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Chapter Text

*

The two figures stand at the foot of the mountain, taking a breather after the travel they took to get there. The monastery is hidden by clouds, and it will be a long journey up. Acronix and Krux aren't tired, but they have to prepare mentally for what lies before them. Their final fight against the elemental masters, after which they will rule over Ninjago. They know they'll win, know that the elemental power of time cannot be overpowered – but they can't afford to take chances. They can't let themselves be distracted.

And Acronix is, certainly, distracted.

"Almost time," Krux mutters, looking up at the sky. "Almost time…"

Acronix takes a deep breath. "Krux?"

Krux looks up. "Yes?"

Now or never, Acronix thinks. "You… love me, right?"

"Of course!" Krux says immediately. "You're my brother! Of course I love you!"

The words feel like a knife to the gut. Acronix swallows hard.

"Will you love me… unconditionally?"

"Always and forever."

Deep breath. Fight down the rising fear.

"Will you love me… as your sister?"

Krux frowns. "I'm… sorry?"

"I…" Acronix's hands are trembling. Why is she so much more afraid of this than fighting the elemental masters? "I don't feel… right, as a man. I… I don't think I am one. A man, I mean." Because when she fights the elemental masters, she has her brother by her side. "I would… I would… much rather be a woman." For this, she has to face the possibility that she will be alone. "I feel… right… when I think of myself as a woman, like – like it was what I was meant to be all along – I – I –"

"Acronix."

She freezes, the confidence drained out of her. She can't find it within herself to look Krux in the eyes – he puts a hand on her chin and moves her head up to face him anyway.

"Acronix," he repeats. "I will love you until the end of time. Never forget that. I will always love who you are – and if who you are is a woman, I will love you as a woman, and as my sister."

Acronix just stares at him, unable to find words.

Krux lets go of her. "Now. We should get moving."

He says it so naturally, like he knew all along. Acronix has heard stories of people who were kicked from their families, disowned, left to survive on their own – the fact that her brother accepts her so quickly, unconditionally, as if he understands…

"I will say, I have a lot of questions for you." Krux shrugs. "But they can wait until after we've won. Are you ready, sister?"

Acronix breaks into a grin.

"Of course!" she says. "I'll race you to the top, brother!"

Chapter One

Far below the shiniest stars,
Shiniest stars won’t shine forever.
Take your soul and you can go far,
If you don’t fall from grace or favor.

The Presets – Ghosts

It hurts. It hurts a lot.

Morro wasn't expecting it to hurt this much.

He's lying on the couch, sweating and gasping, chills wracking his body. He's uncomfortably reminded of that day in March, less than a month after he had arrived at the tower – he pushes that thought out of his mind and squeezes the hand grasping his own, turning his head to meet his father's worried gaze.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Cyrus says, and Morro can tell he's breathing fast and hard, can feel the rapid pulse in his hand. "I'm worried – there's very little documentation on this potion, for all we know –"

"I'll be okay," Morro manages to say between gasps. "Never… never expected it to be easy. It's worth it."

"I know, and I trust you, but I… I don't like seeing you like this."

Morro cracks a smile. "Not great being like this, either."

Cyrus shifts his wheelchair a little closer. "You should be close to the end. I've been keeping time, and while there's a very small sample size to go on, most all the data measures it in minutes, as opposed to hours or days."

"That's… good." Morro closes his eyes briefly. His joints are aching and his head is pounding. "How long has it been?"

"It'll have been ten minutes since taking the potion in…" Cyrus checks his watch. "Five seconds." He pauses. "Now."

"How much longer?"

"You're past the shortest time recorded… it's hard to say. If you start feeling nauseous, it should be almost over."

Morro grimaces and tries to make a joke, but sudden nausea overwhelms him and he claps his free hand to his mouth. Cyrus quickly places a plastic bucket in his lap. Morro misses it completely.

When he's done, his head drops back onto the couch. The pain has subsided, somewhat, but his head is spinning and exhaustion is weighing on him. He takes a few more deep breaths, then says, "Check my soul."

"I – I don't know, Morro, it might be too soon –"

"Please, Dad."

Cyrus hesitates, then finally says, "Okay."

He leans over Morro and softly presses his hands against his chest and speaks the incantation – the same words repeated over and over, until the light of the soul is strong enough to show through the body. Pink for a healthy soul. Red for a sick soul. Yellow for a dying soul. For as long as Morro's known the spell, his soul has been green; a cursed soul, doomed to go to the Cursed Realm after death. Not even being brought back to life changed that.

He wonders, sometimes, how Cyrus thought the future would turn out, during those first few days Morro was in his care. Did he even consider this possibility, that he would grow so attached to the resurrected teenager that he would be willing to risk so much for him? To study magic and potionmaking – a fact that would surely cause controversy if it ever was leaked to the public, to say the least – in an attempt to lift the curse on his soul? To allow him to stay, to want him to stay, to call him Morro Sky Borg, his son –

Morro doesn't know what, if anything, he's done to deserve this.

He's so caught up in these thoughts that he almost doesn't notice when Cyrus lifts his hands away. Morro blinks. "Dad –"

"Morro," Cyrus whispers. "Look."

Morro lifts his head back up to look down at his chest

glowing a soft pink

like a healthy soul would

one without a curse

and it's too much, too much for Morro to believe right now, too good to be true, almost – he can feel tears pricking at his eyes, his breaths coming in shudders, and Cyrus is smiling down at him with a crooked grin. He's been hoping for this moment for half a year, now, and now that it's happening – it's too much.

Morro lets his head fall back down and closes his eyes.

He wakes up some time later, his strength returned enough to go to his room and change out of the clothes he got puke on. Morro wonders if the stains will come out of the couch. He hopes so. He liked that couch.

He does the spell to check his soul again when he's alone, his voice shaking with the incantation. Again, his soul glows pink. Maybe a bit redder than it should be, but Morro isn't going to complain. Not about this.

The next morning, he wakes up again still not believing it. He presses his hands to his chest before he even gets out of bed, repeating the spell. Pink, again. No longer cursed.

He sits up and looks around. His room is a mess, like it's always been. Dirty and clean clothes both are strewn around the room; he sometimes forgets which piles he can wear and which need to be washed. Various bits of trash and paper are littered on the floor. There's a small stack of vinyl records placed haphazardly on his desk, next to his record player. It doesn't seem much different now. He doesn't feel much different.

He's not going to go to the Cursed Realm when he dies.

Not that there's much of a Cursed Realm left, anymore. The Preeminent is still trapped at the bottom of the ocean – still alive, somehow, but without the extra energy she was siphoning from the Temple of Resurrection. A memory surfaces and he cringes – before he was resurrected, he had been there, too. The water destroying his incorporeal form over and over, endless agony, wordless wailing all around him as he reached for the surface and joined his voice to the chorus –

Breathe. He's alive. He's not going back there.

His phone buzzes. When he checks it, he has a few texts from his father.

< Hello! Are you awake?
< I just wanted to check in :)
< Please text me when you wake up.

ok >
im up >

< Excellent! How are you feeling?

good i think >

< I'm almost finished with work. Where do you want to meet?

my room >
can you bring me breakfast >

< Morro, it's 2PM.
< But yes.

Morro lies down on the bed again and stares at the ceiling until Cyrus knocks on the door. "Morro? Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Morro says, and the door opens.

Cyrus frowns at the messy floor, as he usually does. "You really need to keep this clean. How am I supposed to come in here if there's no path?"

"It's just trash. You can roll over it."

"Morro, please."

He does end up rolling over the trash, and puts the plate of food on Morro's headboard. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Morro says. "I feel… really good, actually."

"I'm so glad, Morro. I'm so, so glad." Cyrus hesitates for a long moment. "There's… some things I wanted to discuss with you, but I'll understand if now isn't the right time."

Morro sits up. "What things?"

"Nothing bad, necessarily, I just…" Cyrus smiles at him. "We've been trying to lift your curse for so long… how do you feel now that it's done?"

"I told you, I feel good. Really good." Morro pauses. "I feel like… almost like it's not real. I keep –" He puts his hands to his chest. "– doing the spell, over and over, because – I can't believe it, almost. I don't know how to explain."

"I think I understand. Not completely, of course, but…" Cyrus looks distant, for a moment. "A similar experience might be if I were to wake up and find that all the damage the Overlord did to my body was gone."

Morro doesn't know what to say to that.

"…sorry," Cyrus says sheepishly. "That probably wasn't… appropriate of me."

"It's alright," Morro says. "It's a lot to wrap my head around. I've been cursed for years and years, and to think that I'm not anymore…"

Cyrus nods and takes a deep breath. "I wanted to discuss your future, Morro."

Morro blinks. "What?"

"Your future. We haven't talked about it, much." Cyrus looks him in the eye. "You're going to be eighteen, soon. That's a fairly big milestone, in our society! I was wondering… do you have any idea what you want to do?"

Morro slowly shakes his head.

"I thought that might be the case. Do you mind if I offer some possibilities?"

"Like what?"

"You could go to school. College, maybe. There's a number of programs out there for whatever you'd want to learn."

Morro has read about college, but the idea of going – his hands are shaking. His breaths are coming out in gasps. His father notices, of course.

"Are you alright?" he asks, and he brings his wheelchair closer. "Sorry, this is a bit much, isn't it?"

Morro swallows hard. "I don't know if I could," he whispers. "I feel like… like I'm stuck, doing the same things over and over. I don't – I don't –"

Cyrus puts a hand on his back. "You're not stuck," he says. "I understand how it would feel like – you were stuck for a long time. But you're alive, and you're – you're not cursed anymore, Morro. You have infinite possibilities before you."

"It's…" It's too much. "I don't…"

"How about this. Get some food in you, and we'll talk about this when you're feeling up to it. Maybe talk about it with your friends?"

Skylor might have some advice. She's older than he is, and she's always willing to listen. She's also his only real option; his only other friend is Ronin, and Morro isn't sure a thief running a pawn shop will have any good advice about his future. "Okay."

Cyrus smiles. "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work. I postponed some meetings on short notice to make sure you were feeling alright, and I have some annoyed investors scheduled to meet with me. Text me if you need anything, alright?"

"Okay."

Before Cyrus reaches the door, Morro blurts out, "I love you, Dad."

Cyrus looks back at him with his crooked grin. "I love you too, Morro. I'm so glad this chapter of our lives is over."

Morro smiles. "Yeah."

"Oh! I almost forgot – I want you to be at the BorgWatch reveal tonight!"

Morro's smile vanishes. "Dad, I don't think –"

Cyrus interrupts him. "I don't want to hear any arguments. You are my son, Morro. Pixal said she would make an appearance, and I don't want to only have one of my children there."

"But –"

"I have no time to spare for you to argue with me. Rest up! Eat something that's not pure sugar!"

"Dad –"

Cyrus leaves without letting Morro get a word in. Morro groans and falls backwards on the bed again. Maybe he can fake some horrible illness that keeps him in his room for the night.

Ronin finishes counting the cash and locks the register. Morro didn't show up to work, but Ronin isn't too worried – it's not the first time the kid's missed a shift, and Ronin can't be assed to care when he's not paying him. He sends a quick text and heads to his next job; helping the ninja move into their new base.

Before he leaves, he stops in the bathroom and stares at himself in the mirror. He looks tired, Ronin thinks. He's been having messed up dreams lately. He sighs.

He has asked Morro about his debt just once.

"Soul Archer still gonna be after me to pay up?" he had asked. Even the memory of saying his name is enough to make Ronin shudder. He had managed to hide his fear well enough as he waited for Morro's response.

"Probably not," was what Morro said. "Unless the Preeminent gets another source of energy, he's stuck at the bottom of the ocean with her. He can't escape. None of them can."

"But people with cursed souls –"

Morro flinched. "Yeah," he snapped, "I'm going to be there, too, when I die. We've been over this."

Ronin, because he's an asshole, had given Morro a hard pat on the back and told him to be careful crossing the street. Morro didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

Now, Ronin puts his hands to his chest and recites the spell.

His soul glows green, like it has since the day he lost the bet.

Ronin doesn't know what he expected to see. His curse would've been somehow lifted now that the Preeminent was half-drowned? Soul Archer sure as hell hadn't done anything to lift it. Ronin still has a debt to pay, except now he has no way to pay it.

He shakes his head and leaves. Misako is expecting him soon.

All he has to do for now is look both ways before crossing the street.

"Dad?"

Garmadon slowly wakes up at the sound of his son's voice, sees Lloyd's green eyes peering at him in worry. "Lloyd?" he says. "Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just…" Lloyd's eyes flick to the side. "You fell asleep."

It takes a few more moments for Garmadon to fully wake up and realize the situation. He was having dinner with Lloyd, Misako, and Wu… and he fell asleep at the table. No wonder Lloyd was worried. He can see Misako staring at him, too, her brow furrowed with concern.

He tries to laugh it off. Neither of them laugh with him, but they return to eating once he picks up his own fork.

When he's finished, he looks around at the table. "Where's Wu?" he asks. "I thought he was supposed to eat with us."

"Oh," Misako says. "He must have left shortly after you dozed off. He had to excuse himself, said he had somewhere to be."

Garmadon frowns. He can't help but feel that he's forgetting something, a feeling he's all too familiar with, these days. "Did he say anything about where he was going?"

"Just that he needed to do something that could not be put off until tomorrow." Misako shrugs. "You know how your brother is. He said he would be home late."

Something isn't right. He's forgetting something important. But try as he might, Garmadon can't remember what it is. "Let me know when he gets back."

After dinner, Lloyd has to meet up with the rest of the ninja at the museum. Before he leaves, he helps Garmadon back to bed. Garmadon is acutely aware of his aged hands in Lloyd's youthful ones, can feel the contrast as he hobbles back to his room.

"I'll be fine from here," Garmadon says, once they've reached the room. "I'm sure the others are waiting for you."

"I'm sorry," Lloyd mumbles.

"Hm? What for?"

Lloyd looks away. "If – if I had known you were down there – I could've done something sooner, and then maybe you wouldn't – you wouldn't be –"

"Lloyd."

Garmadon lowers himself to a sitting position on the bed and pats the spot beside him. Lloyd hesitates, then sits down next to him.

"Lloyd," Garmadon says softly. "You know I don't blame you. You had no way of knowing where I was after I was resurrected. Not even the scholars knew. And I'm certainly not angry at you for resurrecting me."

"But –" Lloyd takes a deep, shuddering breath. "You were down there for so long, and I – I didn't know, I didn't do anything, and – I can't help but think, if I hadn't –"

"Oh, Lloyd…" Garmadon puts an arm around his son's shoulders. "Lloyd… if you hadn't resurrected me, I would've still been there."

Lloyd stiffens. "What – what do you mean?"

"Did you not know? When someone dies in the Cursed Realm – they stay there." Garmadon remembers, his ghost trapped underwater, wailing in agony – he lets that memory go. "You saved me, Lloyd. Don't ever think that you didn't."

"I –" Lloyd is trembling now. "I – I didn't know, I –"

Garmadon hugs him to his chest, and Lloyd breaks down in sobs.

In the ruins of his old monastery, the sensei watches the hands of the clock tick ever closer.

In the lobby of his museum, the director watches the Borg Industries blimp make its slow circles above Ninjago.

High in the sky, a time vortex rips open.

The forty year wait is over.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

I'm not the only one who's bleeding,
Before the past is done repeating.
Gets underneath my skin, it won't die.
This time if I can't win…

The Birthday Massacre – Science

The world crackles, the void splits itself open. Acronix tumbles down and down and lands in the center of the ruins. She doesn't recognize them at first – but there, those are the walls she was just inside, broken and crumbled. She knows time, even without her powers. She knows she must be in the future.

"Right on time."

She looks at the old man sitting with his hat over his face. The voice is familiar, but even knowing she's in the future, the sight of the sensei with the long white beard, the wrinkled skin…

"Sensei Wu?" she says. "You look… old."

"I've had forty years to prepare for this," Wu says. He closes his pocketwatch and stands up. "Where's your brother?"

"We were separated," Acronix says without thinking, then shakes her head and glares. "Why should I tell you?" she snaps, and she drops into a fighting stance. "You may have had forty years to prepare, but your best days have long passed you by, old man."

Wu sighs. "Very well then," he says, raising his staff. "Shall we finish what we've started?"

Acronix reaches for the sword on her back, and they step in slow circles around each other. Acronix growls under her breath.

"You might as well give up, Wu," she says. "I'm the superior fighter, and your brother isn't here to bail you out!"

"No," says Wu. "But neither is yours."

Acronix grits her teeth. "And whose fault is that?"

"You and Krux made the choice to chase the timeblades. Garmadon and I did what we had to do to protect Ninjago."

"And I will do…"

Acronix grasps the sword.

"…what I have to do!"

With those words, Acronix lunges forward.

"Where do you want this one, Misako?" Ronin can't see anything past the box he's carrying as he stumbles forward into the temple.

"Anywhere you can find room," Misako says. "How about here?"

Ronin drops the box in front of her. "Damn," he mutters. "Three hundred boxes all airlifted up to this floating island…" He gives a pointed look to the man sitting on top of a pile of boxes eating chips. "…and you didn't carry a single one of them!"

"Don't be rude, Ronin," Misako chides. "You and Dareth were both a great help."

"I told ya," Dareth says, "I got a bad back. Besides, this unpacking isn't gonna supervise itself."

Misako opens the first box. "Oh!" she says. "This came to the wrong place."

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Ronin says, as Misako takes out Nya's Samurai X helmet. "I carried stuff in that didn't even need to be carried in? You better be paying me for this."

"Misako!"

The three of them turn to the source of the voice. Garmadon is leaning against the doorframe, breathing hard. "I just remembered –" he says, and cuts himself off with a coughing fit.

"Garmadon!" Misako drops the helmet and runs to him. "Are you alright? You should rest, you're not as young as you used to be."

"Misako, I just remembered – where is Lloyd?"

"He went to the museum. He's helping the rest of the ninja clean up after the Day of the Departed. Are you alright?"

"I'm old, not sick," Garmadon says, and he straightens up. "Misako, you must tell the ninja to go to the monastery. It's been forty years. There's unfinished business – Wu is going to need my help, I –"

Misako supports him as he tries to take a step forward. "You're overexerting yourself," she says softly. "Rest. I'll call the ninja."

"Should we go?" Ronin whispers loudly to Dareth. Misako blinks.

"Yes," she calls back. "Thank you for your help, but I'm sure you are both have things to do. The ninja can do the rest of the unpacking."

"Alright!" Dareth jumps down from the boxes. "The BorgWatch reveal is tonight! I gotta get in line!"

"Huh," Ronin says. "I might stop by there, too. Make fun of my free labor, if nothing else." He eyes the Samurai X armor. "Hey, let Nya know that if she's interested in selling that, I can connect her with some interested clients… for a small fee."

He leaves without looking back at Garmadon and Misako.

"Arrogant to the finish," Wu says. "Just like your brother."

"Arrogant?" Acronix picks herself up, balancing on the old beams of the monastery. "No… confident!"

She throws herself at Wu, who kicks and flips her over his head, sending her tumbling to the edge of the ruins. In her struggle to balance on the poles, Acronix drops her sword, and it falls down, down, past the edge of the cliff, into the clouds below.

Wu grabs her cape and yanks her back, keeping her precariously leaning over the ledge. "Do you yield?"

"No!" Acronix says immediately.

The next moment, Wu lets go of her cape, and she's falling forward. A scream leaves her throat just as Wu grabs her cape again.

"I will ask again. Do you yield?"

"I hate you!" Acronix yells.

"Acronix, do you yield?"

Acronix looks down at the abyss below, and the strength starts to leave her.

"I… yield."

Another portal crackles open in the sky.

Lloyd disappears barely half an hour after he arrives, walking outside when his mom calls him. 

"What's up with him?" Jay asks.

"Dunno," Kai says, "but here's the deal: all of us are going to pick a straw. Whoever draws the short straw has to get Morro to return the clothes he stole on the Day of the Departed."

"I can get Skylor to do it," Nya says.

"Sure, but is that any fun? C'mon –"

"I'm going to be seeing him tonight," Zane says. "Borg has asked Pixal to come to the BorgWatch reveal."

