her would much rather stay in the back where there was more space. In case anything happened, he wouldn't be propelled to the front and land face-first onto the road.

However, not feeling confident in this creature's wobbly trajectory, he held on for dear life and muttered a few curses to himself along the way when he felt his hands slipping off. "Whatever happened, this city is in shambles." Garmadon replies in a low tone. Harumi couldn't help but nod, really, they needed to get to the bottom of this...."We need to stop whatever that other Harumi is planning." She grits her teeth.

Garmadon gives a small shrug, seeming to have agreed with that plan of hers before cocking his head to the side to search for anything particular. They were on the look-out from now on, if something slipped their eyes, they'd be in big trouble. They didn't know how capable this creature was to fight, but if it was tameable, they're guessing it's not too strong. The crab speeds up a little as Harumi gave it a small pat on the side.

The oni lord's eyes were taken aback at the sudden change of speed and as they passed through intersections, his bloody eyes shot right open. "Hold on.." he whispers gently, beginning to stand from the crab. The white haired girl halts the crab, takes a deep breath from holding in her anxiety from leading this thing then turned around to face the oni.
"What is it?" She inquired.

He gulped and pointed at a pair of white trucks parked by an empty parking lot. "I sense them." He tells her vaguely, always, he loved being so mysterious. Harumi rolls her eyes and awaits a proper answer to her question. "Who do you sense, the enemy?" She asked.

Garmadon simply shakes his head. "No, I sense the ex-generals of yours." He breaks the news out to her, causing the jade princess to lightly gasp. She had not expected to have her old friends so close to them. Though, with that mentioned, Harumi knew what was coming. She grabs onto one of Garmadon's arms. "You're not leaving me alone, are you?" She desperately looks into his eyes.

She catches him—ah, that guilty expression he exchanged right after hearing her concerns. She knew that he really did what them both to split up. Harumi gives a frustrated sigh at that, tightening more onto his arm. "No way, we need to stick together, our lives will be at stake if we do separate." She protests. But even with how desperate she was to not be left alone,

A sigh was heard escaping the man's lips.

"That's exactly why we need to split up. No progress will be done. I sense the ex-generals only and Cloud and Nix. But not the ninja, we need to save them too." He says.

Pulling his arm away, he began to jump off the creature. This time, Harumi doesn't stop him.
'He has a point, the others are still captured..' she says to herself, trying to think of what the best choice may be at the moment. To let Garmadon go and be alone or to be safe at any time? She clenched her fists and looks at him as he leaves her on top of the crab.

"Now go, save the ninja. I'll speak with the ex-generals." He runs off after explaining to her what her side of the bargain was—their rescue mission. Harumi nods to herself, watching him run over to the truck. "Of course...ah of course.." she turns her head around to take control of the monster once more. Even how hard she wanted to stand up for herself and disagree, she just couldn't. It only worked at some times...why not every time?

The creature begins rushing over to the palace of secrets, an ancient artifact to the realms of Ninjago. If there was a problem in the city, it was safe to say one must always check there for sources. l need to rescue my friends and family, the ninja...Garmadon will be fine." She tries to reassure herself.

Just like that, Harumi didn't have control of her life once again.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere, specifically the jade palace, the ninjas including the other ninjas from that alternative dimension were tied up and put out on the balcony. Guards watched them as they uncontrollably twitched their wrists out of the ropes' hold. The green ninja sighs, not being able to push the strands of his silky blonde locks out of his face.

The sun was sickening this particular afternoon, or maybe he just felt so numb and accustomed to this feeling because it's not the first time a princess has betrayed him....ironic that it's the exact same one from awhile ago.

He leans his head back against the fire ninja, who was sitting directly behind him. They leaned onto one another and exchanged exhausted groans.

"Why did Harumi have to be like this, did she just want power this entire time?" Lloyd asks the spiky-haired ninja, to which the red-clad boy tries his best to shrug. "I don't know Lloyd, but she definitely fooled us all this time." He replied dryly, having given up for the meantime.

It didn't help however that beside him, the black ninja attempted to lift their spirits up with a little joking around. "Awww come on guys, we can't give up just yet. Why don't we all sing a song to not lose hope?" Cole suggests with an unbearable positive smile on his lips. Even for once, the alternate ninja all roll their eyes and the Zane of the group replied with:

"Considering everyone's spirits are low, I don't think that's a good idea. We are literally about to die." The nindroid from the other world said.

The blonde ninja turned away from the banter between his friend and the nindroid and instead made eye contact with the so called princess whom he called a lover. His green eyes stared into her jade-tinted ones. She looked so beautiful, even if she spoke to authorities that the ninja were to meet their end in a matter of seconds. His heart ached.

