𝟬𝟴
Harumi smirks as she stares at the temple from where she stood behind Lloyd and Poppy. Poppy frowned and glared when she saw Harumi smirking and went over to Lloyd, whispering something to him; Lloyd looked at her and gave a soft nod, letting her knows that he got it.
"The Oni Temple." Lloyd says, as they head inside and jump onto pillars. "If the last mask is here, it won't come easily. Trust me, I've had my share of deadly tombs. Follow my every step."
Lloyd then jumped onto a pillar with a carving on it. It starts to crumble.
"Lloyd!" Both Poppy and Harumi said, then glared at each other.
Luckily, Lloyd managed to jump to safety before he could fall below.
"Okay, don't touch anything with that symbol on it." Lloyd told them before he went back to jumping onto the pillars.
Poppy looked over to see Harumi secretly touched one of the pillars with the carving on it. She glared at her and jumped onto a pillar closest to her — that didn't have the carving on it.
"I saw that. Lloyd's not stupid, he'll see through your lies." Poppy told her, glaring at her.
Harumi smirked, "I don't think so. I've got him right where I want him," then pretends to look innocent as the exit starts closing. "No. No, no, no, no, no!"
The exit then closes completely, trapping them inside the temple.
Lloyd sighs. "Guess there's no turning back now."
The Sons of Garmadon had them tied up with vengestone, expect for baby Wu.
"If you harm one hair on his head..."
"You'll what? Where is he? Where's the Green Ninja?" Killow asked.
"Ha! Like we'll ever tell you." Cole says.
"Uh, Cole, you don't argue with a man whose navel is that close." Jay says.
"Mr. E found them."
"Good eye, Mr. E. The Oni Temple is just fifteen miles north of here. Set a course for the Quiet One." Killow told them.
"You don't have to call her that. We know it's Harumi," Nya says.
"Do you guys have any idea what you're doing? She's planning on resurrecting Garmadon. Lord Garmadon. I'm gonna guess you never had the chance to meet him." Kai says.
"No, but we look forward to it." Killow says.
"Yeah? Can you guess how bad it's gonna go?" Mintayla asked.
"In our experience, when the bad guys try to unearth an ancient evil, it never ends well for them." Zane agrees.
"Yeah. Just ask Pythor, Master Chen, Morro, or evening Garmadon himself." Jay says.
"Hmm, then it's a good thing the Quiet One isn't a bad guy, but a bad girl." Violet says.
The Sons of Garmadon laugh, and Kai moves his arms.
"Careful, ninja. I wouldn't want to upset the child." Violet warns.
"Let's just hope Lloyd and Poppy discovers Harumi's secret before her help arrives." Jasmine and Mintayla shared a look, already knowing that Poppy knew exactly what was gonna happen.
Lloyd, Poppy, and Harumi runs to safety.
"Almost there. You okay?" Lloyd asked.
"Yeah, but it's so dark," Poppy says.
Lloyd picks up a nearby torch and lights it with his powers, the light reveals a painting on the wall.
"What is this place?" Harumi asked.
"It's their story." Lloyd says.
"Who?" Harumi asked.
"The Oni. See there? It's amazing," Lloyd says.
"They must have built this place," Poppy began.
"When the First Spinjitzu Master escaped their world, they must have come looking for him." Lloyd says.
"Who?" Harumi asked.
"The Oni. He was the key to winning their eternal war with the dragons. Ninjago was a new world to them. The Oni must've hold up here. Explains all the traps. Must not have wanted any visitors." Lloyd says, before sighing as they came upon a dead end. "This is a dead end."
"Look, the symbol from earlier. Maybe you can break through one of these walls. If the symbol is on here, this one must be booby trapped." Harumi says.
"Worth a shot." Lloyd says, he was about to use his element but stopped.
"What's wrong?" Poppy asked.
"If the Oni wanted to protect the mask, they would know anyone who got this far would avoid the markings." Lloyd says.