"Really?" Kai sighs. "Did I cut up these straws for nothing?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to help clean up?" Cole demands, pushing a wheelbarrow full of mannequin skeletons. "Or are you gonna stand there while me and Jay do all the – gah!"

His hands glow orange, and the wheelbarrow's handles deform under his grip. He drops it, and the mannequins scatter across the floor.

Kai snickers. "Are you still not used to having a solid body? Come on, it's been like, three days since the Day of the Departed!"

Nya frowns. "I mean, that's not much time…"

"It's not my body," Cole says. "It's my hands! They keep doing this glowing thing, and I dunno what it's about."

"Hands are part of your body," Zane comments.

"Whatever! Are you gonna help or not?"

"Indeed, indeed!"

The ninja all jump as Dr. Saunders walks into the room. "The cleaning up will go much faster with more people, no?" he says. "I would like to have it done before tonight; I am a busy man and I have family visiting soon!"

Kai, Zane, and Nya quickly join Cole and Jay in cleaning up. Saunders observes them for a few moments, then walks back to his office.

"You think he's been acting weird lately?" Kai says.

"Nah," says Jay. "Same crotchety old man as usual."

"I don't detect any significant change from his usual mannerisms," Zane says. "He could be stressed about his family visiting."

"I guess," Kai mumbles. Nya shoots him a concerned look.

Lloyd rushes back in. "Guys!" he shouts. "We need to get back to the Bounty! Wu needs our help!"

"What?!" Cole shouts, dropping the wheelbarrow. "Then we need to get –"

"– huh?"

One moment, Morro is sitting in the cafeteria, finishing his food. The next, he's halfway down the hall to Cyrus' room, and he halts midstep, looking around in confusion.

"The hell?" he says out loud. He had intended to come here after he was done eating, but that doesn't explain how he got here.

"Oh my goodness!" Cyrus bursts out of his room, staring at his watch and nearly running over Morro in his haste. "Oh, Morro, you're here – did you feel that?"

"Yes," says Morro. "What was it?"

"A temporal energy fluctuation! The BorgWatch caught it!" Cyrus grins at him. "I could actually trace the burst to its source, if I wasn't already so busy – but still, the possibility, the idea that I could is exciting!"

Morro frowns. "Does this happen often?"

"Oh, no, not at all. It's not unheard of, but certainly not common. And on such a scale! Incredible!"

"Should we tell someone about it?"

"I guarantee you, those in a position to determine if there's a problem have surely noticed. There's nothing to worry about, Morro."

Morro shrugs. "If you say so."

"I do say so!" Cyrus laughs. "Now get in here, I've picked you an outfit for tonight, and – actually, Morro, I'm sorry to say this, but take a shower, your hair is disgusting."

"I took one two days ago!" Morro protests.

"You mean you didn't take one immediately after throwing up on yourself?" Cyrus wrinkles his nose. "Go take a shower. Do that before you put these clothes on."

"But –"

"Now, Morro."

Morro groans. "Maybe it would be better if you were less of a dad, sometimes," he snaps.

Cyrus seems to find this hilarious, judging by him doubled over in his wheelchair laughing. Morro glares at him and storms away.

Acronix finds herself safely away from the ledge, the timeblade in front of her crackling with a familiar energy – she wrenches out of Wu's grip and grabs it, feeling the power course through her. In the rush, she snatches Wu's pocketwatch from him, just to prove she can.

"Looks like I've got my second wind!" she says. "Ready for another round?"

Wu says nothing, just grips his staff and keeps his expression hard. Acronix laughs and charges forward.

The timeblade hits the staff with a crackle. Wu drops back and readies his stance. Acronix strikes again, and is blocked again. She takes a few steps back, eyeing Wu carefully. He doesn't make a move, just waits for her next attack.

He doesn't wait long. Acronix keeps him moving, striking over and over and pushing him back farther and farther – until he acts with a sudden motion, the staff slamming into her chest with a force that has her falling flat on her back.

Wu steps forward as she picks herself off the ground. "Put the timeblade down, Acronix."

"No!"

"It's over," he says. "The people of Ninjago have forgotten you. The twin brothers of time are nothing more than an obscure myth."

She grits her teeth. "Ninjago will know us once more," she says. "And they will know me as Krux's sister, or they won't know me at all!"

She raises the timeblade high and feels the power that was stolen from her course through her once more.

Wu begins the motions to strike.

Acronix appears behind him in the span of a second and slams her elbow into his back, sending him stumbling forward. "Do you remember what Krux and I said, forty years ago?" she says, stepping forward as Wu turns to face her.

"Of course," says Wu. "Control time, control everything."

"That's right!" Acronix brandishes the timeblade. "But we said much more to each other, did you know?"

She skips forward a few beats, and she's beside Wu again – she slams the flat of her timeblade into his side.

The energy crackles, and Wu is sent flying, green energy working its way through his body. Acronix grins.

"You'll be feeling that one for times to come!" she says, walking forward. "I'll call it… a time punch!" Wu struggles to pick himself off the ground – is he still trying to fight? "And it's effects are devastating." 

"I…" Wu has real fear in his eyes. Good. "I made a mistake," he says. "I should've… I should've…"

"You should never have challenged me," Acronix says. "Not forty years ago, and not now! Oh, but don't worry –" She stops just in front of Wu, raising the timeblade. "I can be merciful. Just one more charge, one more time punch, and it'll be over before you even know it!"

Wu narrows his eyes and with a sudden motion, jabs his staff into her gut. For a moment, she's doubled over in pain, and before she can recover she sees the golden energy of his spinjitzu technique.

She lands hard on her back on the other side of the ruins. The timeblade slips out of her grip. Acronix jumps to her feet and reaches for where it's fallen.

She didn't expect Wu to reach her as fast as he does – Acronix barely catches his staff in her hands, and the impact sends pain shooting down her arms. She grimaces and flips him up, over –

– and tumbling down the cliff.

Once she's picked up the timeblade and looked down, Wu is dangling from a branch, flailing for a foothold. Acronix laughs.

"You know," she says, "it was at the foot of the mountain that I finally had the courage to tell my brother who I really was – his sister, and a woman." Her expression hardens. "I don't know where Krux is now, but I will stop at nothing to find him, and reclaim what you and your brother stole from us! So farewell, Sensei – I won't be staying to see you off."

With one last wave, Acronix walks away.

High in the sky, a ship comes into view.

"There's someone down there," Zane says. "It's not Wu, that's for sure."

"Cool," says Jay. "I'm gonna go down and talk to them."

"Dude," says Cole.

Jay is already walking to the anchor and jumping on it, letting it carry him down to the ground. Lloyd rolls his eyes. "Classic Jay," he says. "Let's see what happens."

The rest of the ninja watch as Jay approaches the hooded figure. "I can't hear them," Kai says. "Zane, you've got like, super nindroid hearing, right?"

"In a sense." Zane frowns. "Jay is asking if this person has seen someone of Wu's description."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Nya says from the control room. "What if this is a bad guy?"

Zane keeps an eye on the two figures below them. "They say they haven't seen him, and Jay says…"

"Jay just pulled his nunchucks!" Lloyd says in alarm. "Nya, get us down there!"

"There's not enough room to land!" Nya shouts back.

"It's just one guy!" Cole says. "I'm sure Jay can handle…" He hesitates. "…whoever this is."

Zane's frown deepens. "Pixal, run a scan."

His vision zooms in on the figure, and once he makes out the details, the scan proves unnecessary – he recognizes the outfit from a painting Saunders had shown them in the museum. Pixal merely confirms it.

"Acronix!" he says.

"What?!" Kai yelps. "Like, Acronix and Krux? From that painting?"

"But Dr. Saunders said they were only a myth!" says Cole.

As Zane watches, Jay lunges forward. Acronix raises the timeblade and vanishes.

"We have to get down there," Zane says. "Now!"

While he's still confused, Acronix hits the blue ninja in the back with the flat of the blade – no time punch, not for this. This is just a misguided boy, probably one of Sensei Wu's students. "I have no quarrel with you," she tells him while he's picking himself off the ground. "Stop now, and I'll let you leave in peace."

"Uh, you mean, give up?" The boy stands up and glares at her. "No way!"

Lightning sparks between his hands.

Acronix's eyes widen.

The Serpentine War is over. Acronix and Krux are celebrating with the rest, laughing and sharing drinks. Acronix has found herself at a table with the women – the other woman, she reminds herself, because she's trying to think of herself as a woman, now, even if she hasn't told anyone.

"I told you," Sable is saying as Libber tries to offer her another drink. "I can't have alcohol."

"Aw, c'mon!" Libber whines, leaning on her boyfriend. What was his name? Gordon? "We just won a war, and I'm engaged! We should celebrate!"

Acronix laughs with the rest and takes a drink – and nearly spits it back into her glass when Sable says, "I'm pregnant, Libber."

Sable looks more annoyed than anything else, rolling her eyes as Libber spills the glass on herself. "What?!" she yelps. "Already?! The war like, just ended!"

"It's the first trimester," Sable says. "I wasn't going to announce it until I was further along."

"Who's the dad?" Libber's boyfriend – fiancé – asks. "I, uh, didn't know you were dating anyone…"

"I'm not. The father is a good friend of mine." Sable sighs. "I honestly don't have much of an interest in dating, but I did want to pass down the Element of Shadow to the next generation…"

"That's bullshit," says Libber. "I mean – sorry, what I mean is that having to pass down our powers is bullshit. I'm never having a kid."

Gordon looks down at her with one eyebrow raised. "Never?"

Libber groans and presses her face into his chest. "We've talked about this, babe. I'm not gonna have a kid. We can maybe adopt if you want a kid that bad – but I'm not giving up this spark!"

She sends a jolt of electricity through Gordon, who yelps. Acronix laughs. Even Sable cracks a smile at the sight of Gordon's hair standing on end, and eventually, Gordon laughs with them.

Acronix snaps herself out of it. "I see a lot of things have changed since I was last in Ninjago," she says. "People, places… Elemental Masters…"

"So?" the boy says, this new Master of Lightning. "Whatever! Are you gonna tell us where Wu is?"

How quickly Libber had thrown away their friendship –

"A few seconds ago, I said I had no quarrel with you." Acronix approaches with the timeblade. "I've changed my mind!"

"Watch out, Jay!"

Acronix jumps back as another ninja lands between them, his hands glowing molten orange. The boy – Jay – groans. "Come on, Cole! I had this in the bag!"

"Sure you did," says Cole, rolling his eyes.

More ninja land on the ground, dropping into fighting stances almost immediately. Acronix eyes them, sees how they hold their bodies. More of Wu's students, certainly. Are they all elemental masters?

One of them reveals his element, his hand lighting up with fire. Acronix smirks. "Master of Fire, huh?" she says. "I've fought one of you before!"

The boy falters, his flame sputtering. "You knew my father?"

"Focus, Kai!" The ninja dressed in green steps forward, his hands glowing with… hm. That's definitely some sort of power, but it's not lightning, and it's not any other element Acronix knows of.

She tilts her head. "I haven't fought one of you. What's your power?"

"I'm Lloyd Garmadon, the Green Ninja," he snaps. "And I've taken down way worse than you!"

"The Green Ninja!" Acronix says, remembering a student Wu used to have. "The real one this time?"

His eyes widen and his power flickers. He doesn't respond.

"Enough!" Acronix lays her eyes on the next person to speak, a girl who bears quite a similarity to the new Master of Fire. Acronix thinks back to how close Maya and Ray were. "We get it, you're from forty years ago, you knew our parents and a bunch of other people who were alive back then. All that means is that you don't know what we're capable of!"

"Nya's right," says the final ninja, with a tinny voice and metal skin – is this the Master of Metal? "Come on, everyone!"

"Ninja-GO!" they yell in unison, and they light up with their spinjitzu techniques. Acronix skips forward a few seconds and moves out of their way, watching them tumble into each other and fall in a heap.

"I might not know for certain what you're capable of," she says, "but I think I have a pretty good idea."

"Rude!" Jay says.

Kai stands back up. "So you're fast, huh?" he says, igniting his hand once more. "Faster than… this?!"

He sends a fireball hurling towards her. She sidesteps it and it explodes in the old wood.

"Shit," Kai says.

"Great job!" says Cole.

Acronix cackles and uses her powers to jump to the top of the burning ruins. "Oh, ninja!" she says. "Can you catch me up here?"

Lloyd shakes his head. "Jay, Cole, Kai! We need to take care of Acronix! Nya, Zane – you put out this fire!"

"Affirmative," says the metal ninja, and he joins Nya in suppressing the flames with – oh, is that ice? So he's not the Master of Metal. Huh.

Acronix focuses her attention on Cole, who's the first in joining her on top of the ruins. "You haven't seen everything we're capable of!" he says, and his hands glow orange again. "Take this!"

He leaps forward. Acronix dodges easily and his punch crashes through an old board, where his hand gets stuck.

"How clumsy!" she says. "Are you capable of embarrassing yourself in any other ways?"

"One! Two! Three!"

Jay, Kai, and Lloyd jump up and fire streams of electricity, fire, and green energy at her. Acronix runs out of the way. It's getting hot, she realizes. Her armor is starting to burn her skin.

"Keep him moving, guys!" Lloyd shouts. "He'll have to surrender, or else the flames will get him!"

Acronix flinches at the misgendering and stops running, shielding herself with the timeblade. The elemental powers nearly send her stumbling back when they hit – she grits her teeth and holds her arm steady, watching the timeblade glow brighter and brighter –

"It's gonna blow!" Jay yelps.

– until a shockwave blasts out from it, sending the ninja flying.

After the timeskip, Acronix takes a moment to steady herself on the stairs, then starts walking, leaving the monastery behind.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three

There's only one thing that you can be sure of,
I’ll never leave, or if I do I’ll come back relatively, relatively soon.

Faded Paper Figures – Relatively

The ninja find Wu dangling from a branch above a dizzying drop. Together, they pull him back up to solid ground, and they all take deep breaths.

"The monastery's on fire again," Kai says. "Sorry."

"I heard," says Wu. "Don't worry about it, my student. Thank you for coming to rescue me."

"We wouldn't have known if my dad hadn't told us!" Lloyd says. "You could've died! Why didn't you tell us Acronix was going to show up here?!"

"I promise, I will tell you everything…" Wu stands up and winces. Cole catches him before he falls over. "…later. Let's return to the temple. I need time to recover."

Back at the old Temple of Airjitzu, Nya calls Skylor. Lloyd catches part of the conversation. "Hey, Skylor, I really hate to ask, but I know your dad kept files on a lot of the elemental masters, and we just fought a Master of Time…"

"Is Sensei alright?" Lloyd asks Zane, who's standing beside Wu while Misako gives him tea.

"You can ask me directly, you know." Wu takes a gulp of his tea. "I'm fine, Lloyd, just… tired."

"Sip it!" Misako chides. "Healing tea won't work on a burnt tongue!"

"Are you certain, brother?" Garmadon says, leaning against the wall. He doesn't look happy, Lloyd thinks. "You know what Acronix and Krux were capable of. If he even had just one of his powers…"

"She," Wu corrects.

Lloyd blinks. "What?"

Wu takes another long drink of his tea. "During our fight, Acronix told me that she was Krux's sister, and a woman. If she truly is gone now… I would like to give her that respect."

Garmadon sighs. "I understand," he says, "but don't avoid my question. Acronix regained one of her powers when she fought you. Are you certain you're just tired, Wu?"

"Yes, Garmadon, I am."

Misako gives him a worried look.

Nya walks back into the room. "Skylor says she's never heard of a Master of Time," she says, "but that the museum might have something – but I think we've found all we can at the museum. Saunders thinks the Hands of Time are a myth."

"That's what we let the world believe, yes." Wu sighs. "But no, the Hands of Time were real."

"I thought there could only be one master of each element," Kai says. "What happened there?"

"Originally, there was only one Master of Time, but when she had twins, the element was split between them. So though Acronix and Krux were both Masters of Time, their powers were different." Wu puts his empty mug aside. "Misako, could I…?"

"More tea?" Misako says. "Only if you sip it this time!"

She leaves the room. Wu waits a moment, then continues.

"Once, the Masters of Time were our allies," he says. "They fought with Garmadon and I in the Serpentine War. After the war, however… Acronix and Krux were unsatisfied with their place in the world. They thought their powers were superior, and that they deserved to rule over Ninjago."

"Acronix said she knew our parents," Kai says, nodding at Nya. "Is that true?"

"Yes. Ray, the Master of Fire, and Maya, the Master of Water, were one of the ones to fight against the Hands of Time when they turned against the other elemental masters." Wu takes the refilled mug from Misako and continues. "They fought bravely, but even against so many of the other masters… the power of time was too strong."

"So what happened?" Cole asks. "I mean, you beat them, right?"

Garmadon speaks up. "Wu and I made plans to strip Acronix and Krux of their powers," he says. "We had four blades forged from Chronosteel, the only material that can absorb elemental powers. When they came to the monastery to challenge us for the final time, the timeblades absorbed their powers, and left the Hands of Time as ordinary people, easily restrained by the others."

"Garmadon and I knew the timeblades were too dangerous to keep," says Wu. "We opened a time portal, and sent them inside. But Acronix and Krux thought they were more powerful than time itself." He takes another gulp of tea. "They followed the timeblades, and Acronix was sent forty years into the future – to today."

"So what does this mean?" Nya asks. "If Acronix came back, will Krux come back, too?"

"Doubtful," says Wu. "I knew Acronix would return today. I saw no sign of when Krux would return, or if he ever would. I believe he is lost in time for good."

"But you didn't know the timeblades would reappear, now did you?" Garmadon says. "We need to keep watch. I heard Borg's new technology can track temporal energy – we should ask him to keep a watch for anything of note."

"I mean, it probably doesn't matter," Jay says. "Acronix is kind of super dead now."

Kai looks down at his hands. "Uh, does that make us murderers?"

"We weren't trying to kill her!" Lloyd says immediately. "It's not our fault the timeblade exploded! That's on her!"

"Be respectful," Wu says.

"Seriously?" Jay says. "She tried to kill you! Probably wanted to kill the rest of us, too!" He crosses his arms. "And there's no way that blast didn't kill her – so if Acronix is gone, and Krux is lost, then that's it! No more Hands of Time, no more problem!"

The city is big. Acronix wanders for a long time, garnering many strange looks as she oohs and aahs at the gadgets in the windows. Someone tells her she has a good cosplay. "What's cosplay?" she asks, but the person is already gone.

It takes a while for her to realize she should look for her brother.

It's not an easy realization. The task seems hopeless; Krux could be anywhere – anywhen, even, because Krux had tried to follow the blade with his reversal powers, and Acronix had lost sight of him, and the next thing she knew, she had landed forty years in the future. Where would her brother have landed? Years ago? Years ahead?

Acronix sees a sign for a history museum and decides she should check there for clues.

When she pushes the door open, she hears an oddly pitched voice coming from what appears to be an office. "Sorry to disappoint, but we close early today. Come back tomorrow to –"

An old man with a long gray mustache and spectacles walks out and freezes, staring right at Acronix. Not knowing what to expect, Acronix readies the timeblade, because if this man wants a fight, a fight he's going to get.

"Acronix?" the man says in Krux's voice.

Now it's Acronix's turn to freeze. "Krux?"

The man glances around and rushes past her to lock the doors. "Get in here," he hisses, and he grabs Acronix by her cape and drags her into the office. Acronix is still reeling from hearing her brother's voice in this strange new Ninjago, that she barely comprehends that if this old man is her brother –

The man slams the door, then pauses. "We shouldn't be bothered in here," he says, and he turns to Acronix and takes off his glasses and fake mustache.

Acronix's eyes widen. "Krux!" she says. "You look… old!"

Krux grins, and despite his age, Acronix can tell that it's really him. "It's been a long while, Acronix," he says. "I've been waiting for this moment for forty years."

"I just got here," Acronix says. "Forty years… I…"

Her voice catches. She just saw Krux – the battle was mere hours ago, it seems, and now her brother has aged forty years. She can't help but think of the time they've lost – the time Wu and Garmadon have taken from them. She clenches the timeblade in a hand trembling with rage.