"Oh Rumi, why again? Was I not good enough for you?" His mind is making excuses once more. Nothing hurt more than a little betrayal from the others you care about. Lloyd had seen it all already.

"Lower the blade." He'd hear her say, even with such a gorgeous look, she held so much power in her words. How she'd face the ninjas with that authoritative smile of hers and lower her hand down in a demonstration on how their execution would go. Lloyd's heart beats a little more as he wondered whether she really cared about this family or not.

Was she doing it for the fame, for the trust?

The ninjas hold their breath as the blade above them was slowly lowering down. A lovely day to die in front of a city you desperately tried to protect.

He doesn't shut his eyes, he stands strong even if there's a blade literally ready to chop his head off.

He hears faint footsteps coming from in front of him. The white haired princess snickered and raised both of her arms, chaos written all over her face. Her laugh was haunting, sickening even.

"All those who defy me are to die!"

It didn't go through. The blade was cut in half and fell right above their heads.

Luckily, no one got hurt. Whoever destroyed it had planned this ahead, they had time for calculations even.

When everyone had reopened their eyes, they noticed purple mist flying around them. They looked mesmerized, only one person came to mind with such an incredible power.

"Garmadon saved us!" Alt. Jay shouted as he turned over to the four-armed oni lord who was tied up beside him. "Why didn't you tell us one of your hands are free?" The ninja questioned.

All too easy, "My hands aren't actually free, can't you see that?" He sulked, more than disappointed at the blue ninja's error. Really, how dense was he? Then that meant, someone else intervened?

Lloyd shoots his head behind him and spots the culprit to their confusion.

"I don't think so!" A familiar face shouted as she hopped off a crab-like creature she rode on and landed beside the other princess.

There were two Harumi's and the crowds have come to watch the ninjas' demise didn't buy it.
"There...are two Harumis?!" A middle-aged man shouted as he backed away, mainly terrified at the monster that one of the Harumis brought with them.

The newcomer shook her head and pointed a finger at her look-alike. "No there's not because this one's a poser!" She declared, addressing mainly to her beloved family whose lives were almost at stakes. However, the crowd was allowed to listen in. "How dare you take on my appearance, who are you?" Harumi growled.

The chaotic princess a little while ago, halted in her words, her composure slowly broke, it was obvious in the ways she stiffened and rolled her eyes. Anger washed over her and her canines now began to show. "How are you still alive? I had my personal assassin come and kill you."

Harumi chuckled, two of her hands hiding behind her back. The crowd nor the imposter saw what she was conducting but her still tied up allies did. A bow made of darkness formed in her hands. "You underestimate me. Your little assassin wanted to die in my place." She hissed and brings front her bow from behind her back and shoots the arrow she had loaded in already.

The imposter chuckled and dodged the arrow really easily despite being in close proximity. Their nails dig into the shaft and they grab it, snapping it in half. The two distanced themselves from one another and took the time to recover from the sudden attack.

The poser panted all whilst chuckling, they didn't give up just yet, just because their plan had just been foiled. "Guess a fight between of us was really meant to be." The imposter took out a small booklet from their pockets and began reading out some spells.

The real Harumi growled and knew she couldn't allow the imposter to read those spells out loud. She makes her bow vanish and charges in, straight to attack the fake. She raises her leg to kick at their cheek however, predicting what she thought with a little mind spell, the imposter raised the book they were reading to block Harumi's attack.

The girl's fist was in fact stronger though. The book was knocked out of the fake's hands and they genuinely looked panicked for a second as they stepped away from Harumi.

"It's over." Harumi spat, staring deep into the imposter's jade eyes. The other just laughed, lenient enough to not start talking out nonsense.

A horn was heard coming from the front gates.
Harumi and the imposter stop in their actions to observe what exactly was going on. A van crashed into the wall, it's wheels drifted from side to side as whosever was the driver, struggled immensely. Many of the crowds dispersed because of this.

Then, the front passenger seat opened out to reveal a four-armed oni.

"I swear to FSM, Ultra Violet, never drive a truck again." Garmadon says as he exits out of the white van with ease. Though, the three other generals he said he'd recruit, didn't look too well. They fell out of the van and topped over one another. "She's only great with motorcycles..." Killow agreed, feeling a little carsick.

The crazy ex-general chuckled and hopped out from the seat, keeping the keys inside, like the absolute madwoman she was. "What, it wasn't that bad. Just ran a few red lights, sped up a little quickly...eheheh."