"What do you mean?" Harumi asked.
"This has to be the way." Lloyd says.
"But you see the water? If you break the wrong wall, this whole room will flood." Harumi said, pretending to sound worry.
"Then I sure hope I'm right," Lloyd says as he uses his element to break the wall with the marking.
They stepped inside and walked over to where the mask stood. Harumi gasped, "The Mask of Hatred."
She strides over to the mask and tries to grab it but fails. She look back at Lloyd, "Only someone with Oni blood can take the mask."
Before Lloyd could step forward, Poppy grab his hand to stop him for a minute, looking at him with uncertainty. Lloyd gives her another soft nod as a way to let her know that it's okay. She nodded and released him, letting Lloyd to walk up to the mask who successfully grab the mask.
"Can I... can I see it?" Harumi asks.
She reaches forward to try to take it, but Lloyd keeps it out of her reach. "I just want to see it." Harumi assured.
"Stop lying, Harumi. Stop acting like Lloyd's dumb cause he's not," Poppy said.
"How did you know?" Lloyd asked.
Harumi blinks, taken aback. "It's an Oni Temple. It's safe to assume only an Oni could take it."
"No. How could you know that I was part Oni?" Lloyd asked.
Harumi secretly tries to take the mask again but fails.
"I never told you that. Jay and I were alone when Mistakè told us the story. You were never there." Lloyd says.
"Then I must've heard it from Jay." Harumi says, she tries to grab the mask, but Lloyd takes it out of her hand.
"Why are you still lying, Harumi? Just admit it. You're the Quiet One." Poppy says.
Harumi pretends to look hurt. "How could you say that? Lloyd, are you really going to believe her over me?"
Lloyd looked at Poppy then back at Harumi and nodded. "It all makes sense now. The greatest villain is the one you never knew was there in first place. You said that."
"Oh, yes. I'm the criminal mastermind. How could I have done this?" Harumi said, walking up to Lloyd. "Do you realize how silly you're sounding? I... I love you."
She tries to kiss him but Lloyd pushes her away.
"Stay back." Lloyd says.
Harumi pretended to be hurt. "Lloyd."
Lloyd started to back up with Poppy behind him.
"You only wanted me to get the mask you couldn't find." Lloyd says.
"I didn't need you to find the mask. It would've already been mine had your idiot friends not stolen Wu from us." Harumi says, grinning evilly.
Lloyd stared disbelieving at her. "The baby is Master Wu?"
"Oh, that's right. You didn't know." Harumi walks up to Lloyd as he tries to move away. "I knew to keep you close. Not everything goes to plan. Give me the mask." Harumi grabs the mask but Lloyd grabs it away.
"No. I can't let you bring my father back. Not like that." Lloyd says, backing up.
"Well, then if you won't give it to me..." Harumi then spins on her right leg, back kicks him with the left, knocking Lloyd to the ground and the mask out of his hands.
"Lloyd!" Poppy shouted.
"Then I will take it!" Harumi glares at them. Lloyd returns her glare back.
Harumi leaps at the mask but Lloyd strikes the mask with his element. The mask soars through the air then lands on the ground. Poppy runs forward to grab the mask while Lloyd pins Harumi to the ground.
"Why?" Lloyd asked.
"I never asked to be a princess." Harumi told him angrily, pressing Lloyd onto his back. "Just as I never asked to be an orphan, but you gifted me that."
Lloyd throws her into her back again, "How did I do that?"
"The Great Devourer. It was too strong." Harumi pushes Lloyd slowly onto his back. "Too big for you and your friends." She said, as she laughed softly. "Oh, Lloyd. You aren't so naive to think no one got hurt that day, did you?"
Lloyd gets up, throwing her onto the ground. Harumi then stood up, slowly with her fists raised.