Then Krux pulls her into a hug.

"Yes," he says. "I've been a long time waiting – but it was worth every moment, seeing you now. Remember, I will love you forever, unconditionally, my dear sister."

Acronix smiles and hugs him back. "You remembered," she says.

"I would never forget. That conversation was the last time I spoke to you. I did my best to remember every detail."

Acronix nods into his shoulder, too emotional to speak.

This new future might not feel like home – but anywhere with Krux is home enough for her.

Morro runs a comb through his wet hair while he sits in the office, picking at the collar of the shirt Cyrus chose for him. "Where's Pixal?" he asks, glancing over at his father, who is frowning at his phone.

"She told me she might be late," Cyrus says. "Apparently there was ninja business. She's hoping she can still make it, but it's not certain… ah, well. She told me some of the details, I can relay them if you're interested."

Morro has to think about it for a moment. "Sure," he says. "What happened?"

"Are you familiar with the myth of the Hands of Time?"

"The what?"

"I see. The Hands of Time were twins with the elemental power of time. They were thought to be a myth, but Pixal has informed me that one of them, Acronix, fell out of a time portal, and fought Wu at the old monastery. That must have been what caused the temporal fluctuation, earlier."

He doesn't sound nearly as excited about the temporal fluctuation as he had been. Morro figures it's because he's disappointed Pixal might not show up. Morro doesn't know how to feel about that, himself; Pixal is his sister, now, but they've barely talked. They can't talk without Zane being there, and Morro is pretty sure he knows how the ninja feel about him – willing to allow him to change and become a better person, under the conditions that he does it far away from them.

He shouldn't dwell on that. Morro shakes his head. "I think I've met them," he says. "The Hands of Time. They didn't call themselves that then, but…"

Cyrus looks up. "Met them? When? I mean, ah…"

Morro cracks a smile. "It was after I left Wu, so over fifty years ago," he says. "They lived in some dump of a village. I asked them if they knew where the tomb was. They had no idea, obviously." He puts the comb down and leans back in the chair. "They were… around my age now, so a little older than me, then. The younger one – I mean, they were twins, but one of them seemed younger, I guess – was really excited to meet another elemental master. I dunno, I don't remember them well. Their mother… she asked me if I was a friend of Wu, and when I told her no, she said, 'Good.'"

Their mother was a tall, dark woman, with black hair she kept in small, tight braids. She had reminded Morro of Wu, a little bit, with how stern she was towards her children. He didn't like her, much, and he was quick to leave once it was clear she didn't know where the tomb was.

"So they fought Wu?" he asks.

Cyrus blinks. "Apparently there was a conflict between the Hands of Time and the other elemental masters, after the Serpentine War was over," he says. "They wanted to take over Ninjago, and… well, Pixal didn't tell me everything. They were defeated, and there was something to do with a time portal, and Acronix was transported forty years into the future while Krux was lost in time."

"What happened to Acronix, now?"

"Pixal is under the impression Acronix is not a problem anymore."

Morro thinks about this for a few moments. "Alright," he says. "So why can't she come?"

"She still might come, it's just… Wu was injured during the fight, and is still recovering. The ninja might need her and Zane to stay, for the time being."

"Alright."

They're quiet for a few long moments. Morro yawns. "Is it almost time yet?" he asks.

"Pixal has a few more hours to make her decision, though for us, it might be good to head to the store now, since –" Cyrus cuts himself off. "Morro, why aren't you wearing the shoes I got for you?"

"They hurt my feet."

"You can't wear those sneakers."

"No one's going to look at my feet."

"You should've thrown them out months ago. Why are you still wearing them?"

"They're mine."

"Morro, please. At least put on the new ones."

"Fine." He can tell Cyrus is stressed out, and Morro isn't willing to fight about this. "I'm not throwing these ones out, though."

"That's fine by me." Cyrus looks back down at his phone. "Put them on, then we'll go. Pixal can meet us at the store, if she makes it."

Morro switches shoes, and soon enough, it's time to leave.

"There's no harm in making a digital appearance –"

"I want to be there in person, Zane," Pixal says. "We talked about this."

Zane frowns, facing the wall as he converses with Pixal, the AI taking up most of his vision. "That was before Sensei Wu was injured."

"Wu is recovering just fine. We don't need to be here to –"

"He is not 'just fine,' Pixal," Zane says. "You ran that scan yourself."

Pixal is quiet for a long moment. Zane figures the discussion is over, until Pixal says, "My father is expecting me –"

"As I said, Pixal, you can appear there digitally. It's not like Borg doesn't have the technology, and we don't know what the temporal energy on Sensei is doing to him." Zane shakes his head. "I am not leaving him unless there's an emergency."

"If you tell the others –"

"I don't want them to worry."

"If it's not important enough to tell them, it's not important enough to stay here for."

"Pixal, what has gotten into you?"

Though her expression doesn't change, Zane can feel Pixal's anger pricking at his systems. "What do you mean?" she says, her voice calm.

Zane chooses his words carefully. "Is there something wrong? You're not usually this… argumentative."

It takes some time before Pixal answers, Zane feeling the milliseconds – full seconds, even – ticking away in his systems.

"There is nothing truly wrong," she says. "I want to see my father, and it upsets me that you do not. It feels as if this scan we did on Wu was an excuse for you to stay. Zane, why do you not want to see him?"

"Please don't misunderstand, Pixal," Zane says. "It isn't that I don't want to see Cyrus Borg. it's that I don't want to be around Morro for longer than I need to be."

"Ah," Pixal says, and pauses.

"You understand, don't you, Pixal?"

"Yes, I believe I do." Pixal moves out of his field of vision. "I will make a digital appearance. It is about time I get around on my own, don't you think?"

"I will say, I have felt that you've been confined to my systems for too long. Perhaps you should talk to your father about creating a new body for you."

"Perhaps," says Pixal, and the conversation is over.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four

I'm out of my head, of my heart and my mind,
'Cause you can run but you can't hide.
I'm gonna make you mine.

SIAMÉS – The Wolf

"Incredible! A wall-mounted window for displaying thirty-second dramas!"

The television switches off. "Those 'dramas' are called commercials," Krux says, putting down the remote while his sister shoots a glare at him. "Cynical films playing off consumer's insecurities to convince them to purchase that which they do not need!"

He storms off. Acronix turns back to the blank screen.

"So cool," she says in awe. "I am jealous, brother – you got to experience the last forty years of progress! Look at this!" She walks over to the counter and starts playing with the machines, pressing buttons at random. "Hot beverages at the touch of a button! A beadless abacus! Instant communication! So many wondrous things we couldn't even have conceived of when we were kids!"

"Worthless, all of it!" Krux sighs. "I absolutely despise modern life," he mutters, then looks back at Acronix and raises his voice. "Acronix, put that BorgPad down. It's a vile contraption – everyone, perpetually plugged in, distracted like infants by lights and sounds!"

"I got it at the museum gift shop!" Acronix says brightly.

"You mean you stole it."

"Why do you sell them, if you don't even like them?"

"'Sander Saunders' may be the director, but I still have to answer to the higher-ups." Krux goes back to his work, checking on the tank. "If it makes them money, who cares that it's a plague on society! When we're in charge, I'm going to get rid of all this technology, and return everyone to the old ways – the better ways! We didn't need constant outside stimulation, we didn't need our senses to be bombarded by people trying to make a profit, we didn't…"

He turns back to Acronix and trails off. "Acronix? Are you even listening?!"

"Yes! Smashed all the candy!" Acronix looks up from the BorgPad. "What were you saying, brother?"

Krux sighs and cracks a smile. "It's funny," he says, more to himself than Acronix. "I even missed how annoying you are."

"Hey!"

"No time to argue, sister!" Krux says loudly. "It's almost midnight, and we have work to do."

Pixal's screen is set up in the Borg Store's window; she's communicating through Cyrus' phone at the moment, and they're chatting happily with each other while Morro keeps to the back of the store. He can see the crowd out in front, already lined up, and the windows are clear so he's pretty sure they can see him, too, and his suit is feeling too tight and ill-fitted, even though Cyrus said it was tailored exactly to his measurements…

"Morro? Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Morro says without thinking. Then, "Wait, what?"

Cyrus looks over at him. "It's almost time for the doors to open," he says. "Are you ready?"

"Uh," says Morro, and he starts picking at his suit. Cyrus frowns, rolls his wheelchair forward, and before Morro can react, his father is right in front of him, adjusting his tie.

"You don't have to be so nervous," Cyrus says quietly. "You don't have to speak to the press, or to anyone – all you have to do is stand there."

Morro grumbles wordlessly.

"You'll be fine, I promise." He lets go of Morro's tie and smiles up at him. "I want Ninjago to know how proud of you I am, how far you've progressed since you first arrived in my care. Can you believe it's been almost a year, now?"

"Feels like longer," Morro says.

"It does, sometimes. Then there are times where it feels like no time at all. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Morro takes a deep breath. "Stop being sappy," he says. "Let's get this over with."

Cyrus chuckles. "Alright! Pixal, I think we're all ready!"

When they exit the doors, the crowd cheers. Morro attempts a smile and thinks about waving, but decides not to. He stands next to the screen Pixal displays herself on while Cyrus begins the announcement. Morro barely hears what's being said, all he can think about are all the eyes on him, everyone watching him, judging him – 

When the crowd starts to scream and shove each other in an attempt to run away, it takes Morro longer than he would've liked to notice the armored orange samurai advancing towards them.

Cyrus doesn't seem to notice them at all. "Not quite the reaction I was anticipating," he says, just before Morro grabs his wheelchair and pulls him inside the store. "Ah! Morro, what's –"

"Weird looking guy with a sword," Morro says. "Do the doors lock?"

The samurai smashes through the automatic doors before they've fully opened for them. Cyrus yelps as the samurai cackles and begins to smash the display electronics. Morro moves in front of Cyrus, clenching his fists.

"Morro, no!" Cyrus cries. "We need to get out of here!"

"You go!" Morro yells back. "I'll hold this guy off!"

Pixal's face appears on one of the screens. "I'm calling the ninja," she says. "Morro, don't put yourself in danger."

"I'll be fine," Morro snaps. "It's just one guy. I can take them!"

"Morro –"

Ignoring his sister, Morro runs forward at the samurai, who grabs him effortlessly and throws him through the shattered doors.

The crowd has dispersed, which is good, Morro thinks, picking himself off the ground. No one to see him embarrass himself. Morro stands up and wobbles for a moment. Someone catches him.

"Whoa, dude!" the man says. "You alright?"

Morro shoves him away. "Who are you?" he asks.

"I'm Dareth, the Brown –"

"I don't care," Morro snaps, and he runs back into the store.

The screen Pixal was on has been shattered. The samurai is still smashing the items in the store, using their sword as a bludgeon. Cyrus is stuck in a corner, the samurai between him and the emergency exit. Morro runs forward and tries to tackle the samurai. He hears Cyrus cry out again before Morro is thrown back outside.

He lands on his shoulder and tears his suit. Morro forces himself back to his feet. "You!" he yells at Dareth. "Get help! Do something!"

"Do something?" Dareth says. "Alright, you asked for it. That guy's gonna face the wrath of the Brown Ninja!"

"I said get help –"

Dareth advances towards the samurai, and the only thing Morro can do is follow.

This time, when he lands on the ground, a shard of glass stabs into his palm when he picks himself up again. He hisses and yanks it out, wiping the blood on his nice new pants. This can't go on, Morro thinks. He can't keep letting himself get thrown out of there. He needs to be there to protect his dad.

By the time the ninja get there, he's been thrown at least seven times. Nya helps him to his feet, and he can't find it within himself to complain. His head is spinning and he's having trouble breathing for some reason. Nya asks him what's going on, and all he can say is, "Dad."

"We'll get him out of there," Nya says. "Guys, I think this guy is tougher than we thought."

"Ha!" Kai says. Morro glares at him as he continues. "I can take him, no problem! Here, I'll prove it!"

"Kai!" Nya yells as her brother rushes in. He comes flying out soon afterwards.

Morro would like to gloat, but all he can do is take fast, shaky breaths. His chest is hurting. He can't even keep himself upright, clinging to Nya.

"I think Morro's really hurt!" Nya says.

"Get him away from here, and then come and help us!" Jay yells back behind him, as he and the other ninja run into the store.

"No," Morro says, "I can't – I need to –"

Nya half-drags him to where Dareth is hiding. "Dareth, keep an eye on him," she says. "Don't worry, Morro, we'll get Cyrus Borg out of there. Just stay here, okay?"

He can't argue. He slumps against the wall as Nya runs back to the others. Cyrus will be fine, he tells himself, feeling his chest aching. The ninja haven't lost yet. They certainly didn't lose to him. They'll fight off this samurai and save his father and make sure this never happens again.

Dareth tries to ask him something. Morro opens his mouth to answer, and passes out.

Pixal appears back in his vision the moment Zane bursts through the doors. He nearly trips over himself in his hurry to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Pixal, if I had known –"

"There's no time for this," Pixal says. "Please, Zane, my father needs your help!"

Zane nods, and he turns to the other ninja. "I will get Cyrus Borg to safety," he tells them. "Can you handle the samurai by yourselves?"

"Uh," says Jay.

"Good," says Zane, and he runs forward. Cyrus is boxed in, surrounded by fallen debris, and he's struggling to move his wheelchair over a fallen computer display when Zane reaches him.

"Zane!" Cyrus cries. "Oh, thank goodness – is Pixal –"

"She's right here," Zane says. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Cyrus glances at the samurai. "What about Morro?"

"He's outside. We're getting you out of here."

Zane picks up the wheelchair and Cyrus both and carries him over to the emergency exit – alarms are already blaring, so nothing changes when he kicks the door open. Once outside, he puts him down and pushes him in his wheelchair down the alley.

"Do you know anything about who that samurai is?" Cyrus asks.

"No," Zane says, "but I promise, we'll find out."

"Wait, stop!"

Zane skids to a stop. Cyrus frowns at someone up ahead. "Well," he says, "I didn't expect to see you here…"

"Who?" Zane asks, but just as he tries to get a good look, something slams into his side and his vision shuts down.

Cole punches the samurai and they explode.

"Oh my God!" Jay yelps. "You vaporized them!"

"I didn't mean to!" Cole says in horror.

"Wait," Nya says. "Look!"

Surrounding the fallen armor of the samurai are dozens of orange snakes. The snakes slither towards the armor and twist around each other, stretching up and growing to fill the armor once more. Newly reformed, the samurai grins at the ninja and cackles.

"Okay," Jay says. "Cole, vaporize them again."

"There's more of them!" Kai yelps.

Two more samurai are approaching from either side. Jay, Kai, and Nya adjust their stances and grip their weapons. Cole shakes out his hands and takes a deep breath before clenching them into fists.

"Kinda wish Lloyd was here," Kai says. "Be nice to have more backup!"

"Especially since these guys are, like, invincible," Jay adds.

"I don't think so," Nya says, and a blast of water scatters one of the samurai into their individual snakes. "Look – I think they need the armor to reform! If we can get them away…"

"I'm on it!" Jay sends a current of electricity through the puddle of water the snakes are swimming in. They hiss and scatter in all directions, most of them following the stream into the sewers. They repeat the maneuver for the other two, while Kai and Cole snatch up the pieces of armor before the snakes can get to it. The street now clear, they do a quick scan of the area before going back inside.

"I think that's all of them," Kai says. "Let's check on Zane."

The emergency exit is still agar; they step through it and walk down the alley. Kai cups his hands to his mouth. "Hey, Zane, you can come out now! We took care of the samurai!"

"It was mostly me and Nya," Jay says.

"Hang on, guys." Cole bends down and picks a shattered BorgWatch off the ground. "This was Cyrus Borg's, right? Do you think someone followed them down here?"

"Zane!"

The three of them turn towards Nya's cry. "Oh no," Jay whimpers, seeing the fallen figure Nya's crouched over. "Oh no, oh no –"

"We've got to get him back to the bounty!" Kai yells. "Come on, guys!"

When the rush ends, Cyrus finds himself in the museum with all the lights off and the doors closed. He cries out, only for a hand to clap over his mouth.

"Sorry," the voice behind him says, pushing his wheelchair down the hall. "You'll be fine, just one second…"

Cyrus tries to object, but his kidnapper's hand is clamped so firmly over his mouth, all his cries are muffled.

"Which one was it… there!" A level is pulled, and a piece of the wall twists out, revealing a hidden entrance. Cyrus is wheeled inside, and the door closes, leaving them in darkness.

"Shit," the person says. "Wait here."

The hand is removed. Cyrus realizes he's gasping for breath, his heart pounding – he puts his hands on his wheels, but where is he going to go?

The lights click on.

"Here we go!" the person turns around and grins at him. "Should I introduce myself? Or do you know who I am?"

"Acronix?!" Cyrus blurts out – because that's the only person she could be, with the same elaborate armor depicted in the painting behind her. He backs up and bumps into the wall behind him.

"That's right!" Acronix says. "Sorry about the circumstances of our meeting, but I'm sure things will improve from here on out."

"You kidnapped me!" Cyrus exclaims.

Acronix has the audacity to look apologetic. "Well, you wouldn't have worked with us willingly, so we had to – oh!"

Two creatures, same as the one who destroyed the Borg Store, walk out of the next room. "Okay," Acronix says, turning to them. "You're the Vermillion Warriors – you're supposed to listen to me, right? Can you show Mr. Borg to his quarters?"

The Vermillion Warriors stand there and do nothing. Acronix frowns. "Can you… please show Mr. Borg to his quarters?" she says.

After another long moment, they move. Cyrus tries to maneuver past them, but they grab his arms and pull him off his wheelchair. "That is not what I asked you do to!" Acronix says, raising her voice over Cyrus' screams. "Please bring Mr. Borg back to his wheelchair, and –"

"Acronix!"

They stop, holding Cyrus up between them. The door flips open again, and Cyrus recognizes the man who comes storming in.

"Krux!" Acronix says, further baffling Cyrus, because that's not Sander Saunders' name. "Can you tell these snake people to treat Mr. Borg a little more gently? They're not listening to me!"

"Just a moment, dear sister." Saunders motions to the Vermillion Warriors. "Restrain him, do not harm him, but make sure he doesn't make any noise. We'll bring him to our base later. I need to deal with the ninja."

"And don't be so rough!" Acronix yells out as the Vermillion Warriors drag Cyrus out of the room.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five

Ain't even scratched the surface,
Thinking I deserve the dream but I don't deserve the hurting.
I want the flame without the burning,
But I can't find my purpose when I don't know what my worth is.
American Authors – Deep Water

The soft clink against the rock doesn't register at first, but when he takes his head out of the trash, there's a plate of food resting a few feet away. He moves towards it, then freezes.

The man from the monastery is watching him.

People don't leave food out for kids like him. He's always had to take it when they're not looking. But the man isn't moving, standing just inside the gate. He looks back at the food and takes a step closer. Then another. Then he runs up and grabs the plate, scurrying away again before he's caught.

He looks back with his mouth full of shrimp. The man has moved, has stepped outside the gate, and is still watching him. He swallows the food, clutches the plate in trembling hands, and manages a smile.

The man speaks:

"Child, what's your name?"

What is his name? He doesn't want to be named after his mother anymore. He told the kids who showed him where to find food that his name was Zephyr, but that doesn't feel right, either. He looks down at the empty plate. "Um…"

The man waits for him to continue. He looks up at him, tries again.

"Morro," he says.

"Morro," the man repeats. "Morro, do you have a place to sleep?"

"Yes," he says, because the fenced-off yard with the barrels collecting rainwater is a place.

The man takes a deep breath. "It worries me, seeing a child on their own. If you are ever in danger, I can give you a place to stay."

Morro shrinks under the man's gaze and darts away, back down the mountain. He realizes halfway down the stone steps that he's still holding the plate, but it's too late to go back.

In the fenced-off yard, he knocks over a stack of boards and gets chased off. He wraps his arms around himself and shivers, looking up at the mountain, and thinks of the man from the monastery. The night is cold and rainy, but he's not really in danger…  but maybe there'll be more food tomorrow morning.