Ultra grinned, facing her two friends then at the oni lord, who simply face-palmed. "You tried to kill us!" Killow jabbed.

Garmadon sighed and turned his head to face the white haired girl, who summoned an orb of darkness out of her hands to push the imposter away from her group of friends. Considering the chances here, he might've struck first. The blast caught the attention of the three ex-generals.

Killow and Mr. E blinked. "Hey, isn't that-" the big man wanted to point out, but he didn't get to finish his sentence since Ultra Violet stood in front of the both of them in a defensive manner. "You! Harumi!" She scowled.

Standing beside the imposter, Harumi gave a worried look. Ah, she didn't know what she had done but judging by her best friend's angry tone, it must be something really terrible. "Oh FSM..." she gulped, more than a little worried now.

Without any warnings, Ultra Violet took out one of her mini scythes and raised them in the air. "I have a bone to pick with you!!" She lunges in, hoping to tackle the girl down to the ground and finally get some explanations.

She should probably move from this spot...Harumi steps back a little as Violet draws closer to her.

"Let's not get to that. There's a whole lot of explaining to do first." Ultra Violet feels herself getting refrained, her hands are tied behind her back and she couldn't move forward. She growls at this as she cocks her head back and notices Garmadon holding her back.

"What explaining?! Have you SEEN what she tried doing to us a few minutes ago?!" The purple-coded ex-general kicked and jabbed, anything to break free and get justice for what happened to them all. An eye for an eye, right?

"What did I do..?" Harumi comments, entering the conversation, which was honestly a big mistake for she angered the grey-skinned general even more. Ultra Violet shook her head, struggling to move, Garmadon really had a firm hold on her. "Don't act so innocent, you know what you did!" She spat.

Garmadon began to falter, he stepped back and continued to pull the ponytailed-general back.
"She doesn't know, I don't know either because we were both in a jungle when everything

happened...it's the truth!" He grunted, beginning to lose grip of the girl. If he let go, Harumi nightly possibly get mauled by her best-friend. He struggles and turns his head back.

"Mirage, Mistaké, help me." He called. He has grown familiar with the other onis from the last time they all fought together.

Mistaké and Mirage nodded, aiding Garmadon as one of them held Ultra's other arm and one held her by the shoulders. The ex-general felt herself getting weaker and weaker, it was useless to struggle at this point. With three onis, she can't possibly get her revenge.

As more banter was spread among these individuals and little to no progress was being made in terms of Ultra changing her mind and accepting that she was fooled, the passenger doors from the van opened and out came two dizzy pups. One was a husky and the other was a white-furred Pomeranian.

Cloud barks as she yanks Nix by the paw. "I think I'm seeing double here." She points out a little quietly.

The other pup yawns and wasn't too sure what she meant at first but by turning his head slightly to the side, his jaw drops as he spots two identical Harumis standing right beside each other. He sighs and shakes his head. "You're not going crazy, don't worry." He reassures her.

The husky turns his head slightly forward and noticed the hostages still sitting by the chopping block, he gasps and alerts Cloud that he must free them first before anything bad happens to them. He rushes forward along with the Pomeranian and the two of them bite into the ropes in order to cut them loose.

Having been rescued by these two pups, Lloyd sighs and worriedly turns over to the two Harumis, who were rather closeby. He squints his eyes, trying to put the pieces together. But he doesn't get very far when he hears the blue ninja behind him exhale out of frustration.
"Just what the heck is happening?" He asks reassurance from their sensei in training.

The green ninja shrugged, watching very closely as he noticed that while the onis and the two Harumis were in a banter, one of the two princesses looked away for a second. "Hold on.." he muttered. The imposter began to slowly crawl away from the scene, careful and elegant as possible. Even if he didn't know which one was the fake between those two, the green ninja gave an unintelligible shout.

"Harumi!"