"It wasn't until the almighty Lord Garmadon saved the day! But he couldn't save my family." Harumi said, looking sadly at the ground. "It was too late. I died that day, too." She closes her eyes angrily, remembering the flashback where she last saw her birth parents.
With the mask in her hands, Poppy went over to Lloyd and nodded.
"Give me one reason not to say goodbye to it right now." Lloyd told Harumi, ready to summon his element to destroy the mask for good.
Harumi turned around quickly. "I'll give you two. You want to see your father again, and you're in love with Poppy and me."
Lloyd freezes, holding back his feelings.
"Ah, your emotions. You can't get rid of them. It's hard to think, isn't it?" Harumi said, slowly pulling out a knife. "I felt those feelings too, but deep down, you choose Poppy. It's always been Poppy, hasn't it, Lloyd? You truly are kindred spirits."
"Lloyd! Look out!" Poppy shouted, just as Harumi went to kill him. Lloyd quickly snapped out of his thoughts and dodged the attack, using his Spinjitzu green tornado to push Harumi away.
"You helped put the bug on the ship. You caused the crash." Lloyd says.
"A calculated risk. Your friends were so close to the truth, I couldn't let them stop me. Well Poppy, Jasmine, and Mintayla always knew, but I knew they wouldn't tell you or the others. Otherwise I'd have to get rid of them." Harumi says.
"Is that a threat?" Poppy glared at her.
"Oh, of course it isn't." Harumi said sweetly before grinning evilly. "Only if you tend to see it that way."
"You're not gonna touch her." Lloyd glared. "Feeding the power, acting scared? It was all an act?"
"Ah, yes. The damsel in distress. You ninja really are from another time." Harumi says.
"The Emperor and Empress?" Lloyd asked.
"THEY WERE NEVER MY PARENTS!" Harumi yelled. "To protect Ninjago, I had to repress those feelings. I had to wear a mask until the time came for me to take control. I had to be smarter, stronger."
"You were never protecting Ninjago. You were only after revenge." Lloyd says.
"Tell me, Lloyd, how many times has Ninjago almost fallen on your watch? How many times have you Ninja failed and let others pay the price? You're not our protectors. You're just a bunch of little kids playing dress up. Ninjago is my home too. And with your father by my side, we can return it to glory. Give it the leader it truly des—" Harumi went to grab the mask from Poppy, but Lloyd used his element to defend her and push Harumi away.
"Then... I guess this is goodbye." Lloyd says, he nods at Poppy who throws the mask off the cliff. Harumi jumps off the ledge and grabs it, hanging onto the cliff side with her knife. She laughs and puts the mask on.
"Okay, so that didn't go as planned." Lloyd admitted.
Harumi suddenly jumped and landed back on the ground as Lloyd and Poppy turned around to face her.
"This isn't going to be a fair fight." Harumi tosses Lloyd the knife.
"What did the mask do to you?" Lloyd asked.
"The Mask of Hatred. A taste of invincibility. Too bad for you." Lloyd pushes Poppy out of the way as Harumi charges at them and grabs the knife.
Killow tries to break down the wall.
"I can't break through. It looks like we wait." He said.
"Eh, what if the Green Ninja returns with the mask first?" A Son of Garmadon member asked.
"The Quiet One will not fail." Killow told him.
Harumi throws Lloyd onto the mask's pedestal where it once stood.
"Lloyd!" Poppy yelled.
"Hurt me all you want, but I'm never gonna let you get away with this." Lloyd says.
"Physical pain can only hurt so much. I intend far worse." Harumi said.
"Then what do you want?" Lloyd asked.
"I want you to feel the emptiness that I feel! When your father is reborn, he won't be the man you recognized! His soul will be gone and I want his cold hands to destroy you!" Harumi yelled at him.
"You're a monster! I'll never feel what you feel." Lloyd says.
"We will see." Harumi then walk away from the two. Poppy went over to Lloyd and helped him up.
"Fight me. Let's end it here." Lloyd says.