Wu finds Morro curled up outside the gate, shivering uncontrollably and drifting in and out of consciousness. When he's picked up, he wakes enough to struggle, pushing at the man's chest in a feeble attempt to get down. Wu whispers something to soothe him, the words half-forgotten, and carries the boy inside.

Morro wakes up in a bed that's not his own. His body feels weighed down by sleep, and he has to force himself to sit up. Immediately, a hand is placed on his chest, gently pushing him down to the bed again.

"Easy, kid. You took a beating back there."

Morro blinks. "Ronin?

"Yeah," Ronin says, sitting on the chair next to him. "Apparently I'm listed as one of your emergency contacts, which, honestly? Can't be your smartest decision." He chuckles. "But seriously, stay in bed. Don't push yourself just yet."

Morro nods. "Where's Dad – I mean, Borg?"

Ronin winces. Anxiety flares up in Morro's chest. "Where is he?" he demands. "The ninja – they got him out, right?!"

"I told you to call someone as soon as he woke up!"

A short woman in a doctor's outfit storms into the room. Ronin immediately turns to her. "Chill, he woke up like, a minute ago."

"Who are you?" Morro says.

The woman sits next to the bed, in a chair opposite from Ronin. "My name is Dr. Tesser. The results of your echocardiogram just came back, and –"

"My what?" Morro tries to sit up again. Ronin stops him. "Have you been doing experiments on me?

"No. We're a hospital, we've been taking care of you."

"Where's my dad?!"

Tesser glances at Ronin. "I need you to calm down, first," she says.

"No!" Morro shoves Ronin's hand away. "I want my dad! Tell me where he is!"

"Kid –" Ronin starts. Morro tries to punch him.

Tesser grabs his arm. "You need to calm down and listen to me," she says sternly. "Because you have a serious condition that will kill you if you don't treat it."

That catches Morro off guard. "What do you mean?" he says. "I've – I've never had a problem like this before!"

Wait, that's not right – Morro remembers training under Wu, pain in his chest, unable to catch his breath, the world going dark. "I mean, it's happened before," he says. "But – it stopped, after…"

After he drank the tea that cured all physical ailments, the tea that condemned him to the Cursed Realm – and it happened again, the night after he dispelled the curse. Morro sits there with his mouth open.

Tesser fixes Morro with a serious gaze. "The tests we ran found you have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy," she says, "and I would like you to listen to me explain what that means, because I'm serious when I say it will kill you."

Morro sucks in air through his teeth. "Fine," he mutters. "What is it?"

As Tesser explains, Morro keeps thinking back to the days when he lived with Wu, over fifty years ago. When he fainted from overexertion back then, Wu thought it was a problem with his lungs, and took him to a number of doctors who found nothing wrong – but from what he's hearing now, every time Morro passed out back then, there was a chance he would have never woken up.

"Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is when a portion of your heart is thicker than it should be," Tesser says. "Your sonogram showed that this is the case. It's likely that this is genetic; do you know anything about your biological family? If there's a history of heart problems, or sudden, unexpected deaths…"

"I don't know," Morro says. "I ran away when I was… six years old? I don't even remember my parent's names."

"Well, it doesn't make much of a difference. The treatment for what we found is the same." Tesser takes a deep breath. "Now, you can stay in the hospital for as long as you need to. Don't think you need to rush home right away…"

"Why shouldn't I?" Morro says. "It's not like I want to be stuck in here. When can my – when can Borg pick me up?"

Again, Ronin winces. "Kid," he says, "there's something I gotta tell you. Borg went missing."

Morro blinks.

"What?" he says.

Tesser opens her mouth, then hesitates. "I only saw what was on the news," she says. "I imagine your friend would know more…"

"I was there when you passed out," Ronin says. "I mean, I didn't plan to be there, I just…" He sighs. "Dareth had already called the ambulance, so all I had to do was make sure you stayed okay until then."

"What happened?" Morro says. "Where's my dad?"

"We don't know, kid. Zane got him out of there, and then after the ninja fought those weird samurai, they tried to find him… and only found Zane, who was knocked offline."

He can't process this. Morro hears Ronin and thinks – well, he'll leave the hospital and Cyrus Borg will be there to pick him up, like he always is. He'll go home and sleep and wake up to have breakfast and everything will be fine."

"What – what –" Morro doesn't know why he's stammering. "What does Pixal think? She –"

"She hasn't shown up since before they found Zane," Ronin says. "Probably she's offline like Zane is. Last I heard, all his data's fine, so there's no reason Pixal's not fine, too, Zane's just… not booting up."

"Okay," Morro says. "That's fine. I just… I just…"

He bursts into tears. Numbly, he thinks about how embarrassing this is, crying in front of Ronin and a doctor he doesn't know. Why is he acting like this? He covers his face with his arm and tries not to sob too loud.

The rest of the stay goes by in a blur. Tesser explains his treatment to him. Or maybe some nurse does? It's hard to remember. His phone was smashed during the fight, and he doesn't know Skylor's number. The hospital calls Cyrus' secretary, who offers to drive Morro back to the tower – but it's starting to sink in that Cyrus won't be there, and Morro can't do it. He can't face going back to the tower and knowing there are hundreds of people in it and none of them are Cyrus Borg.

After he's discharged from the hospital, Morro takes a change of clothes and drives with Ronin to the pawn shop.

"You mind if I ask what the hell happened?" Ronin asks as they pull out of the parking lot. "How long has this been going on?"

"Since I was a kid," Morro says. "When I was training with Sensei – with Wu, I would pass out like that."

"Seriously? Is that what killed you the first time?"

Morro groans. "No, it wasn't. I thought – I thought I had fixed it, but…"

The old shopkeeper told him the tea would cure anything that caused him pain, make him stronger, give him more stamina, make him capable of finding the tomb – but that it came with a price. When he died, his soul would fall into the arms of the Preeminent, trapped in the Cursed Realm for eternity. Morro was young and full of anger. The price didn't seem too high to pay.

"Fixed it how?"

"Why do you care?" he says. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"The hell do you mean, it doesn't matter?" Ronin exclaims. "Not only do you have a heart condition that might kill you, you told me your curse wasn't lifted – if you die from doing some stupid shit, you'll go to the Cursed Realm! Damn, kid, sorry for being worried about your stupid ass."

Morro looks up at him and blinks.

"I'm not cursed anymore," he says. "So even if I die –"

Ronin makes a sudden move with the car and nearly swerves into the guardrail. Morro's words catch in his throat and he grabs the door.

"What the hell?" he sputters. "What was that?"

They pull into a parking lot. Ronin puts his head on the wheel and takes a few breaths before he turns to Morro.

"You're not cursed anymore," he says. "Is that even possible? I mean, without dealing with – well, you know."

"The same tea that fixed my heart cursed my soul," Morro says slowly. "Before – before the stupid midnight reveal, my dad and I… we found a spell to reverse the effects. I thought it would just lift my curse, but I guess it reversed everything else, too. What's going on?"

"Are you sure? Here, let me check –"

Morro pushes Ronin's hands away. "Hey! I can do it myself, look –"

He places his owns hands to his chest and repeats the incantation, over and over. He thinks of Cyrus smiling down at him, so happy after they had finally accomplished the goal that they'd been working towards for months, the whole reason Cyrus had learned magic. Morro had felt like nothing bad could happen ever again, and that very night –

His chest glows pink.

Ronin gapes at him. Morro frowns. "Why are you acting like this?" he says. "I thought you'd at least be happy for me."

"How the hell do you not know?"

"What?"

It takes him a moment to figure it out. Ronin puts his hands to his own chest and says the spell. Morro realizes why he's doing it before the spell is completed, before the color of his soul shines through.

"No," he says, watching Ronin's chest glow green. "No, no, no –"

Ronin cracks a smile. "Seriously, kid, how'd you not know this? Thought you were buddy-buddy with Soul Archer back then."

"I had no idea, I –" Morro's voice catches. "– no, no, there's got to be a way to fix this –"

"Uh, yeah, there is. You just told me your curse was lifted."

"My curse was lifted by reversing the effects of the potion I took that cursed it in the first place," Morro says. "It was – it was specific to me, and to people who were cursed like I was. How were you cursed?"

Ronin's smile disappears. "Well, first I lost a bet, then I found out I had bet against a ghost, and then he stabbed me with an arrow, 'cept it didn't leave a wound. Then the bar kicked me out for causing a disturbance."

"Then the potion won't work for you. Oh, God –" The car seems much smaller than it was just a few moments ago. Morro sucks in fast breaths. "We need to fix this. I – I need to fix this, I –"

Ronin puts a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, kid. Look, I've been fine so far. I look both ways before crossing the street, it's fine, kid –"

"It's not fine!" Morro shoves his hand away. "I can't sit here and do nothing! You're my friend! I don't want you to go to the Cursed Realm when you die!"

"If I die," Ronin says. "I might not."

"Everyone dies, Ronin!" Morro yells.

"You're hyperventilating." Ronin sighs. "We don't have to talk about this right now. I'm not dying anytime soon, alright? We've got time to figure out my problem."

"But –"

"Look, kid, I've been fine for this long," Ronin says. "What I'm worried about is that tea you drank. If all the effects were reversed, what other conditions are gonna try to kill you?"

"Nothing," Morro mutters. "It's not like…"

He trails off. Other things had changed after the tea, subtle corrections of the parts of his body that had been wrong. His voice deepened. His chest shrank. The changes hadn't gone as far as to give him facial hair, but Morro hadn't felt that dysphoric over not needing to shave.

Is all that going to go away?

"Not like what, kid?"

"I said, nothing," Morro snaps. He can feel tears threatening again, and he crosses his arms over his chest and slumps against the window. Ronin frowns, but pulls onto the road and doesn't press the issue.

Morro spends the night crying on Ronin's couch.

The next morning, he wakes up to Ronin running the coffee grinder. "Your meds are on the table, kid," he says when Morro sits up. "How're you feeling?"

He should say something about Ronin's curse, they should start working on getting it lifted as soon as they can. Instead, what Morro says is, "What if my dad's dead? What if whoever got him – what if they kill him?"

"Borg's been through a lot," Ronin says casually. "Hasn't killed him yet. He's probably keeping himself busy worrying about you."

Morro pulls the blanket over his head.

"Seriously, kid, take your meds. You've got a pretty serious condition."

"I wanna die," Morro mumbles.

"And what would your dad say about that?"

"If he was here, he could tell me," he snaps. "But he's not."

"So he'll tell you when he's back. Come have some coffee."

Morro gets up and takes the offered mug. "Can I have water?" he asks.

"What, instead of coffee?"

"No, for my pills."

"Take 'em with coffee."

Morro makes a face at him.

"Yeah, I'll get you water."

He takes his pills, drinks his coffee, eats a half bowl of dry cereal, and crawls back under the blanket. All he can think of is Cyrus Borg, trapped somewhere – is his kidnapper giving him food? Have they locked him in a dark room, without his wheelchair, with no food or water? Do they let him use the bathroom?

His thoughts grow darker and darker as his imagination wanders. There were living prisoners in the Cursed Realm. They didn't last long; the ghosts chained them up and left them to slowly die of thirst. He remembers them begging for water, their voices dry and rasping – except his memories change, and it's his father in those chains, Cyrus Borg who is pleading for something to drink, or at least a merciful death –

The blanket gets pulled off him. "C'mon, kid," Ronin says. "Time to open up shop. You can't mope around forever; it'll do you good to keep busy."

Morro curls up and sobs. "What if he dies?" he chokes out. "What if I never see him again? What if nothing good for me ever lasts?"

Ronin sighs and crouches down next to him. "Listen, kid," he says. "Those are some pretty big 'what ifs.' Sure, maybe they'll be true – but you don't know that. The ninja are on the case, and they haven't lost yet. And y'know what?"

"What?"

"There's nothing you can do about it but wait, 'cause you've got a heart condition, and I'm sure as hell not gonna be the one to tell Cyrus Borg his son's dead."

Morro turns away and buries his face in a pillow.

Ronin sighs. "Stay here for as long as you need to, kid. I've got to get to work. You're welcome to join me whenever you feel up to it."

He stands up and leaves. Morro thinks about trying to smother himself with the pillows. He doesn't.

Chapter Text

Chapter Six

There's a room where the light won't find you.
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down.
When they do, I'll be right behind you…

Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World

"Thanks for coming with me, Skylor," Kai says as the two walk into the museum. "I know it's short notice…"

He trails off, looking at the helmet he's carrying. Skylor smiles. "Don't worry about it. This whole situation is kind of a mess."

Kai nods. "You been in touch with Morro at all? Not that I, like, give a shit about him, but I haven't heard anything since he got taken to the hospital."

"He's staying with Ronin." The museum is empty; it's past closing time, after all. Kai and Skylor's steps echo through the halls. "I haven't really talked to either of them – my fault, I got distracted trying to look up information on the Masters of Time…"

"Shit," says Krux.

He steps away from the binoculars and picks up his disguise. Of course they'd come to him, the history professor, to see what they could discover. He motions to the Vermillion and they step back, deeper into the office.

Acronix moves up to him while he's putting on the disguise. "I can get them out of here," she says. "Krux, if you let me –"

"No," he says firmly. "We're not blowing my cover just yet – it would be beneficial to have the resources granted by this position for a few days longer."

Acronix grips the timeblade. Krux can hear the buzz of her power flowing through it. "But –"

"Let me handle them, Acronix. Stay here."

Kai and Skylor haven't reached the hall with the secret entrance yet; Krux steps out and makes sure the entrance is closed tight before clearing his throat. "Hello?" he says in Sander Saunder's fake accent. "The museum is closed, so if you could come back tomorrow…"

"Oh!" Kai takes a few running steps to reach the room. "Sorry, Dr. Saunders, but this is important. I mean, you've probably heard the news –"

"Oh, yes, yes." Krux nods. "Strange samurai attacked the BorgWatch reveal just the other day, and Mr. Borg himself is now missing."

"Yeah." Skylor caught up to Kai and smiled. "Hey, Saunders, I don't think we've met before. I'm Skylor."

Krux beams at her. "It's very nice to meet you, Skylor – would you like to sit down? Have some tea?"

"No time," Kai says. "Saunders, we need any information you might have on this armor."

He thrusts the helmet forward. Krux takes it gingerly, turning it over in his hands as if he doesn't know where it came from.

"Ah," he says. "I'm afraid I'm not sure… it doesn't look to be of any historical significance. Not from a time period I'm familiar with."

"Does that mean it was made recently?" Skylor asks.

"Oh no, not necessarily – just that it wasn't, ah, noteworthy."

"But it is!" Kai insists. "Those weird samurai? They were a bunch of snakes, and the armor, like gives them power or something! Makes them act like one person!"

Krux shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing special about this helmet," he says, and he hands it back.

Skylor frowns. "Maybe it's not the armor that's special," she says. "Maybe it's the snakes. Kai, what if it could be any old armor, and it just happened to be this one?"

She's exactly right, but Krux isn't about to tell her that. "Seems like you have a lot to think about," he says. "I wish I could help you more, but unfortunately –"

"Maybe you can," Kai says. "You know that myth you told us about? The Hands of Time?"

Shit, Krux thinks. "Hm? When did I tell you that? My memory's not very good, now that I'm old…"

"When we were cleaning the museum." Kai nods to Skylor. "We found that old painting, and you said they were a myth, but just a few hours ago, we fought one of them! Acronix!"

Keep up the act. "Really!" Krux says. "Fascinating! I had no idea!"

Skylor raises an eyebrow. "Really? I mean, you're a historian – isn't this stuff your job?"

He's done this for decades. He's not going to slip up now. "Oh, there's all sorts of unexplained mysteries in Ninjago. I'm not surprised there are things even I don't know."

Kai laughs. "Are you calling Saunders bad at his job, Skylor?"

Her face flushes. "Sorry, yeah, that was rude of me."

Krux breathes deep. "Is there anything more you'd like to ask from me?" he says.

"I mean, you had the painting," Kai says. "Is there anything you might know about them, even if you thought they were a myth?"

"Hm…" Krux frowns. "I'm afraid I'm not sure… all the myths said was that the Hands of Time had the shared powers of time, and that they fought the other elemental masters a few decades ago. I don't know what happened after that – if they existed, they must have… disappeared!"

"Acronix did," Kai says. "She went in a time portal and didn't emerge until right before Cyrus Borg was kidnapped. I mean, I'm pretty sure she died when the timeblade exploded –"

Krux barely manages to keep his face straight.

"– but it's a weird coincidence!" He sighs. "It's alright, though. Come on, Skylor, let's go."

Krux walks them to the door. "Take care now!" he says with as much false cheeriness as he can muster. "Good luck on keeping Ninjago safe and… whatever else you do! Goodbye!"

His fake mustache gets caught in the sliding glass doors and is torn off.

Kai slides the door open again before he can replace it. "Actually," he says, "I think we have a few more questions, Saunders. Like, why are you wearing a disguise?"

"And," Skylor says, holding up her phone, "why did Nya just tell me she spotted you and Acronix in Zane's recovered video files?"

Krux tries to laugh it off while keeping his face covered. "Ha ha, I don't know what you're talking about."

Kai's eyes narrow, and he advances towards Krux, who backs up deeper into the museum. "Acronix didn't die," Kai says, "and she went straight to you, and you're wearing a disguise… Sander Saunders isn't your real name, is it, Krux?"

"You're more perceptive than I thought," Krux says, and he drops the disguise and grabs a sword off the museum display. Kai barely manages to draw his own sword in time to block him.

"Kai!" Skylor yells, and her own hands light up with flame. "Be careful! If Acronix is here –"

Krux feels the hum of energy as Acronix materializes in front of Skylor, blocking her from coming closer. "What about me?" she says, brandishing the timeblade. "You're the Master of Amber, right?"

Skylor glares at her. "My father didn't keep any files on you two," she says, dropping into a fighting stance. "I wonder why?"

Acronix tilts her head. "Who was your father?"

"Master Chen."

"Chen?!" Acronix makes a strangled noise. "The Master of Amber had a child with him? But he's… terrible!"

"I am aware," Skylor says.

While Acronix and Skylor trade blows, Krux is acutely feeling his age in his own fight. The display sword is much too heavy to fight with well, and his joints are aching. He can't move as fast as he used to, and certainly not as fast as Kai can.

He has to think of something fast.

"You fight well," he says, blocking another blow. "Your parents would be proud!"

Kai glares at him. "Yeah, yeah, we get it, you knew my parents forty years ago –"

"Yes, yes. They fought alongside us in the Serpentine War." Krux backs up and grins. "But I knew them much more recently than that!"

Kai hesitates. "You mean when they fought you and Acronix when you tried to take over Ninjago?" he says. He doesn't attack, not immediately.

"Oh, Wu really doesn't tell his students anything, does he?" Krux keeps his distance from Kai as he takes slow steps around him. "Maya and Ray may have fought against us at first, but Wu doesn't know the full story. After Acronix went into the portal, let's just say they… reconsidered."

Kai's eyes widen. "No," he says. "No, you're lying, they wouldn't –"

Krux laughs. "Your parents were traitors, Kai!" he says. "Didn't you wonder who made that armor you're holding? It's been quite a boon having the blacksmiths on our side –"

"You're lying!" Kai yells, drawing the attention of Skylor. In the moment she's distracted, Acronix strikes with the timeblade. The crackle of energy ripples out through the room, causing Kai and Krux to stumble.

In the center of the room, Skylor and Acronix are frozen, and Skylor has one hand on the timeblade.

Krux's stomach lurches.

"Shit!" he exclaims. "Acronix –"

They break apart. Skylor cradles her bleeding hand and takes a few deep breaths. Acronix looks back at Krux. "What?" she says.

Skylor straightens up and smirks. "Thanks," she says, and snaps her fingers.

In a burst of green energy, Skylor appears behind Acronix and sweeps her legs out from underneath her. While Acronix picks herself up, Skylor grabs her arm and tries to wrench the timeblade away from her.

"She's the Master of Amber!" Krux yells. "She can copy elemental powers! You've just given her one of the powers of time, Acronix!"