He called for the white haired girl, praying to FSM the real one caught on to what was happening.
~~~~~~~~~~
Blinking, only one of the two had summoned a weapon out of thin air. Firmly holding onto a shadow-stained dagger, the white haired princess glared at her imposter, who tried to make a run for it. "Not on my watch." She growls, moving out of the way to block the entrance of the castle.

The imposter clenched their fists, their escape plan being foiled the minute that foolish green ninja opened his silver tongue. There was no stopping it. They pulled out their spell book and read a few incantations out loud and in their hands, three knives spawned.

Watching the two face off, the ninja was still confused on one matter. But only did the blabbermouth pointed it out. "Harumi can summon things now? But she's not an elemental master and her powers are..." he was interrupted by the water ninja, who glared at the dagger-holding princess.

"Oni." She claimed, not making any mistakes in what she sees.

Garmadon hitches his breath and continues to watch, letting her comment slide. But he knows for sure that Nya secretly wanted him to speak up about this. It already worried the black-haired ninja that he wasn't saying anything.

The imposter made their move, they threw their book aside and charged towards Harumi, two of the three knives they held was thrown in her direction.

Not having enough time to even adjust to the weight of these new weapons of hers, Harumi falters, she whimpers as the weapon was so immensely light for her own liking. It was crafted from the shadows anyways, why was she so surprised?

Two of the knives had managed to pin her down, Harumi growls as she tries to flick the handles of the weapons off her sleeves to no avail. "Dammit.." she internally groans, not having any other backup plans to try and get out of this situation. She hears the imposter approach her with a grinning look. She hates it.

"Not used with your new powers yet, princess?" The imposter teased, using the tip of their finger to brush itself against the third knife—the one that would be stabbed through the real Harumi's heart. "Bye bye now..." they raise the harmful weapon up in the air. Harumi shakes her head and looks away, not wanting to get a head start and imagine that pain.

A sword clicked against the knife. Harumi's eyes widened at the stinging sound.

"You are..."

She couldn't finish her sentence as she saw an individual protecting her from the blow. She recognized that gown, that hair....her protector turns around—she knew that face.

"Hang on Harumi, I'll help you."

"Vania!"

Pushing the imposter away from the pinned down Harumi, Vania was careful to not let her guard down by turning behind, in which would leave her back vulnerable to a stab.

"I really hope I'm doing the good choice here," the princess from the other kingdom chuckles, now on her way to help the white haired girl up from the ground. Way too excited to see her, Harumi instantly wraps her arms around her friend, a big smile filling her lips.

"I haven't seen you in ages! You wouldn't believe what just happened...I was with Garmadon in a forest and..." ah, Vania smiles as well as Harumi's words blurred in her mind. She seemed...happy. The girl wraps her arms around her friend in return, enjoying the hug and not really paying attention to her explanations. This was Harumi alright.

Allowing a moment or two of comforting words, the two girls pulled away and all that was left were smiling faces. Harumi had one more thing to do—banish this imposter from her kingdom. She grabs the two knives from the ground, more comfortable in using these instead of her shadow daggers.

She advances towards the fake, eyebrows narrowed a whole lot of anger coming from her. "As rightful princess of Ninjago, I ask that you will for good. You have harmed my friends enough." She warned. Why didn't she just finish this person off already?

The fake sighed and shrugged, the smile from their lips not disappearing for a second. They held their last remaining knife in their hands and tested their limits: "What will happen if I refuse to leave?" They asked with a playful grin. They really weren't about to obey so easily.

Harumi wished for things to not be complicated, but if this is really how it's going to go,

She stretched a leg back, "Ninjago!!" Her small small body formed into a silver tornado—spinjitzu.

Unfortunately, there were some people in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fake being the most obvious, though there was also poor little Cloud. The puppy barked as she tried to move out of the way of the spinning tornado but got sucked in halfway before being rejected and tossed in the airs.

Lloyd gasped, seeing the puppy soar through from the momentum and he quickly ran over to catch the small pup. "Are you okay there, Cloud?" He inquired, holding onto her gently before setting her down on the ground. His hands managed to pet her for a full two minutes without her biting, he sensed progress.

"I'm fine, thank you." Cloud gave an appreciative smile. They'd be going two steps back if the pup's mindset was to always trust in no one. That would mean that Harumi was the only one who was trust-worthy then. From the first time they met, Cloud didn't see Lloyd as a friend, but now, she's fully supportive of his relationship with her owner and she happily accepts him in her circle of trust.

Focusing back on the battle at hand, the tornado only came closer and closer. A weakling would be nervous right about now and would consider distancing themselves to avoid getting hit, though the imposter smirked and picked their book up from the ground.

They flipped a few pages and hummed out another spell.