"I'm already two steps ahead." Harumi says before she runs out of the entryway.
"No. Don't!" Lloyd shouted after her.
But as Harumi ran out, she broke the walls without the symbols and the temple starts to flood with Lloyd and Poppy inside while Harumi left.
"Where's Nya when you need her?" Lloyd asked, the water was up to his and Poppy's necks.
Meanwhile, the moment Ultra Violet was gone from the Bounty, their plan set into motion.
Glow, little glow worm, glimmer glimmer. Shine, little glow worm, glimmer glimmer.
"That song. Again? It ain't gonna work, beef cake." Chopper Maroon says.
"Maybe I just feel like singing." Cole shot back.
Lead us lest too far we wander...
With Chopper Maroon distracted, that gave the perfect chance for them to convince Baby Wu to grab the keys.
"The keys. Get the keys," Nya whispered.
Baby Wu grabs the teapot.
"Not the tea. The keys. There. Please." Nya whispered.
Baby Wu took a quick sip of the tea before grabbing the keys and frees the ninja. Once the vengestone was off, the ninja attack Chopper Maroon while Jasmine picked up Baby Wu.
"Oh, thanks, little Wu." Nya smiled.
The wall finally breaks down as Harumi takes the mask off.
"The Quiet One has the mask. We have all three!" Killow says.
The Sons of Garmadon cheer.
"Now I believe we have a ceremony to attend to. Take the ship." Harumi says.
"Not so fast." Kai says.
"Careful. I wouldn't want you to upset the child." Cole said, the ninja surrounding them.
Jay laughed. "Looks like we have the upper—" more Sons of Garmadon surround them. "Oh, come on! Zane, I thought you said we had them outnumbered." Jay says.
"Uh, that was before I knew how many of them there were." Zane says.
"Oh, now isn't this a lovely pickle?" Violet says.
"Where's Lloyd and Poppy?" Kai asked.
"The Green Ninja can't help you now." Harumi says.
"Remember how I didn't care for her at first? Then she won me over with all that girl talk, and we started to really get to know each other? Well now I hate her!" Nya says.
Mr. E slowly brings out the mask but Zane points his bow at him. "Don't even think about it." He warned.
Both sides stood there, glaring at each other and their weapons at hand. Neither one of them made a move and silence filled the air... until Lloyd and Poppy were thrown out from the waterfall. Luckily, the ninja caught them before they could hit the ground.
"You guys, Harumi is the Quiet One." Lloyd says.
"We kind of got that much." Kai says.
But then Crabby confronts them, causing them to run where the Bounty was parked. Jasmine picked up Baby Wu into her arms so he wouldn't go into the fight while both sides fought Crabby.
With the mask in her hands, Harumi smirked as she grabbed Poppy by the arm and whistled for her team to leave while the ninja fought Crabby.
"Hey! Let go, Harumi!" Poppy said.
Mintayla and Jasmine, even Baby Wu looked over and saw this.
"Poppy!" Mintayla said.
Lloyd heard this and looked over, his eyes widen when he saw what was happening. The Sons of Garmadon got on the Bounty and began to leave while Zane freezes Crabby.
"Get me close." Lloyd told his friends.
"I'm on it. Zane, I need an assist." Nya says.
Both Nya and Zane use their powers to make a path of ice to the Bounty while Lloyd uses his Spinjitzu to go up the path to land on the anchor of the ship.
"He did not just—" Jay says.
"He just did." Kai says.
Lloyd uses the anchor to jump back onto the Bounty where Harumi stood with the mask and Poppy.
"Lloyd! Behind you!" Poppy warned.
Before Lloyd could react, Killow grabbed him from behind.
"They have Lloyd." Kai says.
"They have the masks." Cole says.
The ice encasing Crabby thaws.
"And we have trouble." Zane says.
"Puppy!" Baby Wu shouted from Jasmine's arms.
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