Acronix keeps a grip on the timeblade and shoves Skylor away. "Let's retreat," she says.

"Wait –"

Acronix appears beside him, grabs his arm, and they both disappear.

Skylor frowns at the blood on her hand. "Not a deep cut," she says to Kai, who's still staring at where Krux was. "It'll heal. Are you okay?"

"We need to follow them," Kai says, and he takes off at a run.

Skylor uses the element of speed to block his way before he gets far. "We need to tell the others what happened," she says. "We don't know where they went – they're probably far away by now!"

Kai grits his teeth. "But –"

"I know, Kai." Skylor sighs. "But Nya's already called the police, and they'll be able to search the museum for evidence. Let's go out and wait for them. They'll want to get a statement from us."

She can see Kai's shoulders shaking. "He knows something about my parents," he says. "I need to know what! I barely remember them, and now –"

Skylor puts a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find out," she says. "I promise."

While the police search the museum, Skylor calls Morro.

He picks up almost instantaneously. "Skylor? What is it?"

"We found out who kidnapped Borg."

She hears Morro move on the other end. "What? Who was it? Where is he?"

"Acronix and Krux. Just fought them both. They got away, but –"

"They got away?" Morro yells. Skylor winces and holds the phone away from her head. "Where are you?! I'll find them, I –"

"Calm down, Morro!" Skylor glances over at Kai – oh, Nya's with him, now. "Look, the ninja are on the case, and now I am, too. I promise, we'll get your dad back."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing!" says Skylor, maybe a little too forcefully. "You have a heart condition! I know it's hard, Morro, but you need to stay safe, alright? You can't fight anymore."

For a few moments, Morro says nothing. Then he hangs up.

Skylor thinks about calling him back, but Nya is waving her over, so she slips her phone in her pocket and walks quickly towards her. She'll check in with Morro later – and she'll do everything she can to rescue Cyrus Borg.

Lloyd isn't happy to hear the news. "I should've been there," he grumbles, pacing back and forth in front of Wu, Misako, and Garmadon. "First Cyrus Borg gets kidnapped, and now Acronix and Krux are back!"

"You aren't expected to be everywhere, Lloyd," Misako says gently. "You made the best decision based on the information you had at the time."

"Still!" Lloyd shakes his head. "I should've been at the museum, I should've been at the Borgwatch reveal, and I should've been at the monastery in the first place!"

"That wasn't your fault," Garmadon says, from where he sits beside Wu. "It was my brother's choice to face Acronix alone."

"And it's a choice I regret." Wu shifts his position in the bed. "I'm sorry, Lloyd. Had I told you, maybe…"

He trails off. Lloyd stops pacing. "Maybe what?" he asks.

Garmadon frowns. "Yes, brother, maybe what?"

Wu closes his eyes. For a moment, Garmadon thinks he's fallen asleep again, but no – he's just pretending. He's about to say something when Lloyd sighs.

"I'm going outside," he says. "My cell reception's acting up, and I want to call Kai. I'll be back in a bit."

Once Lloyd is gone, Wu opens his eyes again. "Garmadon," he says, "Misako, I… I need to tell you something."

Garmadon nods and says nothing. No judgement, not before he knows what's so bad it can't be said in front of Lloyd.

"When Acronix and I fought," Wu says, "after the timeblade fell, she… used her powers on me. My body is rapidly aging. I…" His voice shakes. "I am dying."

Misako gasps. Garmadon, still, says nothing.

"I don't know how long I have left," Wu continues. "But… the ninja have enough to worry about. I only hope I can last until the Hands of Time are dealt with."

"I understand, brother," Garmadon says. "If that's what you wish… I will not tell my son."

Wu's eyes fall on him. "Garmadon, if I may… I have a request."

A final request, Garmadon thinks. "Anything."

Wu looks away. "I wish to speak to Morro," he says. "I… I can't die knowing he hates me. He was my student for so long. He was my son for so long… and I failed him. I must make it right between us. I owe him that."

Garmadon hesitates for a long moment. "I can't promise it will go the way you want," he finally says, "but I will bring him here, and if nothing else, you may say your goodbyes."

"Thank you, brother," Wu says, and he closes his eyes again. By the time Lloyd comes back, he's drifted into sleep.

"Kid, where are you going?"

Morro looks back with one hand on the doorknob. "Out," he says.

Ronin raises an eyebrow. "Really? A couple hours ago, you were too depressed to move, and now you're going out?"

"I'm coping."

"Kid, your coping mechanisms are elaborate revenge schemes, hurting a bunch of people, and literally dying."

Running isn't a good idea, Morro thinks. He'd risk overexerting himself. Then again, the doctor had said some exercise was fine, recommended, even, so maybe…

"Skylor called me," he says instead. "She wants to meet up."

"Any reason she can't meet up here?"

"'Cause you're an asshole," Morro says, and he pushes the door open. "Bye."

Just as he steps outside, he hesitates. Yesterday, Ronin's cursed soul had seemed like the most urgent problem facing him, but now, all Morro can think of is his dad. "Sorry," he says. "I'll be back in a bit. Tonight, maybe."

Ronin snorts. "Sure, sure. You stay safe, kid."

"You too," says Morro, the words awkward in his mouth.

He closes the door and stands there, looking around. It's the end of fall, and his breath is fogging in the air. Morro swallows hard and wraps his arms around himself before trudging down the street.

He's not going back to the pawn shop tonight.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven

circling round heavenward bound,
a hundred and forty four thousand
this flesh isn’t right, the fit is too tight
this can’t be our permanent housing

Amanda Palmer & Jason Webley – House of Eternal Return

"The Vermillion are, ah, helping the builders get settled in," Acronix says, walking into the cramped room. "I haven't heard from the two you put in charge, Krux, but – whoa!"

She ducks a thrown chunk of metal and it hits the wall behind her with a BANG. "That almost hit me!" she exclaims. "You have some arm, Cyrus Borg!"

"I damn well do!" Cyrus glares at her and slams his fist on the table, rattling the objects on top of it. "I demand you release me! If you don't –"

"We will release you once you build the machine!" Krux glares right back, having dropped the persona Cyrus previously knew him as. "You have your materials –"

Without the goofy accent, the man who called himself Sander Saunders is much more intimidating, but Cyrus bites back his fear. "What, this?" he says, gesturing to the assortment of metal around him. "Garbage, all of it!"

"You have your tools –"

"Useless, primitive objects!" Cyrus picks up what might be a wrench and goes to throw it. Krux grabs his wrist to stop him, and the physical contact is enough to make him go stiff.

"They are perfectly functional," Krux snarls. "The longer you put up a fight, the longer we have to keep you here, remember? You have that family you created for yourself, don't you?"

Cyrus grits his teeth and pulls his arm away. "I don't appreciate your tone, Saunders."

"I told you, my name is Krux!"

"That certainly wasn't what you told me some, what, fifteen years prior?"

"You know each other?" Acronix says, and she gives them a shaky smile. "That's great! Where did you meet?"

Cyrus stares at her with his mouth hanging open, and her smile falters. Krux rolls his eyes. "He was one of my students during my time as a professor, that's all."

"You were awful," Cyrus says. "And you still are! You kidnapped me!"

"We've already established that." Krux stands up and turns away. "Acronix, keep an eye on him. I'm going to fetch the generals."

He leaves the room. Cyrus' heart pounds like it's going to burst out of his chest. He takes a few deep breaths and tries to calm himself, suppressing the fear that threatens to overwhelm him. He hasn't been harmed – yet – and he knows the ninja will come to rescue him. He just has to hold out until then.

Acronix coughs.

"So," she says, "you're, uh… an inventor, right?"

Cyrus swallows hard. "You could say that," he says carefully. "I'm sure Saunders told you all about me." And not in a flattering way, he thinks, recalling a number of comments by the man back in college that ultimately got him fired.

"No, actually," says Acronix. "I know you're in charge of Borg Industries, but it's difficult to grasp what that is. This future…" She waves her hands in front of her. "It's incredible! Everything goes so fast, with so much information… I don't know if I'll ever get used to it."

A few weeks ago, Cyrus had taken Morro out to the mall, where the teenager had stared at an array of screens for a good thirty seconds and ran to throw up in the restroom. "It's so noisy," Morro said. "There's so much happening at once, too fast… I don't think I'll ever get used to this future."

Is he ever going to see Morro and Pixal again?"

"Are you alright?"

Cyrus wants to snap at her, but he can't summon the will to speak. He picks up one of the tools and toys with it while Acronix watches him.

She attempts a smile. "I noticed your room didn't, ah, have much in it," she says. "I know you don't want to be here, but my brother and I have no ill will towards you. Is there anything we can get to make your stay more… comfortable?"

Cyrus stares at her. Anything he asks for can be used against him, to bribe or threaten or manipulate him, and he refuses to give either of the Hands of Time any ammo. He says nothing.

"Okay," Acronix says. "Well –"

"Acronix, what are you doing?"

Krux returns through the door, followed by another of the Vermillion Warriors, this one made up of red snakes. Cyrus can't help but cringe when they lay eyes on him. Damn it, what happened to the fury he had just moments before?

"Talking," Acronix says. "Who's that with you?"

"This is Machia," Krux says. "I've ordered her to, ah, convince Borg to do his work."

"Excuse me?" Cyrus squeaks.

Krux gestures to Machia. "Well? Get on with it."

"With pleasure," Machia hisses, and she climbs over the table. Cyrus pushes himself backwards, bumps into the wall, and keeps pushing on his wheels, leaning as far back as he can manage. Machia's body flows off the table in a disgustingly liquid motion and approaches him.

She runs a hand across his cheek. "Krux said you have children," she says. "You want them safe, don't you?"

Cyrus tries to turn his face away. Machia grabs his chin and forces him to meet her eyes.

"The longer you stay here, the more likely your children will come for you," she says. "If you do everything our masters say, you will return to them once the machine is completed. If you don't finish before they arrive… do you think they can defeat us?"

They can't.

The realization cuts through Cyrus' show of anger and pierces his heart. Morro, Pixal, and even Zane tried to protect him, and they all failed. Even if they make it here, even with the rest of the ninja on their side, how will they fare against Acronix, Krux, and an army of Vermillion Warriors?

Machia releases him. "Get to work," she says.

Cyrus forces himself to the table. He's still holding the tool he picked up. His mind is already working to determine what he'll need, the beginnings of blueprints taking form. He takes a pencil and a sheet of paper and begins to sketch.

"Good!" Krux says. "Machia, watch him. Acronix, come with me."

He doesn't look at Acronix or Krux as they leave the room. Left alone with Machia, Cyrus works in silence.

"We need a plan!" Lloyd snaps. "We can't go running out there and beating people up!"

"They're not people, they're a bunch of snakes in a trench coat!" Jay throws his hands in the air. "And I want to fight someone!"

His shout echoes through the chilly air. Kai wouldn't be surprised if the people on the ground heard him, but Garmadon said sound didn't carry far down from their new floating base. Mostly, he wishes they would shut up so he could concentrate.

"Yeah!" Cole says loudly. "Kai already failed at the museum, so we gotta act now before the Hands of Time act first! Right?"

"Yeah," Kai says, staring at the helmet in his hands.

Cole frowns. "Uh, Kai? I was trying to insult you there."

Kai doesn't look up. "What?"

"I agree with Lloyd," Skylor says, jumping down from the rock she was sitting on and walking to the rest of the group. "Zane's out of commission, and Nya's busy rebooting him… we can't rush into things without taking some time to think it over." She smiles. "And lucky for us, we have a lot of time."

"What?" Lloyd says. "But at the museum –"

Skylor smiles and disappears.

The next moment, she reappears next to Lloyd on the steps of the temple. Lloyd jumps at the sudden presence beside him. "You stole the elemental power of time?!" he exclaims.

"Ah-ah-ah. Copied, not stolen." Skylor shakes her hand out. "I'm still figuring it out, but it looks like if I touch a timeblade, I get the power stored inside it. So at least we're evenly matched." She frowns. "But Krux knew I was the Master of Amber, so we don't have anything they don't know about."

"So what now?" Jay asks.

"We kick some butt!" Cole shouts.

"No," Lloyd says, "we need to take the information we have and figure out the right course of action." He glares at them. "While Sensei Wu is recovering, I'm in charge, alright? Let's get inside."

Jay and Cole groan and follow Lloyd. Kai doesn't move until Skylor gently elbows him. "Hey, Kai? You alright?"

Kai sighs. "Skylor," he says, "did you always think your father was evil?"

"What the hell, Kai?" Skylor says immediately. Then, "Sorry, I just – that's a weird question to spring on me, you know? Why do you ask?"

"I thought…" Kai hisses air through his teeth. "Never mind, it was a stupid question. I'm not… I don't know. Forget I said anything."

"Alright," Skylor says. "If you say so."

They meet Jay, Cole, and Lloyd in the entryway, where the ninja stand in silence. "What's going –" Skylor starts before Jay shushes her.

Misako's voice carries from a few rooms over. "I'm not going to stand by and let you put yourself in danger!" Misako shouts. "There have been reports of kidnappings all over the city, and if you think –"

"Wu gave me a request," Garmadon says, his voice low and dangerous, "and I intend to fulfill it."

"And how will you fulfill it if those horrible snake things capture you?"

"You know damn well I can take care of myself."

Kai looks up from his helmet in time to see Lloyd flinch. "Garmadon never swears," he says. "What's going on?"

"Hey!" Jay yells, loud enough that Cole covers his ears. "We're back from training! You can stop shouting at each other now!"

Misako and Garmadon fall silent. They here Garmadon's cane tapping on the floor, and the man himself comes into view from the next room over. "Lloyd," he says, the anger gone from his voice, "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"What's going on?" Lloyd's voice shakes. "You – you never fought like this before. What's wrong?"

Misako follows Garmadon out. "Your father wants to go to Ninjago City," she says. "I told him –"

"It's not about that," Garmadon says. "Lloyd, you deserve to know the truth."

"The truth? About what?"

Misako looked away. Garmadon hesitated for a long moment before he spoke. "Lloyd, your mother and I are… separating."

Lloyd looks back and forth from his mother to his father. "Okay," he says. "Why?"

"It's not anything you did, Lloyd, I promise," Misako says. "We're just… not…"

"We don't love each other anymore," Garmadon says.

Misako shoots a glare at him. "I wouldn't say it in those words, Garmadon."

"Oh," Lloyd says. "That makes sense."

Garmadon blinks. "I'm… sorry?"

Lloyd shrugs. "Don't be. It's fine if you don't love each other. You shouldn't be forced to stay together just because of me."

He turns back to the rest of the ninja, ignoring his parents staring at him with their mouths hanging open. "We need to make a plan," he says. "Everyone, sit down. We can't afford to mess this up."

"Uh," Jay says.

"Shouldn't we wait for Zane and Nya?" says Cole.

"We can fill them in once they're back," Lloyd says. "Skylor, I won't like, force you, but if you could help us…"

"Oh, definitely," Skylor says. "At this point, this is my fight, too."

Lloyd grins at her. "Great! Come on, let's get started!"

Nya groans and slumps face-down on her desk. After Skylor and Kai confronted Krux, she was left alone to try and reboot zane – and three reboots later, he was still unconscious. If not for the quiet thrum of activity the Samurai X computers were monitoring, she would think he was –

She doesn't let herself finish the thought. Nya takes a deep breath and stands up.

"Okay," she says, turning to Zane's motionless body. "We're going to try this again."

She adjusts the settings and reboots him again. It takes a few minutes for the operation to complete, and when it's over, nothing appears to change. Nya waits another ten seconds before letting out a sigh and turning back to the computer.

A sudden noise startles her and she whirls back around. Zane is sitting up straight, staring at her.

"Nya!" he says, unplugging himself and jumping down from the table.

"Zane!" Nya exclaims. "I'm so glad you're –"

Zane grins. "The potato was a flange," he says. "Forty-one, eight two three."

Nya's smile disappears. "Uh, Zane?"

"A narwhal horn is to red as weather is greater than pudding," Zane is still smiling while he walks straight towards the edge of the platform. Nya rushes to turn him around before he can fall. "Fifty sheet auto doc feeder!" he tells her enthusiastically.

"Oh, no," Nya says. "Zane, I think I've made things worse,"

"You haven't made things worse," Pixal tries to tell her, but what comes out of Zane's mouth is, "Banana curtain nine." Pixal groans. Zane chirps.

She tries again. "Now that we're conscious, I just need to unscramble Zane's neural pathways so we can rescue my father," Pixal says while Nya digs through her toolbox. "What you need to do is realign Zane's neural inputs so we can communicate. I highly doubt anything you have in there is delicate enough for the task."

Nya, of course, understands nothing of this. "There's got to be something I haven't tried," she mumbles to herself.

"Realign Zane's neural inputs!"

"I don't want to mess inside your head, buddy, but if you have aphasia…"

"Yes!" Pixal shouts. "You have to get inside his head and realign –"

"No," Nya says firmly. "That's a last resort. I bet you need a new binary power core!"

"That is not what he needs! We can't waste time, my father could be hurt or worse! Don't leave!"

Even though they're unable to communicate, Zane seems to understand the desperation in Pixal's voice. He shouts gibberish after Nya as she runs out the door, then sits down on the table with a sigh.

"Ninety-two hat flower," he says.

"Me too, Zane," Pixal says. "Me too."

When heavy footsteps sound down the hall, Zane perks up. At first, Pixal thinks it's the ninja – but no, there are too many of them, and the ninja would be chatting amongst themselves, not marching in silence.

Her fears are confirmed when armored red and orange samurai advance towards them.

"Zane, you need to fight them!" Pixal says, but poor Zane still can't understand her. He flails helplessly as the snake creatures grab him – are his motor controls malfunctioning, too? – and Pixal quickly changes tactics and starts making as much noise as she can.

Nya hears the commotion and runs back into the room. "Get off my friend!" she yells, and she tackles the nearest samurai and throws them to the ground. Pixal quickly realizes there's too many of them for Nya to fight on her own, and runs through all the options she can come up with. There aren't many, and as time elapses, they're dwindling. She needs Zane to be conscious so he can rescue Cyrus Borg. She needs to be able to communicate with him. She's dependant on him, and with Zane clocked out, there's nothing she can do.

Pixal makes her decision.

"Zane, I'm rerouting all available electrical power to your chest in three… two… one…"

Her hair standing on end from the electrical discharge, Nya collects herself enough to catch Zane before he falls. "Total electrical overload," she says, staring at his half-shuttered eyes. "Of course, now I need to reboot you again, but you stopped them from stealing anything important, like, uh –" Her eyes flick around the room. "– you, or…"

Her Samurai X armor is missing.

"Never mind!" she shouts. "They stole my armor! Come on, Zane, I'll reboot you on the way – those snakes aren't getting away with this!"

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight

But there always was silence through the pain,
the love that could have been.
The answer is clear, the rock’s resting on your back.

The Family Crest, the Rock's Resting on Your Back

Lloyd is in the middle of describing an elaborate plan to a less-than-enthusiastic audience when Misako pokes her head in. "Ninja," she says, "you might want to take a look at this."

"Just a minute, Mom," Lloyd says. "We're kind of in the middle of something."

Jay jumps up. "I'll take a look!"

He runs into the next room, Cole and Kai following. Lloyd watches them go, shares a glance with Skylor, and sighs. "Alright," he says. "Let's see whatever this is."

Misako shows them the scene on the television. The amusement park is swarming with the Hands of Time's snake warriors, who are ripping bits and pieces of the buildings and rides and carrying them away. "What the hell?" Kai says, glancing down once more at the helmet. "What are they doing?"

"Who cares!" Jay yelps. "We gotta deal with this! Let's go!"

"We can't go yet!" Lloyd says sternly. "We have to have a plan. We should –"

"We have a plan," Cole says. "It's kicking butt!"

"No –"

"I hate to say it," Kai says, "but I agree with Jay. This situation needs our attention now, not later."

Lloyd looks at Skylor, who hisses air through her teeth. "Yeah," she says, "yeah. We should go."