"hie nobis accipere ab..."

Harumi launched out of spinjitzu and raised her left leg to kick at the enemy. She was too caught up in the energy to even notice the environment change between her and the now-laughing imposter.

As smoke faded away and the battlefield was clear again, the first thing the ninjas noticed was that the two opponents have suddenly disappeared.

"Where have they gone?!" Kai yelled out, a little frustrated that he couldn't thank the white haired princess for rescuing them earlier.
Lloyd helps him look around, the others did too, even the alternative ninja.

Vania sighs, her hands placed over her mouth as she tries not to let out a pained gasp. Her friend...just disappeared like that?

"This is bad, so very bad. I don't like this." Cloud grumbles, shaking her head and running over to the opposite direction.

Vania, who simply adjusted the pair of wings already on her back, nodded at the instructions of the white-furred puppy. "We must find her and track her down immediately!" She says, encouraging the mood even more.

Getting inside of the white van that Garmadon and the ex-generals left behind, the driver's seat door opened and Cloud poked her head out. "Everyone get in!" She addressed to her beloved family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They didn't like the idea of all going inside of a cramped van like this. Everyone turned to one another, groaning as they knew they all had to make space for one another so everyone can fit.
Piling inside of the now cramped van, there was little to no conversation between the resistance and the alternative ninja.

Though, "You know what happened, don't you? You disappeared along with that girl Harumi." Alt. Lloyd questioned the four-armed oni lord from a parallel world from him. Garmadon shrugged and leaned his head back against the side of the van. "We got transported to a jungle, that's all. I can assure you that Harumi that just got captured isn't a fake." He said.

The alt. Green ninja's eyes widened, not really buying into this man's story at first...considering the unstable relationship between him and his own father. They looked so similar to one another....this world's green ninja must be lucky to have a father this kind. At least, that's how he sees it so far. He has no idea for what happened to this lot in the past few months of war. He didn't know who caused the rebellion and shots in the first place. He sighs and looks back at Garmadon. "You're telling the truth, right?"

The oni lord was genuinely shocked with that question, sure not many people trust him however, this fool knew nothing of his true nature. He shrugs it off and answered this boy's question: "Of course I am, why wouldn't I?" He replies, hollow as the mood had just been ruined for him.

The van continued to drive at a fast enough speed that they were at least getting somewhere. The driver was none other than the white Pomeranian pup, she used her on the steering wheel and drove, doing a little bit of a bad job. She could barely reach the wheel in fact. Though, her nose picked up on scents really easily, her eyes widened as she spotted from the windshield that up ahead there was a building of two storeys.

From under her, "I don't think I can hold on for much longer, Cloud." Nix tells her, as he receives another kick to the neck from the white furred pup. He was used as a footstool to push down the gas pedal since the other puppy couldn't reach as the driver. All wheel Nix hated this job, especially the kicks to go faster, he knew that this was only temporary suffering.

A big smile forms on Cloud's lips as she barks in alert the scent she picked up from Harumi only got stronger. "It's this building, I know she's here!" Cloud chimes, kicking Nix in the neck once again to push the pedals even more.

The abandoned building grew closer and there was only one way to catch the imposter completely off guard. "Nix, hang on tight.."

"Everyone else, get out now!"

It was a sudden command, especially coming from a puppy of all people. However, she seems to be the only one with a plan here.

The resistance all looked at each other in worry, wondering what their plan was.

"The ropes are in the back!"

The doors of the van opened.

The resistance all jumped out of the van and flung themselves to the wall of the building. They used ropes to hang from the roof and climb up.

The van along with Nix and Cloud crash inside of the building, creating a hole through the walls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
They managed to get inside the building from the roof exit, they rushed through the halls before stopping in their tracks as they heard a scream. Vania turns her head as she tells everyone to stay silent so she could listen in.

"That's definitely Harumi." Zane whispers as he checks the walls, listening in as he tried to identify which room she was in.

The screams got even more louder, Vania narrowed her eyebrows. There was one room at the very end of the hallway....she kicked the door open.

Harumi was on the ground, inching her hand to try and pry her weapon away from the imposter, who was now crushing her back onto the floor. She whimpers and gasps as the door opened.

"Oh, it's only you." The imposter sighs, removing his foot from Harumi's back, which allowed her to break free and scurry to the nearest wall. She wipes dust from her weapon and glares at the imposter.

Kai glances over to the enemy now standing in front of them. It seems that they had more knives than when they were back in the palace.
As he readied a hand forward to blast the enemy and the building itself in flames, he hears a shout from the white haired girl.

"Don't use your elemental powers!" She advises him.