"Fine," Lloyd snaps. "You go. I'll stay here and watch over Sensei."

Misako shoots him a concerned look and starts to speak, but Lloyd shakes his head. "If they want to rush in without a plan, fine," he says. "I'm staying here."

Skylor sighs. "Alright," she says. "We'll keep in contact. Come on, everyone."

Kai looks back behind him as they walk out the door, but Lloyd doesn't meet his eyes.

The remaining ninja make their way to where their vehicles are parked, Skylor getting in with Kai. "Nya says she's on her way with Zane," she says, putting her phone away. "We'll meet at the amusement park."

"I wonder why they're going there?" Cole says. "I mean, all they were doing was taking junk."

"They need metal for their armor," Kai says, reaching back for the helmet he still had and bumping Skylor. "Whoops, sorry. But seriously, Acronix and Krux must be building an army! Let's go already!"

Jay hesitates as the others hit the gas and drove off. "All they're doing is taking junk, huh?" he says to himself. "The reports said they were spotted all over the place. The amusement park has a lot of junk, but not more than…"

Realization strikes. "Sorry guys!" he squeaks, turning his vehicle around. "I'll catch up later!"

Morro doesn't want to go back to Borg Tower, the night he leaves the pawn shop, but he has nowhere else to sleep, it's cold outside, and he didn't wear layers beyond his turtleneck. He swipes his ID to grant him access to the building and makes his way up to his bedroom without running into anyone else. There's a number of messages on his computer from Cyrus' secretary; what was her name? Becky? Morro turns it off and falls into bed.

The next morning, he wipes his tears and forces himself to get up, putting his shoes on without bothering to wear socks. He turns on his computer to find more messages sent overnight. Morro continues to ignore them.

The cafeteria is oddly empty. Morro sits alone at a table and eats food that tastes like it was left out all night. Once he's had as much as he can stomach, he takes the elevator down to the ground floor.

The ride takes longer than he thought it would.

Significantly longer, actually.

Morro tries to look around, as if he could see something that was wrong, but he body responds agonizingly slowly. His mind is moving faster than the rest of the world, it feels like. With a jolt, he remembers just the other day, when time had seemed to fast-forward –

Is this time slowing down?

The effect goes away. The elevator doors open. Morro takes a few deep breaths and exits at a run.

He crashes into Becky in the lobby.

With a yelp, both of them tumble to the floor. "I have to go!" Morro says in lieu of an apology. "Bye!"

Becky grabs his arm with surprising strength; he didn't expect it from the short woman. "You can't go running off like that!" she says while Morro pulls out of her grip. "Don't you realize the situation?"

"What do you want?!" Morro snaps.

Becky tsks and shakes her head. "Mostly, I want to know if you're alright," she said. "I'm not your legal guardian, so the hospital couldn't give me much information, and then you didn't come home – I thought you might've been kidnapped, too!"

"Well, I'm fine." Why does she care? It's not like Morro ever speaks to her. "I'm leaving now."

He jumps to his feet and runs out the door, ignoring Becky's shouts for him to wait.

Outside, there are more of the strange samurai that Morro wasn't able to fight. Was that what Becky was shouting about? He keeps to the alleyways and manages to stay out of sight.

Somewhere, the ninja are searching for Acronix, Krux, and Cyrus Borg. Maybe they've found them, Morro thinks. Maybe they've rescued his father from the Hands of Time, and they're bringing him back home.

Or maybe they've found his body.

Morro shakes his head to force those thoughts out of his mind.

Someone claps a hand over his mouth.

"Don't yell!" the person whispers as he struggles. The voice sounds familiar, but they have such a hard grip on him, he can't turn his head to see who it is. "I'm a friend, I promise – just calm down and don't make a sound."

They drag him into a dark corner of the alley. Morro fights the whole way. Finally, they pull him through a door and let go. Morro stumbles forward and whirls around to give his assailant a piece of his mind, but it's so dark, his mind can't come up with anything other than, "What the fuck?"

The lights click on.

"Dammit!" The man who grabbed him grimaces and shields his eyes. "You know how I feel about turning lights on like that!"

"And you know how I feel about grabbing people like that!" A purple-haired woman stomps up to him and gives him a slap across the face. "The way most people feel about it! Not good! Hey, Master of Wind, I am so sorry about this."

Morro takes a moment to collect himself. "Chamille?" he says. "You… you hosted the party, right?"

Chamille smiles and manages a smile. "Yeah, that's me," she says. "It's been a bit, but hey, any friend of Skylor's is a friend of mine. Sorry for Shade being a dick."

"I wasn't –" The gray-skinned man throws his hands in the air. "If he had made any noise, the fucking snakes would've found us!"

Morro nods, slowly. "Okay," he says. "What's going on?"

"It's a long story." Chamille holds up one finger. "First, we heard about those snake guys kidnapping Borg. How're you holding up? Don't answer that, I'm not done talking. Second –" She holds up a second finger. "Karlof went missing just yesterday."

She looks at Morro expectantly. "Who's Karlof?" Morro says.

"Master of Metal? I guess you didn't meet him at the party. Third, tons of other people are going missing, too, and the only connection we can find is that they're all people who make stuff. Like, blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters, hell, I heard some cooks went missing too." Chamille takes a deep breath and holds out four fingers. "Fourth, once I texted Skylor, she told us that she knows who kidnapped Borg, at least – Acronix and Krux. Doesn't take rocket science to assume they're the ones who kidnapped Karlof and all the others, too. Fifth –"

Shade groans loudly, interrupting her. "Keep the finger counts to a normal amount, Chamille!"

"Excuse me?!" Chamille exclaims. "I'm pretty sure most people have five fingers!"

"Yeah – including the thumb!"

"What the fuck are you –" She looks down at her hand and extends her thumb in addition to her five fingers. "Ah. Four fingers and a thumb. Got it."

She shakes her hand out and returns it to normal. That's right, Morro thinks, she's the Master of Form.

"Anyway," Chamille continues, "Skylor asked me to keep an eye on you. We're not sure who qualifies to get kidnapped by these weirdos, but you're an elemental master and the son of Cyrus Borg, so, y'know, better safe than sorry – and those snakes are everywhere!"

Morro grits his teeth. "So?" he snaps. "I don't need babysitters."

Shade snorts. "If you want to go out there and get killed, be my guest," he says. "We all saw how you fared against just one of those things."

"The hell do you mean, you all saw me?"

"Uh," says Chamille, "it was on the news. Someone was set to record the Borgwatch reveal, and then when things went south, well, they recorded that too."

He was thrown out of the store half a dozen times, and passed out as soon as the ninja got there. Morro's cheeks flush. Everyone saw. Everyone could go on the internet and watch it over and over again. And Skylor –

"Where's Skylor now?" he demands.

"With the ninja," Chamille says. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll find everyone. I mean, seriously – they've gone up against snakes before, haven't they, Shade!"

"They've fought a lot of things," Morro says. The room they're in looks like a one-car garage, though without the car, and it's too cramped for his liking. He leans against the wall and takes deep breaths. His cheeks still burn with shame.

He failed.

He couldn't do anything to protect Cyrus from the strange samurai, and everyone knows it. Skylor knows it, obviously. It's why she asked Chamille to keep an eye on him. It's why she yelled at him to do nothing, to sit down and let everyone else take charge. He'd only get in the way.

"So what now?" Shade says. "We've got the Master of Wind. Should we head back to the others?"

Chamille shrugs. "I was thinking I'd let Skylor know what's going on, and then, like… Idunno, maybe we can loot a restaurant or something."

"Seriously?"

"What? I'm hungry! Besides, the city's already going nuts. You think the postman will do another role-play scenario?"

Morro straightens up and goes to the door.

"Hey!" Chamille grabs his arm before he can leave. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You can't keep me here!" Morro wrenches his arm away. "Just because Skylor thinks I'm –" Weak? Useless? A burden? Morro doesn't know. "– you're not my mom! Why do you even care?!"

Chamille takes a step back. "Whoa there, Master of Wind! I mean, sure, if you feel that strongly about it, I'm not gonna force you. But I can tell you're going through a lot, and I'll be damned if I let you get in trouble. What's your number?"

"My phone broke," Morro says.

"Well, shit. Alright, then. Catch!"

Morro barely recognizes the item as a BorgWatch in time to catch it. "Where'd you get this?" he asks, turning it over in his hand. He doubts they would go on sale after the disaster at the reveal.

"Snagged it from the store after everyone left." Chamille laughs, ignoring Morro's glare. "I thought it'd be cool, but my phone does basically everything it does, and the stuff it doesn't do… I mean, who needs a temporal energy scanner?"

Cyrus had rambled on and on about the new features of the BorgWatch, while Morro did his best to follow along. How it was pushing technology to its limits and beyond, and how wonderful that was; to give each individual the power to explore and discover more and more.

Morro slips the watch on his wrist.

"Thank you," he says. "I know where to go now."

"Nya?"

Nya glances behind her before turning her eyes back on the road. "Zane? Did the reboot work?"

She braces herself for gibberish as she waits for his response, but to her relief, Zane's words are comprehensible. "I believe so," he says. "I don't remember much of what happened after I was knocked out. I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?"

"Oh," Nya says, "you were fine, I was just worried. How are you feeling?"

"Better. What did I miss?"

Nya explains what they found out about Acronix and Krux, and what their snake warriors had been up to. "We're meeting with the others at Mega Monster Amusement Park," she said. "Those snakes have been stealing metal everywhere – they stole my Samurai X suit! And they almost stole you!"

"I see you have your priorities straight," Zane says.

"Oh, shut up, you know I'm glad you're alright."

Zane chuckles for a moment before his expression turns serious. "Pixal," he says, "can you map all locations where these snake creatures have been spotted? We might be able to figure out where the Hands of Time's base is from that."

No response. Zane frowns. "Pixal?"

"We're here!"

Zane looks up. Now that he sees the amusement park in front of them, he's aware of civilian screams filling the air. He unplugs himself from Nya's computers and hopes out of his seat, spotting the other ninja's vehicles pulling up in front of the gates.

"Zane!" That's Kai's voice – his friend jumps out and runs over to crash into Zane in a hug. "You doing alright, buddy?"

"I'm fine, Kai." Mentally, he presses Pixal to run a scan to make sure he really is alright, but there's still no sign of her. He doesn't hug back. "Where's Lloyd?"

"He's staying behind." Skylor climbs out behind Kai and walks over with Cole. "He wanted to keep to keep an eye on Wu."

"I understand," Zane says. "What about Jay?"

"What, Jay? He's right…" Kai turns around and looks at Cole, who shrugs. "Uh, he was right here. Where'd he go?"

Cole shakes his head. "Now that I think about it, I don't think he came with us at all. Did you hear him? You know how much noise he makes – his stupid car and his stupid mouth."

"Be nice," Nya says. "I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Whatever his reasons were," Kai says, "we don't have time to theorize. We need to stop these snakes now!"

With a determined nod, he runs into the amusement park, and the others draw their weapons and follow.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine

I come alive when I'm faced with a fight.
It's the only situation I can ever be on time.
And I go wild faced with creatures of the night.
You feel bad, I make you spooked,
But what I see is a scary sight.

Wolf Alice, Ghoster

Krux's explanation is short and to the point: they can't build the time machine on their own. Cyrus Borg is the most talented inventor of the present time, even if Krux has… personal issues with him. There is no one else who can do it. They have no other options.

He only tells her this after it's done. In the heat of the moment, the forty years since she lost her powers passing in the blink of an eye, Acronix follows her brother's instructions without waiting for an explanation and kidnaps Cyrus Borg. It's so easy to fall back into the mindset of the Serpentine War, where the fighting was brutal and the tactics were ugly, and kidnapping was the least of what she had to do.

But the war is long over, and Cyrus is not an enemy serpentine. He's only a scared human man.

"We have no other options," Krux repeats to her. "I promise you, even if I don't like the man, I wish him no harm. He'll do his job, and we'll release him."

Acronix nods. "I understand," she says. "What's our next action?"

They can't do much. They've lost the museum as a secondary base, and Sander Saunders' true identity has been discovered. They only have one timeblade, and they don't know when the others are going to fall, or if they ever will. None of them have fallen in the forty years they've been separated, to Krux's knowledge.

Krux decides they'll let the Vermillion roam in the city on their own, and the two of them will stay in the swamp and oversee operations from there. Acronix agrees to this, even if "overseeing operations" means she lets Krux do all the work. He's the one who made the plans, and even though he tries to let Acronix help, she doesn't know what to do.

It's fine, she tells herself, biting back her frustration. If she stops to rest for even a moment, the weight of the forty years threatens to crash down over her, so she finds ways to keep herself busy.

Then her BorgPad breaks.

Acronix hisses air through her teeth and examines the device. The screen is black, and no matter what buttons she presses, it won't turn on. Krux isn't any help – she asks him and is dismissed with, "Sister, you know how I hate those things." Acronix groans and leaves him to talk with Machia.

She doesn't know any of the builders working for them. Mostly, she avoids them. No other options, she tells herself. All those people wouldn't work with them willingly. It's no different than the war.

But her BorgPad is still broken, and so she pushes her anxiety aside and knocks on the door to the workshop.

"Yes?"

Acronix pushes the door open. "I was wondering if you could help me," she says. "My, ah, BorgPad won't work."

Cyrus Borg frowns at her. "And?" he says. "I suppose you want me to fix it?"

He speaks in short, clipped tones. Acronix doesn't let it bother her; he's held against his will, after all. "Well, yes," she says, "but this isn't part of your work. I won't force you."

Cyrus looks at her, then at the paper and models in front of him. "Fine," he says, and pushes his latest model aside. "Bring it here."

Acronix walks over and sets the BorgPad down in front of him. "It just went dark and I don't know why," she says while he examines it. "I don't think I did anything wrong…"

"Does it charge?" Cyrus asks. "If the charger isn't working…"

"Does it what?"

For a long moment, Cyrus doesn't say anything. Then he puts the BorgPad down and turns to her. "Electronic devices need power to operate," he says. "Some need their batteries to be replaced every so often, and some need to be charged, otherwise they'll run out of power. When you acquired this, did it have a cord with it?"

He explains it slowly, like he's talking to a child. Acronix's cheeks flush. "Yes," she admits. "I didn't think…"

"Plug it in and see if it turns on. Do you know how outlets work?"

"Yes."

"Then you don't need my help." Cyrus hands the BorgPad back to her and turns away. "I have to get back to work."

Acronix nods and goes to leave. When she reaches the door, she pauses and looks back. Cyrus has his head down, writing notes next to a diagram. Acronix takes a breath.

"You don't have to work all the time," she says.

Cyrus freezes. "Your brother told me otherwise," he says. He doesn't look up.

"You can have time to yourself. We have to wait for all four timeblades to fall, after all."

"No, that's not what I meant."

"It's not?"

"Krux said I would be released once the machine is completed," Cyrus says, "so I must complete it as soon as possible. If you have nothing else for me…"

Acronix's stomach twists. "Of course," she said. "I'm sorry for distracting you."

She closes the door behind her and returns to her room.

"Dear?" Edna calls into the trailer. "We have guests!"

"Oh?" Ed pokes his head out. "Is it Ronin?"

"No, dear, it's –"

"Really? I was looking forward to his next visit. He's such a pleasant fellow, you know?"

"I know he is," Edna says, "but he's not here right now, and those awful snake creatures are."

"Oh."

Edna grabs her broom and advances on the armored creatures attempting to pile metal on their cart. "Stop that," she chides, hitting one of them directly in the face. "That doesn't belong to you!"

Ed steps out of the trailer and jogs over to the backhoe. "Don't worry," he calls out once he's seated inside, "I don't think we'll have any trouble. Incoming!"

He uses the machine to scoop up a pile of trash and dumps it onto a group, causing them all to burst into snakes and preventing them from reforming. One of the remaining creatures groans.

"The bosses are gonna be so mad at me!" he says. "I wonder if Raggmunk is doing any better. Oh, right, we're a hivemind. Hey, Raggmunk –"

"Excuse me," Edna says, walking up to him. "Are you in command here?"

"Yeah? I'm Blunck." He tilts his head. "Are you an inventor? Ow!"

"Don't change the subject." Edna hits him with the broom again. "I need you to take all your underlings and leave! Stop stealing our scrap!"

"What? But we need metal! And you have so much of it!"

"Oh, I heard! You've been terrorizing everyone for days now!"

While Edna continues attacking with the broom, Ed sicks his head out of the backhoe. "She's not gonna quit, you know," he says. "You might as well leave before things get any worse, haha!"

Blunck manages to put a safe distance between him and Edna. "Sorry," he says. "Our bosses' orders are to get as much metal as we can find. And we found a lot – maybe even two inventors! Everyone, get her!"

Edna turns around to see a dozen of the warriors around her. She readies her broom and takes a step towards them. "Oh, really?" she says. "Show me what you've got!"

Electricity crackles. A bolt strikes one of the advancing warriors, splitting them apart in a burst of snakes. Ed leans out of the backhoe and squints at the entrance. "Jay? Is that you?"

"Leave my parents alone!" Jay shouts, hitting the emergency brake and jumping out of his vehicle as it screeches to a halt.

"Hi, dear!" Edna says with a wave. "Did you bring your friends with you?"

"Uh, no, but –"

Blunck cackles. "You think you can fight us all off by yourself?" he says. "I don't think so! I heard what happened at the Borg Store! Kinda had to, since, y'know, we're a hivemind."

Edna whacks him with the broom and he shuts up.

Jay cracks a smile. "I've still got some backup here! Hey, Dad! Let's take out the snakes!"

"What?"

"You know, like taking out the trash, except they're made of snakes, not trash."

"I'd give that a three," Edna says.

"Really?" Jay rolls his eyes. "I mean, three out of five isn't bad for a joke."

"Out of ten, dear."

"Oh, c'mon!"

Ed goes back in the backhoe and starts it rumbling across the junkyard, while Jay sends lightning bolts at the warriors approaching his mom. Blunck faces Edna, looks at the broom, and gives her a shaky half-smile. "Hey, you know I'm just following orders, right? Ow! Stop hitting me with that!"

Garmadon finds Lloyd sitting with Wu, still, even though the old sensei is asleep. Lloyd looks up when he hears the cane tapping on the floor, then returns his gaze to the floor.

"Lloyd," Garmadon says gently, "do you want to have lunch with me?"

"What did Uncle Wu ask you to do?"

Garmadon glances at his brother, who doesn't show any signs of waking. "Wu asked me to run an errand, since he can't go himself," he says. "It's… private between us, so I'm afraid I can't tell you the details."

Lloyd snorts. "So not an errand," he says. "Something important, right? Something you can't tell me about."

"Lloyd, are you alright?"

"Not really," his son says. "No one's listening to me. No one tells me what I need to know, and now I can't tell what's actually private or if you're hiding something from me. Sensei should've told us he was going to fight Acronix, and the other guys should've listened to me and made a plan before running off!"

Garmadon crouches down at Lloyd's side. "The others are still getting used to having you as a leader," he says. "And you're still getting used to the role. It's a valuable skill to learn. I'm sure my brother is proud of you, just as I am. He's told you that much, hasn't he?"

Lloyd says nothing. Garmadon sighs. "Come have lunch with me," he says.

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten all day. You may be growing up, but I am still your father, and you need to take care of yourself. Have lunch."

Lloyd grumbles, but he stands up. Garmadon takes his arm and leans on him as they walk to the kitchen.

Misako isn't there. She had mentioned she was taking a walk outside, so Garmadon assumes that's where she is. Hardly an hour after she told him it wasn't safe to go out, too. He lets those thoughts pass through him and goes to take the leftover food out of the fridge.

They sit at the table in silence while the microwave hums. Lloyd keeps glancing at the room where Wu sleeps. When the microwave finishes, they both move to stand. "I'll get it," Lloyd says. "You can stay there."

Garmadon smiles. "It's… a bit of a role reversal, hm?"

"What?"

"Instead of me taking care of you, it's you taking care of me."

Lloyd freezes in the middle of dividing the food. Garmadon's face falls in a frown. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"You weren't there," Lloyd says. "I know it wasn't your fault, but you weren't there. I had to take care of myself."

"I…" Garmadon struggles for words. "I'm sorry, Lloyd. I wish…"

"It wasn't your fault." Lloyd puts the plates on the table and sits across from him. "It was fate, I guess. Or maybe it was just bad things happening for no reason. I just…" He sticks his fork in the food and toys with it without eating anything. "I wish the world wasn't so cruel," he says. "And when I think that it's fate, that this is how things were supposed to be… I start to think that maybe Morro had the right idea."

Garmadon's stomach twists. "Don't say that," he says with more force than he intended. "You didn't deserve what he put you through."

"I know that," Lloyd snaps. "But he wasn't really mad at me. I mean, maybe he was, but… he was mad at fate. He didn't want to believe that it was his destiny to die. And – and I don't want to believe that either. That's part of the reason I brought him back. What kind of world would be so cruel?"

"Cruel?" Garmadon echoes. "The world isn't cruel, Lloyd. Sometimes… sometimes bad things happen, but…"

What had his father said to him, hundreds of years ago? That the world was going as it was meant to be. You could trace every action back to a cause, a reason, a natural conclusion of what had come before. Actions had consequences, and everything that was happening now was the consequence of previous actions.

Something tells him none of that would help Lloyd now.

"I don't want any bad things to happen," Lloyd mumbles, staring down at his food. "And I think a world that lets bad things happen is cruel."

"The world doesn't let things happen," Garmadon says. "The world doesn't have any control over it. When I was bitten, my father…"

Lloyd's head shoots up and he stares at Garmadon with wide eyes. Garmadon falters, silently curses himself for it, and kept going. "My father went through something much like what you are going through now," he says. "He didn't want to believe that it was destiny. He taught me to resist the evil in my veins, to do good things, and protect Ninjago after he was gone. And in the end, I believe he was able to… accept it."

"Accept it?" Lloyd says.

"Accept that it was how things were."

For a moment, Lloyd says nothing. Then he stands up, slamming his fists on the table. Garmadon winces at the noise.

"I won't," he says, his voice eerily calm.

"You… won't?"

"None of it should've happened," Lloyd says. "You getting bitten, me having to fight you, Morro dying – none of it should've happened!"

"Lloyd, that's not –"

"Shut up!" he shouts. "I won't accept that this is how things are supposed to be! Things should be better! None of the bad things that happened to us should've happened!"

Garmadon tries to stand, gripping the back of his chair and putting his weight on it. Lloyd sucks in a sharp breath and shakes his head. "Was I supposed to just accept you were dead?" he says. "That I was never going to see you again? I – I couldn't. That's why I brought you back, Dad. How can you say that was a bad thing?"

"That's not what I'm saying, Lloyd," Garmadon says. "Just… give me a moment."

Lloyd lifts his hands off the table and takes a step back. "No," he says. "I'm going."

"Lloyd?"

"Maybe the others had the right idea," he says. "I just – I just need to beat something up. Let me know if something happens to Wu."

Wu had made him promise not to tell Lloyd he was dying. Grief blossoms in Garmadon's heart, and he can't look Lloyd in the eyes as he leaves.

When the timeblade falls, all of Ninjago feels it – the world slowing down while their minds remain alert. Jay defends his parents. Lloyd leaves to join the rest of the ninja at the amusement park. Morro descends in the elevator.

Cyrus jerks his head up when the sensation passes over him, the motion coming slower than the thought. It only lasts a few stretched-out moments before his body catches up to the rest of him, and he's left sitting in the workshop, breathing hard.

He thinks about Acronix, telling him he doesn't have to work all the time, as if this is a vacation, as if he has a choice.

Cyrus returns to his work.

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten

How come I must know where obsession needs to go?
How come I must know the direction of relieving?

.hack//SIGN – Obsession

Lloyd jerks on the steering wheel a little too hard and nearly rolls his motorcycle over. He hits the brakes, straightens out, and takes a deep breath before hitting the radio. "Kai! Everyone! Are you there?"

"Yeah, bro!" Kai shouts. Lloyd winces and turns the volume down. "Where are you?! Did you feel that?!"

Nya's voice joins them. "It must be another timeblade," she says. "We have to get it before the Hands of Time do!"

Lloyd nods, then says, "Right! Do we know where it fell?"

"I do." Zane's voice is a relief to hear, seeing as the last time Lloyd saw him, he was shut down and unresponsive. "Nya gave me an upgrade. I can now track temporal anomalies."

Cole speaks up. "Jay's not with us, by the way."

"He's not?" Lloyd says in alarm. "I thought he went with the rest of you!"

"Dunno where he's at," Kai says, "but he better have a good reason for ditching us."

Lloyd takes a deep breath. "We have to move now," he says. "Jay can catch up. Zane, send me the coordinates!"

Jay looks away from his mom for two seconds, and when he looks back, she was disarmed, and Blunck has the broom. "Hey!" he shouts, but another snake warrior trips him just as he's twisting around to help. Jay collapses on the ground in a heap.

"Don't worry, dear!" Edna says. "I can – ow!"

Blunck cackles. "Yeah! How does that feel?"

The audacity of Blunck hitting his mom with her own broom lights a fire in Jay, and he scrambles to his feet while fighting off the creatures. "Get away from her!" he shouts, struggling to climb over the piles of junk that stand between him and Blunck. "What do you even want with her, anyway?!"

"The bosses need inventors!" Blunck says. "I mean, obviously!"

"That's not obvious at all!"

"I'd like my broom back," says Edna.

Blunck pauses for a moment, then tosses the broom aside and grabs Edna's arm. "Sorry," he says, "but we've gotta head out! One inventor's better than none, right? Yeah. Obviously."

The snake warriors' vehicle – Jay hadn't even noticed they had one, it blended in so well with the rest of the junkyard – rumbles to life. Jay throws another creature off him and runs towards it, but Blunck gets there first, dragging Edna with him. Jay realizes he's not going to reach it in time. He chases after it anyway. "Ma!" he shouts. "Ma! Pa, do something!"

"What do you think I'm doing, Jay?!" The backhoe doesn't move fast enough to block the exit. Jay sees his mom shoved in a cage, and then they're at the exit and gaining speed.

"Ma!" Jay yells. He can't make out the response.

His own vehicle has been pulled apart by the snakes; they must have stripped it of its metal while he was fighting them. Jay covers his face and screams into his hands.

Ed climbs down from the backhoe and runs over. "Don't worry, Jay," he says, kneeling down at his son's side. "I'm sure you and your friends can figure out something."

"I don't know!" Jay wails. "We couldn't stop the snakes from kidnapping Cyrus Borg, we couldn't stop them from shutting down Zane, and I couldn't stop them from taking my mom! And I don't have anything that can catch up to them!"

Ed manages a smile. "Don't be too sure, Jay."

"What?!"

"I was saving this for your birthday, but I think you're ready for it now…"

Lloyd reaches the timeblade first.

He leans his motorcycle over as it speeds across the desert, reaching out as far as he dares. "Got it!" he shouts, snatching the timeblade out of the sand. Then he's not in his seat anymore, and he barely has a chance to breathe before he crashes into the ground.

The timeblade digs into his flesh as he clutches it to his chest. Lloyd wastes no time – he forces himself to his feet and grabs his sword before he's fully facing the snake warriors. Their vehicles kick up sand, speeding in circles around him, and Lloyd pulls his mask on to avoid breathing it in. No cycle, all alone, and the snakes are cackling as they close in.

But he has the timeblade.

Lloyd grins.

The timeblade's power feels different than his own, but he quickly grasps its usage. A cyan beam strikes the snakes pulling towards him and envelops them in an glowing sphere. Lloyd takes a step back to avoid being caught in it as it expands. The other warriors are slowing down to avoid it, breaking formation.

Without a human energy source to draw from, the timeblade can't be used in rapid succession. That's fine. Lloyd can see backup about to arrive.

"Take this!"

Fire bursts out of Kai's vehicle, and Lloyd runs towards him. The flames barely miss him – he can feel their heat on his back. Lloyd jumps and lands on top of the windshield.

"Whoa!" Kai shouts. "Careful, Lloyd!"

"You be careful!" Lloyd yelps. "They've got a hostage!"

Luckily, Jay's mom is far out of range of Kai's fire, in a cage dangling from one of the machines, but Lloyd doesn't want to take any chances. "Oh, shit," Kai says in alarm. "Guess we know why Jay ditched us. Where is he?"

"Don't know," Lloyd says. "Where are the others?"

"Coming through!" Cole's vehicle kicks up sand as he skids to a stop next to them. "They might have a hostage," he says, "but we've got the timeblade! Time's supposed to be the strongest element, right?"

"I don't think –"

One of the snakes steers their roller coaster cart straight into Kai's car, knocking Lloyd off the windshield. He lands hard on the sand, and before he can recover, another snake snatches the timeblade away from him.

"Whoa!"

"Okay, now we don't have the timeblade."

"Lloyd!"

"I'm fine!" Lloyd shouts, scrambling to his feet. "Get the timeblade!"

After leaving Chamille and Shade, it takes Morro a few precious seconds to determine where the timeblade fell. It takes much longer to get there. Morro pushes all fear and doubt out of his mind and summons his dragon, the effort making his hands tremble as holds them against its neck.

The elemental dragon of wind is a light green, with a small feathered body and long whiskers. It looks far different from the dragon he had while possessing Lloyd, Morro thinks, but thinking about that makes his dragon flicker and waver, so he hardens his mind and thinks of nothing but his mission.

In the desert, he spots the skirmish between the snake samurai and the ninja while flying low over a rocky outcropping. His heart plummets, and his dragon disappears.

Morro crashes on the dirt and stone and barely stops his tumbling path from taking him over the cliff. His heart pounds. He wastes more time laying there as the seconds tick away, breathing hard and waiting for the world to stop spinning.

The noise from the fight reaches him. Morro sits up and checks the BorgWatch; it's unharmed, thankfully, and the location right in front of him is blinking on the map. Morro takes a deep breath and stands up, one hand over his chest. His heart doesn't feel any different. Maybe his meds are working, and he doesn't have to worry about overexerting himself.

Climbing down would take to long, so he jumps off the cliff and lets the wind carry him. He hits the ground running. No fear, only action. Don't think about your heart stopping if you run too hard. Don't think about Cyrus, trapped somewhere, forced to do God-knows-what. Think of nothing but what you're going to do to Acronix and Krux once you find them.

Most of the vehicles are trashed or barely limping along, and the majority of the fighting takes place on foot. The ninja are outnumbered. Cole is the only one still driving. Morro grits his teeth and slows down, scanning the chaos for the leader of the snakes.

"Blunck, give it back!"

"No way! You don't know how to use it!"

"We're a hivemind! If I don't know, you don't know!"

Morro sends a burst of air into the ground, spraying sand into the armored creatures' eyes. He jumps up, the wind boosting him higher, and aims a kick down at their heads.

His foot collides solidly with a helmet and pain shoots up his leg. The next thing he knows, he's landed hard on his back.

"Hey!" The snake warrior holding the timeblade glares at him, rubbing his head. "Who are – Raggmunk!"

The other snake snatches the timeblade away and cackles. "This is how you use a timeblade," he says, and he shoots a blue beam at the ninja.

Morro sits up in time to see a bubble encase the ninja, all of them moving in slow motion. Time slowing, Morro realizes. He forces himself to his feet and climbs onto the snake creatures' platform.

"Give that to me," he says.

His voice comes out a lot squeakier than it used to be.

His cheeks heat up, but if he contorts his face into a snarl, he can pretend they're flushed with anger, not embarrassment. Blunck and Raggmunk don't seem to care. "Why should we?" Raggmunk demands. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I asked first!" Blunck elbows Raggmunk out of the way. "Who are you?"

Morro grits his teeth and jabs a finger at them. "My name is Morro Sky Borg," he says, trying to make his voice deeper, "and I want my dad back. You're going to give me that timeblade and tell me where the Hands of Time are."

"Cool," said Blunck. "We're not doing that."

Morro lunges at them.

Raggmunk hits him with the flat of the timeblade. He hits the ground hard. Before he can pick himself up, Blunck stomps his foot on Morro's back, knocking the wind out of him.

"You want your dad so badly?" Raggmunk taunts. "Why don't you go get him?"

"I'm fucking trying!" Morro wheezes. "Get off me!"

"Uh, no?" says Blunck. "You just tried to attack us!"

His whole body aches, and he can feel his heart pounding. Morro heaves with all his might and manages to get out from under Blunck's foot. He scrambles to his feet and dodges another strike from Raggmunk.

"What the hell? Is that Morro?"

The ninja must be free from the time-slowing. Morro ignores their shouts and hooks an arm around Raggmunk's neck. His arm flares up in pain for reasons beyond his understanding – he keeps the chokehold sustained and tries to grab for the timeblade.

Raggmunk's flesh shifts. The snakes that form his neck wrap around Morro's arm, holding it in place. Morro yells and tries to yank himself free, but Raggmunk doesn't budge.

"Great!" Blunck grabs the timeblade from Raggmunk, despite his protests. "Keep him there until we get the ninja under control."

A figure moving too fast for Morro to make out slams into Raggmunk, knocking him and Morro over. Morro lands on his shoulder and can't suppress a cry of pain. His arm is free; Raggmunk is rolling away from the assailant, who Morro can now see is –

"Skylor?"

"You idiot!" Skylor positions herself between Morro and Raggmunk. Morro can't see her face, but he can imagine how angry she is. "What are you doing?!"

"I can't do nothing!" Morro snaps. He manages to get to his feet and immediately crumples over and vomits.

Though the haze, he hears Skylor say, "I need one of you over here! Morro's not in good shape!" and can't figure out who she's talking to. The ground shifts under his feet, and he tumbles off the platform and into the sand.

Everything is a blur. He can't get a coherent thought together. Morro registers someone picking him up just before he passes out.

Skylor looks away just long enough to see Cole getting Morro into his vehicle before she turns her focus back on Blunck and Raggmunk. Her eyes fall on the timeblade in Blunck's hands.

"Uh," Blunck says, "I'm getting an update from the hivemind. We shouldn't let this lady touch the timeblade."

"Really?" Raggmunk says. "Why?"

"Because – wait, don't you know?"

Skylor runs towards him. Blunck quickly puts the timeblade behind his back while Raggmunk moves himself between them. Skylor mentally runs through her borrowed powers and waves her hand in the air; gravity reverses, sending Blunck and Raggmunk both rising up. While they yelp and flail their limbs, she stops behind them and takes a deep breath before slamming them back into the ground.

Unfortunately, they don't burst into snakes when they hit the ground. Blunck drops the timeblade, but Raggmunk snatches it before Skylor can. She swears under her breath and dodges Blunck's attempt to grab her leg.

The two snake warriors get to their feet. Skylor shoots a jet of fire between them, pushing them further apart. "We could strike a deal," she says, cracking a smile. "You keep the timeblade, and I just… borrow it for a minute."

She advances on Raggmunk. He takes a step back. "I don't think so," he says. "Hey, Blunck, catch!"

He throws the timeblade.

For most people, the stunt would've worked. Most people wouldn't be able to reach the timeblade with how high he threw it.

But Skylor has never been like most people.

She calls upon the element of speed, knocking Blunck to the ground with all the force she can summon and snatching the timeblade out of the air. She can't afford to pause when the force of the power absorption hits her – she keeps running, darting between the snakes and back to Nya and Kai.

"Got it!" she says triumphantly, holding up the blade.

"Great!" Nya blasts another snake warrior with water. "Now we need to rescue Edna and get out of here!"

"Easier said than done," Lloyd says. "We're still surrounded, and if Jay's not showing up –"

"Speak of the devil!" Kai exclaims. "Look over there!"

Skylor turns to where Kai points and spots a distant vehicle speeding towards them.

The next moment, she feels a presence behind her and whirls around to strike the warrior sneaking up.

The timeblade hums in her hand, resonating with the power she's just copied, and a blue sphere erupts from it. There's nothing Skylor can do before she, the ninja, and all the snake creatures are enveloped in it.

"Shit," Skylor tries to say, but her body is slowed while her mind remains at normal speed. A few, precious seconds go by before she's able to use speed again and accelerate herself out of the bubble.

Exhaustion overwhelms her, and she collapses on her knees in the sand.

"Skylor!" Jay screeches to a halt near her. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," she manages to say. "Is that your dad?"

"Hello!" Ed Walker chirps from behind Jay.

Jay stares at the bubble with wide eyes. "They're surrounded – what are we gonna do?"

"I can use the power of speed to get in there, but…" She gets to her feet and nearly falls over. "…I'm near my limit. Jay, if you can attack from outside –"

"I can do something better!" Jay motions for his dad to disembark and revs the engine. "Time for lightning speed!"

The bike crackles with Jay's element and he rockets forward, straight into the bubble.

Jay's bike moves fast enough to appear at normal speed even while in slow motion. He barrels through the snake warriors, grabs his mother out of the cage, and when the bubble dissipates, he's speeding away from them, shouting something Skylor can't understand.

It takes a moment before she realizes he's not coming back.

Luckily for her, the snakes are still putting themselves together, and they aren't able to take advantage of her distraction. She shares a glance with the dumbfounded Ed and shouts at the ninja. "We've got the timeblade! Let's get out of here!"

Kai punches a snake and runs to her. "With what?!" he yells. "Our cars got trashed!"

"Not mine!" Cole pulls his vehicle around to them, hitting the brakes and grinning at them through his mask. "As long as you don't mind sharing the space, ha!"

Morro's voice shouts from the back seat. "Go to hell!"

At least he's alright, Skylor thinks. "Let's get out of here," she says. "Everyone in!"

Morro doesn't argue when Skylor positions herself next to him, just crosses his arms over his chest and looks away. Lloyd sits in front with Cole, which was probably a good call. Kai, Zane, Nya, and Ed squeeze in back with them, and Cole hits the gas.

"That could've gone worse," Zane comments while they're moving.

"It could've gone a little better," Kai says with a laugh, "but hey! We got the timeblade! That's cause for celebration, right?"

"Don't get cocky," Nya says. "They've still got one, and we know there are two more left."

Morro shifts slightly. "Can you drop me off at Ronin's place?"

Skylor turns to him. "You passed out, Morro. I was going to take you to the hospital."

"No!" Morro shakes his head. "Just take me back to the pawn shop. I'll be fine."

Now that she's not worried he's about to die, Skylor can find it within herself to be angry at him. "You almost weren't!" she snaps back. "You could've died, Morro! You should've stayed with Ronin, or at the tower, or somewhere you wouldn't get hurt!"

"I'm not useless!" Morro shouts. "I'm not going to sit and do nothing!"

"I'm not saying you have to do nothing, but you need to figure out something you can do without exerting yourself!"

"I can fight!"

"Clearly you can't!" Skylor presses her hand to her forehead. "Look, I'm too tired to deal with this right now. We'll drop you off at Ronin's, fine, but I'm telling him to keep an eye on you."

A wave of dizziness hits her, and Skylor doesn't hear what Morro says next. She wakes up a moment later, leaning into Nya's arms, with everyone else in the crowded backseat giving her worried looks.

"You alright, Skylor?" Ed asks.

Morro keeps his mouth shut. Skylor takes a deep breath. "I'm alright," she says. "Just… tired, like I said."

"You should be careful using the time powers," Nya says. "What if they take too much out of you?"

"I don't think they're that different from other elemental powers," Skylor says. "But… you're right. I'll be careful."

Nya smiles. "Thank you."

Chapter Text

Chapter Eleven

when the feeling leaves you, it moves so slow
like the loose change from your front pocket, you don't even feel it go

The Oh Hellos – Cold

"You lost the timeblade?!"

Raggmunk shrinks under Acronix's glare. Blunck speaks up. "The… moon was in our eyes?"

Acronix clenches her teeth and hisses in air. Just as she's about to shout, Krux puts a hand on her shoulder. "I'll handle this, sister," he says. "You should take a moment to calm down."

His hand trembles in barely-restrained anger. Acronix is having a hard time keeping her own under control. "Fine," she spits, and she pulls away and storms off to her room.