Alt. Garmadon crosses his arms, not really convinced that what the girl is advising is the right choice here. "He's right in front of you, just blast him." The oni lord from the other dimension starts saying, a whole lot of pressure went both ways. Kai backed away, glancing from Harumi to Alt. Garmadon, unsure who to listen to.

Harumi bites her lips, starting to get a little nervous here. "Kai no, we'll all die." She tries.

It was all a big blur to who to listen to. The fire ninja ends up not doing anything, but the conflict was clear in his face.

"I have an idea," Lloyd finally steps in, noticing the clear distress on his friend's face. Everyone stops to listen, this might mean something—especially if it was their leader and biggest deal of all, saying something. He narrows his eyebrows and addresses to their enemy. "Why don't we see your real colours, fake? If you don't get these answers right, you are forced to leave." He challenges.

The imposter snickers, ah ah, how fun would this be? "How are you sure that you're not going to send off the wrong person, Lloyd?" Their tone softens. The green ninja shakes his head. He knew that the real Harumi would be able to complete this challenge, he wasn't concerned at all. "Bring it on then," he replied.

The green ninja turns to the others and makes space for the two Harumis, "They'll need to answer questions, the one who gets them wrong will leave Ninjago forever." He explains the rules. It was a risk to take, however, if they were to get the real Harumi back and fix everything, it was a risk the green ninja was willing to take.

He turns to the white-haired girls, "Harumi, if it's...really you, what did we do on our first night together?" He inquired. A simple question, really. The real Harumi would know.

The imposter sighs, thinking deeply for this one—too long for it to become suspicious for anyone. Lloyd raised a brow as incoherent mutters were heard coming from the imposter as they turned around. "I uh..." they were stumped.

Lloyd chuckled and turned to the other Harumi, who was smiling along with him.
"That's easy, Lloyd! Couldn't you have chose anything better?" She was in a laughing tone now. The blonde gestured her to continue on with her response, he knew that this was the real Harumi, especially with the way she laughed with him.

Beginning her explanations, "When me and you were alone for the first time, it was when you thought I was kidnapped. In reality, I just left the palace temporarily to give food to the poor." She answers. That was the correct answer—the answer that an imposter could never give.

Ultra Violet and the other ex-generals gave a relieved smile, that there really was a mix-up between the two Harumis. That there really was an imposter out there...pretending to do bad things under their friend's name. Without holding back, all three of them make their way over to Harumi and wrap their arms around her.

"Ah, I knew there was something up with you! But you're silly if ya think I'm gonna forgive you for that!" Ultra chuckles, not instantly playing the ''nice guy'. Though, she really was relieved that the real Harumi was back now.

The green ninja scratches the back of his head, remembering the girl's answer. "Ah well, yeah. I couldn't pick anything better," he laughs as he talked to himself—as if replying to what she had said awhile ago.

When the generals pulled away from the hug, "We must figure out what we do with the fake." Mr. E says before he turned around and widened his eyes. There was a sight that surprised not only him but the others too.
"They're..." the android continues to whisper.
He took a step forward, noticing the dropped knife..."They're gone?!"

That's right, the imposter had disappeared on the spot. No one had seen where they had gone. It was...worrisome.

"A sorcerer of some sorts...or someone just really talented in spellcraft." Harumi points out, getting up from the ground and walking back over to her friends. As much as they hated to admit it, dealing with a sorcerer was quite difficult. Unlike Zackery, they could easily track that man.

"I hope he stays out of here, they have proven to know quite a lot of spells. Not that I know of any," Mirage mentions, her ears peeking up at the sound of the white haired girl potentially speaking of their new enemy.

There was a wave of silence between them all.

They needed to head back somehow, there were still things needing to be done, like fixing up the palace, reassuring the crowds that everything was alright and most importantly—

The sound of bell chimes were heard coming from outside.

Everyone froze in place.

"Right the coronation! It's still on?" Harumi facepalmed, having been caught off guard by the sound. There was only one place where it came from and that's from the palace of secrets.

Lloyd shrugs, leading everyone out of the building doors. "I guess so. I mean, you're here now so...we'll need to redo the coronation all over again." He smiles.

That's right, Ninjago will finally be meeting its rightful princess in a few hours.

Well, everything and everyone sure will be busy in a few hours from now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the palace, there were a few occupied rooms, one of them had the four-armed oni lord inside, as he uncomfortably wore a tuxedo. He growls as he couldn't get the tie right. "How am I supposed to do this? I never had to wear these before...it's not like my son ever got married." He complains.

"—Yet." Nix corrects him. The pups were inside the room with him, having figured that they should at least help this oni out in case he needed help with wearing his formal attire.

They lounged on the stools and watched quite interestingly as he pulled on the tie, a little too tightly. Garmadon lets out a wheeze.

Cloud sighs in frustration as the man struggled to stand straight due to the tie beginning to choke his neck and she rushed over to try and help him. Her teeth chomp on the tie and pulls it. It had only made it far worse by pulling, Garmadon clenches his fists as he struggled to breathe.

"Cloud! You're actually killing him!" Nix sits up from the stool, mildly concerned at this point for Lloyd's father. Cloud rolls her eyes back and continues to pull, having not listened to Nix completely. "Well I mean, that's the whole point. I mean what." She chuckled to herself.

The tie around Garmadon's neck eventually ripped and he was free from asphyxiation.

He panted and knelt on his knees to try and regain his breath. Nix and Cloud calmly approached him, the latter being rather playful than the other, who was incredibly nervous.

"Oh no worries, there's another one in the closet." Cloud playfully taunts the oni lord. Ah, sweet sweet revenge there.

Garmadon only glared at the Pomeranian.
"Get out. I can do it myself." He spat.

The white furred Pomeranian waves at her husky friend and cheerfully runs out of the dressing room they were in. "Yes yes, I'm done with you anyways. Make sure you look perfect for the coronation though~!" Ah, cheerful and bright as ever. Garmadon could never.

As Cloud exits the room, her muzzle pushes through the door and it creaks a little—she sees Harumi fixing her hair. The puppy looks amazed, as she has never seen her owner that beautiful before. The sparkle in her eyes as she was unfortunately set aside by her husky friend as she noticed Garmadon coming closer to the door.

"Excuse me, Cloud." The man was considerate enough to not just nudge her away without context. Then, he knocks at the door and opens it, his eyes slightly widening at the sight of this young girl. With a long braid to her side, a pretty-prim doll face along with a long green gown. A perfect little princess, she is.

The girl smiles at him and sets aside the makeup palette she held in her hands to see what up by the door. "What is it, Garmadon?" She asks quietly. The man hesitates, he really was drawn to how she dressed up today. Possibly due to the fact that the only way he's seen her use makeup was...by slashing it across her eyes. "Uh...Harumi, I just wanted to tell you that it's time to go." He says, casually.

She looked briefly surprised for a second before nodding and just returning back to her vanity to place her flower clips on each side of her temple. "Oh already? Of course, I'll be there." She says.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the opened-up throne room, everyone had been gathered in one place. The friends and family of course had priority and sat by the front, Kai and Nya smiled as this was what a coronation was all about. Not some fake trying to ruin everything, this was a memory meant to last.

As Vania sat near the other ninjas and wondered where Lloyd was, a song coming from the speakers began to play. It had a very royalcore tone to it so no one could mistake it for being some typical jazz or pop. The family and guests eagerly brought their attention forward to the carriage making its way inside of the palace gates. Then, it stopped right by them. Two individuals came out.

"Oh look at you, lover boy." Cloud chocked on a mischievous laugh. Nix chuckled as well and nudged her to be quiet.

Lloyd, who wore a tuxedo along with a green tie, nervously accompanied the princess whom he was proudly called a lover. They both walked on the red carpet, coming closer to the palace doors. There was a tense silence between them until he notices himself becoming more and more nervous as more eyes laid on them.

"You know...I've never done this before." He admits to the girl. He is the green ninja, whenever he had to face crowds, he was allowed to wear a mask to hide how anxious he was, but now, everyone could see his green eyes and trembling lips. He feels his hand get pulled back, he raised his head to see why he had stopped walking all of a sudden.

"And it's okay, I'm not looking for perfection, Lloyd." Harumi brightly tells him, holding his hand softly and leaning in closer to him to gently kiss his cheek as reassurance. The green ninja blushes a little and they both continue to walk, eventually coming inside of the throne room.

Entering the palace, Lloyd lets go of Harumi's hand and joyfully sends her off to the altar, where he knew that when she pronounces delicate words, she'd be crowned Ninjago's newest princess. The white haired girl continued to walk, walking up the mini steps and meeting up with Hutchins, he stood proud, ready to take on the role as what the former emperor was for these occasions.

Stopping to be in front of him, Hutchins hands the girl a scroll, allowing her some time to read the contents as he spoke through, his voice clear and resonating:

"We are gathered here today to celebrate this memorable event, for the daughter of the former emperor and empress will become this city's newest ruler. Please welcome, princess Harumi Jade Ariane." He announces.

Taking a deep breath, Harumi begins to read from the scroll. "I, Harumi Jade Ariane, promise to keep this city safe from whatever threat, I will put my life on the line for my people and I will make you all proud of me, your Empress." She reads an oath.

Hutchins and the rest of her family smiles, in support.

Putting away the scroll, Hutchins nods and walked back a little to lift up a glass case from a stand. He pulls up a golden jewelled tiara in which formerly belonged to the empress but as there was a new ruler, it surely belonged to Harumi. "I present you all for the very first time, Empress Harumi Jade Ariane, of Ninjago." His hands were to careful to manage the crown, he slowly placed it on top of the Empress's head.

Feeling the weight of her new role already, Harumi gives a subtle gulp towards Hutchins before turning around to face her new subjects. She sees and recognizes them all at this level—Lloyd, Vania, Mirage, Garmadon, Mistaké. There was also Cloud and Nix, smiling at her.

As well as crowds and crowds of people gathering just to see her succession. She might have teared up a little if she had forgotten she had makeup on. The empress gives a proud smile.

Claps and cheers were heard coming from all directions. Everyone was cheering for her—they were happy for her.

Harumi began making her way down from the altar along with Hutchins, who congratulated her quietly.

The fire ninja, who was sitting in the front row, whispered a little something to the green ninja, which made his happy and proud expression turn into an excited and more rather, concerned one. He quickly nods and leaves the queue to speak to a few guards.

As Harumi makes her way out of the palace doors, an unsettling sound was heard. Explosions coming from the back of the place gates. She narrows her eyebrows, remembering all too well where she remembered this situation before. Firecrackers? She raises a brow.

Then, particles and many colours shot up in the evening skies. She stood there in awe as her and her pupil enjoyed the fireworks. Bright reds and greens and pinks, she let out a gasp as she couldn't count how many fireworks were organized just for her. She loved fireworks...

"I promise, as your new empress, I'll protect those smiles..." the most important oath of all, the one for herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Late at night, after the coronation, the resistance and alternative ninja were allowed to stay at the palace meanwhile guests had to return back home. This place belonged to Harumi now and no, no one needed to worry about any princess kidnappings nor oni mask stealing.

Jay, Zane and Cole played tag around the halls and even devoured on some of the cake left by the buffet. Mirage and Pixal stayed by the library, where they figured they could learn a little bit more. Garmadon, Mistaké and Opal were gathered in the elderly woman's room as she wanted to show them some new tea beans she discovered.

Kai and Nya were looking around, trying to find more articles and the alternative ninja were all in the training room downstairs. Everyone was busy except for a few people like Vania, Harumi and Lloyd.

Two royal individuals leaned on the balcony's railings as they spoke to one another

enthusiastically. Both had gladdened smiles on their faces even if they didn't interact in so long, there was no awkwardness between them.

Lloyd couldn't help but watch them, very happy for the two that they managed to reunite and catch up with one another. He stood on the other end of the balcony, not minding to be the third-wheel. He was with Cloud and Nix too, that were watching the two girls happily.

"Rumi, it's really been awhile, I've missed you so much! I wanted to come and speak to you, I'm even happy that you considered inviting me to your coronation!" Vania chimes, clearly showing how excited she was to be here.

The empress nods, giving a cheesy smile as that was not something she thought she'd hear.
"So what if we knew each other since we were young? We may have lost connection through the years but never have I not considered you a friend."

She replies, reassuring Vania that their friendship from years ago was still strong till now. The other princess gives a relieved smile.

Leaning back even more, Vania grabs both of their hands, Harumi admits that it surprised her a little, and locked them tight. "Oh you know, I'm glad we still talk." Vania says, gesturing for the both of them to admire the stars tonight. There were plenty.

Harumi gives a quiet giggle as her smile slowly shifted into a look of worry. There was something unsettling that she just remembered and having seen the stars was her reminder.

"Yeah...I'm glad too." She replied, muffling her tone so that Vania couldn't sense her worry.

So many stars out tonight, so many threats.
~~~~~~~~~~
As the night continued, in an unknown place inside of a jungle, a man with a cloaked face flipped through his spell book. He hummed a light, kinda twisted in many ways melody and grinned from time to time. Truly an old hag, if anyone were to his lackeys. But he wasn't, he was a middle-aged man with a charming look and with a lot of knowledge.

He continues to flip through his book and stops his humming as soon as he landed on a certain page in his book. There were pictures, perfectly cut-out ones that he had kept. He ripped them from photo albums while he was still snooping around the palace. Using one of his hands, he grabs one of the pictures and caress the cheek of the individual on them. Harumi Jade, the newest Empress of Ninjago.

He chuckled. She was the perfect asset to his plans—what was the most fun part is that she didn't even realized it herself!

Those resistance members and that Empress thought they had seen the last of him? That was just a disappearing spell, silly little fellows.
They had so much more coming to them.

Zephyr smiles. "Perfect."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hello hello, my goodness, that was a long chapter, was it not? Well of course, it had to be! We are starting a very new arc! Anyways, it seems that our new Empress and the resistance have a little bit of an issue regarding spellcraft here. There's a whole storm coming and I hope you're all ready too! Please tune in for the next weeks for the continuation! Cya readers! ^^