The BorgPad sits charging on the table. Acronix picks it up and flops backwards on her bed. The BorgPad requires the use of fine motor skills, not something she's had much practice with, and the repetitive motions of the games calms her down. Still, the anger is there–the Vermillion lost the timeblade? The one with her power? She wants to scream, to curse, to march out there and take back the blade herself, but Krux keeps telling her they can't take that sort of risk.

Well. Her brother isn't the boss of her.

Acronix sits back up and grabs a bag to put her BorgPad in. Once it's secure, she quickly changes into the clothes Krux got for her; "In case you need to go out in disguise," he said. They don't quite fit the way she's used to, and that gives her pause. She looks herself over in the mirror and tries to identify the problem. They're modern clothes, so it would make sense for the fit to be a little off, but has fashion really changed that much in forty years?

Looking at herself in the mirror, the realization strikes like lightning. Krux got her clothes fitted for women. That's why they don't fit.

Acronix squeezes her eyes shut and takes a deep breath. It's fine, she tells herself. Krux is just trying to be a good, supportive brother, like he's always been. She's grateful for it. She remembers stories of people who were disowned by their family, when those are the ones who are supposed to love you unconditionally. Krux would never do that. Krux loved her, loves her, will keep loving her far into the future. What do the clothes do, if not prove that?

She puts her armor back on.

The discomfort doesn't go away. She isn't nearly as angry anymore. Acronix picks up her bag and leaves.

On her way out, she passes the door to Cyrus' workspace. Acronix stops for a moment. She can hear Krux still shouting at Blunck and Raggmunk in the other room. She summons up her courage and knocks on the door.

"What is it?"

Cyrus' voice is pitched high in fear. Acronix hesitates. "It's Acronix," she says. "I… was wondering if I could talk to you."

"Again? I mean–yes. Fine."

Acronix opens the door and carefully closes it behind her. Cyrus turns his wheelchair away from the table, littered with bits of metal and wire, and clasps his hands on his lap. "Well?" he says.

"I'm sorry," Acronix says.

Cyrus' shoulders stiffen. "You're sorry," he repeats.

"I know this isn't…" Acronix searches for words. "…fair to you," she decides upon. "You were taken from your home, your friends–"

"My family," Cyrus says.

"–yes, your family, and my brother and I…" She shakes her head. "I'm sorry for it. I promise, once the machine is finished, you can return home."

Cyrus frowns. "Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

Acronix takes a deep breath. "I wanted to know if you need anything to make your stay easier," she says. "I asked you before, but… I'm heading out, now, and if you need something, I can get it for you."

Cyrus inhales sharply, and for a moment, Acronix wonders if she said the wrong thing. She turns to leave, but Cyrus calls out–"Wait!"

She looks back at him.

Cyrus sets his jaw and looks her in the eye. "Morro and Pixal," he says. "I need to know if my children are safe. They were both there when I was kidnapped. I need to know what happened to them."

Acronix nods. "I understand," she says. "I–"

"You don't," Cyrus says, cutting her off. "If you understood, you never would have kidnapped me in the first place. But, well, you were just doing as you were told, or whatever justification you can come up with. If you care at all, you will make sure my children are unharmed."

His hands are shaking when he's done. Acronix just nods. "I will do everything in my power to ensure it," she says, and leaves.

Skylor drops him off in front of the pawn shop and the car drives away. Morro grumbles to himself and walks up to the door.

Ronin opens it before Morro can reach for the doorknob. "Hey, kid," he says. "How you doing?"

Morro shoves past him and into the pawn shop proper. Ronin laughs. "That bad, huh?" he says. "Sit down, I'll put together something to eat."

He flips the store's sign to closed and locks the door. In the back room, Morro throws himself face-down on the couch. His body and pride still ache from the fight, and all he wants to do is cry like the weakling he is. He grits his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut. The tears don't come.

"Come on, kid," Ronin says. "What do you want? I have curry."

"I can't do anything," Morro mutters.

Ronin sighs and drags a chair over to the couch. "Morro," he says, "you don't have to do anything. I mean, the ninja are doing everything they can, right?"

"I should be doing something!" Morro snaps. "I'm supposed to protect him, and I failed, and now I can't do anything but lie here!"

"You can help me cook," Ronin offers.

Morro throws a pillow at him.

Ronin bats it aside. "Thought it was the parent's job to protect their kids," he said. "What makes you think it's got to be the other way around?"

"Because my dad can't fight, idiot!" Morro shouts. "And he's the one in trouble!"

"Still–"

A harsh banging comes from the shop. Ronin looks back and stands up. "Just a second, kid," he says. "Need to go check that out."

He leaves. After a moment's thought, Morro forces his body off the couch and creeps to the door.

"Shop's closed," Ronin says through the screen door. "You need something?"

"Yes," the person on the outside responds. "I'm looking for Cyrus Borg's children."

Morro goes stiff.

"Haven't seen 'em," Ronin says casually. "Anything else?"

From what he can see, the person he's talking to has long black hair and a cloak that does little to disguise a suit of armor. It's easy for Morro to put two and two together; this is one of the Hands of Time, and Krux is an old man, so this must be Acronix.

"Are you certain?" Acronix says. "I've asked all around the city, and all I heard was that the son was seen here. So, are you lying to me?"

Ronin laughs. "You're the ones who kidnapped his dad, aren't you? Forgive me if I'm not about to tell you what I know!"

Morro has heard enough. He steps away from the door and goes out the back. In the alley, he hesitates and puts a hand over his chest–but Acronix is only one person. Surely he can take her in a fight.

He runs out onto the sidewalk and opens his mouth to shout.

The sight of three Vermillion warriors makes him freeze.

Acronix turns to face him. "Oh!" she says. "He's right here! You are Morro, correct?"

Ronin groans. "Goddammit, kid!"

Morro glares at her. "I'm Morro Sky Borg," he says, "and you're the one who kidnapped my dad!"

"I'm not here to cause trouble," Acronix says. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Have you seen your sister? I don't know what she looks like."

Morro ignores the question and charges forward.

Immediately, two of the Vermillion warriors grab him, holding him back by his arms. Morro screams and struggles, kicking his legs and trying to call on his elemental powers that stay just out of his reach.

"Calm down," Acronix says. "I don't want to hurt–hey!"

She barely blocks Ronin's sword from cutting into her shoulder. The timeblade crackles. Ronin grits his teeth and steps fully outside the pawn shop. "Let him go," he says. "Haven't you done enough to him?"

Acronix vanishes in a burst of green and reappears some dozen feet away. "I am only here by request of his father," she snaps. "But if you keep attacking me–"

The wind roars. The force of the gust nearly knocks Acronix and Ronin over, and Morro manages to rip one arm free of the snake creatures. He focuses his powers and aims a contained burst of wind right into Acronix's gut.

She staggers back, but recovers quickly. "You're the Master of Wind?!" she exclaims. "How?"

"The hell do you mean, how?" Morro tries to focus the wind like a knife, cutting apart the snakes the Vermillion are made of, but he only knocks them back a few feet. The other Vermillion warrior still has a hard grip around his arm.

Acronix steps closer, keeping an eye on Ronin. "I met a Master of Wind, once," she says. "He looked a lot like you, but this was decades ago."

Morro is not going to tell Acronix his whole life story. "Shut up!" he shouts. With a burst of effort, he manages to rip his other arm free and run forward.

He collapses not six feet from where he started.

"Kid!" Ronin shouts. Morro barely catches himself in time to stop his head from cracking against the sidewalk. His ears fill with static and his vision wavers.

Someone kneels down at his side. Morro is conscious just long enough to confirm they're not a Vermillion or Acronix, and that's enough to let himself go.

Ronin squints at the armored figure picking up Morro. "Nya?"

The person dressed in as Samurai X nods at him–though didn't Nya give up that title? Ronin frowns, but he has Acronix to worry about.

"You know them?" Acronix asks.

"Sure," Ronin says. He just has to hope whoever's wearing the armor is a friend. "I'll check in with you later!" he calls out as they walk away with Morro. He doesn't get a response.

Acronix shifts her weight from side to side. "I don't want to fight you," she says. "I'm here on behalf of Morro's father."

Ronin raises an eyebrow. "You mean Cyrus Borg, who you kidnapped?"

"He asked me to make sure his children are safe," Acronix says. "Is Morro safe with you?"

Ronin snorts. "As safe as he can be without your guys trying to beat him up. Look, you're not welcome here, alright? Get the hell out."

He points the sword at her. Acronix doesn't move. "That's not an answer!" she snaps. "If he's not safe–"

"If he's not, what are you going to do about it?"

Acronix glares at him. Ronin glares right back. "Listen," he says, "I care about the kid, as hard as it is to admit, and I'm not gonna let him get hurt if I can help it. You're making my job a lot harder. Get out of here before I have to force you."

"Fine," Acronix snaps, and she turns away. "Come on, you two."

The snake creatures follow her down the street. Ronin watches them until they turn a corner and disappear from sight. He sighs. "Should probably tell the ninja about this," he says to himself.

Hopefully Nya was the one in the Samurai X armor, and the ninja already know. If not…

Ronin sheaths his sword and goes back inside.

She was hoping to return to base without Krux noticing she had gone to the city, but he confronts her in the swamp before she even gets inside. "Good afternoon, brother," Acronix says brightly while he frowns at her. "Is something wrong?"

"Acronix," Krux says. "Why did you take the timeblade outside the swamp?"

Acronix laughs nervously. "Well, I wanted to go for a walk–"

"Don't lie to me, sister. I was informed you went all the way into the city, without a disguise, with the timeblade, and with only two Vermillion as protection!"

Acronix frowns. "I am fully capable of taking care of myself. I took precautions–"

"What's more," Krux continues, "you were asking about Borg's children, presumably as a request from him. Am I wrong?"

"You are not," Acronix says. "Is there a problem with that?"

Krux sighs. "I understand that you're unhappy with keeping him captive," he says, "but it is, unfortunately, a necessary evil. He'll finish the apparatus in due time, and once he does, we'll return him to his home. In the meantime, I'd advise you not to encourage him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Machia caught him attempting sabotage," Krux says. "Now, I'm not blaming you, but we have to remember that Borg does not want to be here, and would work against us if given the chance. We cannot let him get too comfortable. Do you understand, Acronix?"

Acronix bites her lip. "Yes," she says, "but I don't like it."

Krux pats her shoulder. "I know, sister. Now come; Machia has a plan to get the timeblade back, but we need your BorgWatch to act on it."

Acronix brightens up. "Of course!" she says, and walks with her brother into the building.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve

Still, you’ve got this empty cage.
Oh, your heart, oh your heart, is it beating once again?
And the dark, and the dark, it is speaking to you, friend?

The Family Crest – Waiting Still

The BorgWatch tracks the subtle temporal fluctuations the stolen timeblade gives off, complete with a map pinpointing the exact location. Acronix is amazed by the technology–something she used to feel on instinct and attributed to her elemental mastery is really something that can be examined and monitored from an outside perspective! Cyrus Borg did all this?

She feels a brief pang of guilt. She hasn't told Cyrus about finding his son. Krux hasn't let him out of the workspace since his attempt at sabotage. Acronix doesn't know what he did, but Krux is determined to see his plan through to the end.

Acronix corrects herself. Their plan. They're doing this together. Acronix and Krux, the Hands of Time. Just because Krux came up with the majority of it…

"Are you alright, sister?"

She snaps out of it. "Yes, of course," she says. "I'm just… nervous, I suppose."

Krux pats her back. "Nervous?" he says with a smile. "Where's the warrior who fought by my side in the Serpentine War?"

Acronix looks away. "Maybe I left him behind forty years ago."

"Oh, Acronix…" His voice softens. "I know this future is different, in so many ways, but I swear this to you: no matter how you define yourself, I will always love you for who you are."

"I know, Krux." She manages to smile at him. "I love you too."

They leave shortly afterwards.

It's a long ride across the desert, and the vehicles Krux's–their Vermillion built are old-fashioned and slow. Acronix distracts herself with her BorgPad, to her brother's clear annoyance, but he leaves her be until they approach the ninja's base. Acronix puts it away when they're close, watching the floating chunk of land on the horizon get closer and closer.

"How do we get up there?" she asks.

"The Vermillion can be launched via catapult," Krux says. "They'll break apart on impact and reform. Their weapons will go separately, otherwise we'd be sending a pile of chopped snakes to fight."

"Are we going up by catapult?"

"What? Of course not." Krux raises an eyebrow. "Don't be disappointed, you'd break every bone in your body."

"I'm not disappointed," Acronix protests, "I just thought we would be fighting, too."

"Only as a last resort, and we are not going in the catapults."

Acronix rolls her eyes. "Ugh. Why did I even bring my timeblade?"

"Because if we do fight, I want to win." Krux signals to Machia. "We're close enough. Get ready, sister."

Nya lets Skylor take a nap in her room and heads down to the meeting room. "Hey, sis," Kai says when she joins him and the others. "How's Skylor doing?"

"She's exhausted," Nya says. "I think using time powers takes a lot out of her."

"It was supposed to be the most powerful element, correct?" Zane says. "It makes sense that it would take more energy to use."

Jay picks up the timeblade. "So what do we do with this?" he says. "If it's too powerful to keep around, we should like, get rid of it, right?"

Lloyd frowns. "We should hold onto it for now. We'll be in trouble if the Hands of Time get their hands on it."

"They're going to want it back," says Cole. "We should be prepared for an attack. What should we do?"

They all look to Lloyd. "What?" he says. "I don't have any ideas."

"You're our leader, aren't you?" Kai says. "I mean, while Wu's out of commission…"

"I was hoping to talk to him today…"

Misako shakes her head. "He might not be up for that."

"When will he be up for it?" Lloyd asks. "I know he's recovering, but it's been days and it doesn't feel like he's getting any better."

She doesn't answer.

Before Lloyd can ask what she's hiding, something crashes outside. The ninja all jump to their feet. "What was that?!" Kai exclaims.

"The Hands of Time, most likely," says Zane.

"What? How do you know that?"

"Who else would attack us?" Zane frowns. "We know Borg has the technology to track temporal anomalies, and the Hands of Time have Cyrus Borg. They may have tracked the timeblade to our location."

"Well, shit," says Cole.

Lloyd's face hardens. "Mom, keep an eye on Wu. Nya, go wake up Skylor–I know she's tired, but we're gonna need her. Everyone else–" He gestures outside. "Get out there!"

Morro wakes up somewhere he doesn't recognize, which he's really getting tired of. His chest hurts, whatever he's been placed on is hard and cold, and his head is spinning. He stares at the stone ceiling for a few moments before forcing himself to sit up.

"Are you awake?"

He flinches at Nya's voice. "The hell–" He coughs, tries again. "What are you doing here, Water Ninja?!"

The Samurai X armor covers her face and makes her expression unreadable; funny, he thought Nya gave up that title. "You're lucky I came by in time," she says, sitting in front of an array of computer screens. "You have quite a few medical conditions."

He doesn't need to be reminded. "Yeah," Morro says, "Whatever–whatever's going on with my heart."

"That's not the only one." Samurai X gestures at the screens, filled with text and diagrams that Morro doesn't recognize. "They may have been focused on your heart, since it is the most serious, but the lack of investigation in other areas could be considered medical negligence. It's highly likely you have a form of asthma, and in addition, you have a hormone imbalance I cannot diagnose. You should still be in the hospital, not trying to fight."

Morro decides to ignore her and swings his legs down from the table.

Samurai X is at his side in an instant, her hands on his shoulders. "Don't go anywhere," she says. "We have work to do."

"I don't care," he snaps. "I don't see why you care either, Water Ninja. You don't even like me!"

She doesn't say anything for a moment. "Do you not trust me?"

Morro is about to say no, of course not, but he hesitates. As much as he has history with Nya, as the ninja who stopped the Preeminent, she wouldn't hurt him. They don't like each other, but unlike him and Lloyd, Morro and Nya can at least be in the same room together.

That, and she saved his life.

Samurai X speaks again, in a different voice:

"Would you trust Ronin more?"

Morro yanks himself away.

Samurai X manages to grab him before he falls off the table. "Careful, kid–"

"You're not Ronin!" Morro screeches. "You're not Nya, either! Who the fuck are you?!"

"Calm down," Samurai X says, using Skylor's voice. "Is it that hard to believe I'm a friend?"

"I don't have friends!" Morro tries to pull away, but Samurai X has a strong grip. "There's only three people I give a shit about–Ronin, Skylor, and Borg. You're not any of them!"

"I am trying to help you, Morro."

"I don't care!"

He pulls free and immediately falls on the hard ground, landing on his hip and arm. Pain flares up in his arm, too much to be from a simple fall, and Morro grits his teeth and rolls onto his back, clutching his arm to his chest.

Samurai X kneels down next to him. "I am trying to help you," she repeats, still using Skylor's voice. "Do you not believe me?"

"It doesn't matter." Morro squeezes his eyes shut, a few tears beginning to form. "I don't want help, okay?!"

"You cannot possibly expect to fight all of the Hands of Time's minions by yourself."

"I'm sure as hell going to try!"

"You're going to get yourself killed."

"I don't care."

Samurai X says nothing. Morro rolls onto his side, facing away from her. "You know how many fathers I've burned through?" he says. "Three. I don't even remember my real father, and he's definitely dead by now. Master Wu–" God, he doesn't want to think about Master Wu. "–and now Borg's kidnapped. It's just going to keep happening. I'll get passed on to someone else, and as soon as I start feeling happy, something will happen to them, too. I'm tired. I don't want to keep doing this."

"You do have a history of suicide ideation," Samurai X says.

"No shit?"

"Unfortunately, we do not have the time, and I do not have the patience. We have the same goal, Morro."

The pain in his arm isn't going away. "What, killing me?"

"I am not losing both my father and my brother to the Hands of Time."

The new voice is harsh, with more emotion than he's ever heard her use before. Morro doesn't process her words at first, and when he does, he refuses to believe them. "You're not Pixal," he says.

The Samurai X helmet is placed deliberately in front of him with a soft thunk. "Morro, look at me."

He doesn't, not at first. He would be content lying on the cold floor for the rest of his miserable life. Morro slowly sits up, his body aching, and takes a deep breath before he looks at Samurai X's face.

Pixal sets her green eyes on him and repeats herself. "We have the same goal," she says, "and it is to rescue our father. He would be devastated if you died in the attempt. I will not let that happen."

"We don't even know each other," Morro says.

"True," says Pixal, "but we have the same father, and he loves us dearly. I will do everything in my power to stop Acronix and Krux and bring him home."

"That's what I'm trying to do!" he snaps. "But no one will let me! Everyone's worried I'm going to drop dead–"

"It's not an unreasonable fear."

"–and all you're gonna do is tell me I can't do anything!"

"I will not," Pixal says firmly. "You may not be able to do what you used to do, but I brought you here because I know you need to do something, just as I do. I understand, Morro. I left Zane for the same reason."

Morro grits his teeth and looks away. "So what are you going to tell me, then?"

"That we have to think outside the box." Pixal stands up. "As we speak, the Hands of Time have an army of Vermillion Warriors, and they are approaching the ninja's base. They would overpower the ninja even if we fought with them. I need you, Morro."

She almost sounds genuine. Morro can't find it within himself to believe her, but she's humoring him more than anyone else has. "Fine," he says. "Fine, sure. What do you need me for?"

They defeat the first wave of Vermillion without much fanfare. "That was a lot easier than I expected," Cole says. "You think we should've let Skylor sleep?"

Kai glances at the house; Nya and Skylor hadn't emerged yet. "Probably," he says. "Can we go inside now?"

"Maybe," Jay says, his voice pitched in fear, "just maybe, we should wait until we don't have a bunch of snakes being catapulted at us!"

Lloyd turns around. "Hey," he says, "just wondering, but is there a reason they're all going to the same pile of armor?"

The ninja spin around to face the amalgamation of armor and snakes rising above them, over twice the size of the Vermillion Warriors it consists of. It hisses, a chorus of snakes performing in unison, and swipes at Zane, knocking him nearly to the edge of the floating island.

Nya and Skylor run outside. Wordlessly, Skylor leaps at the armored creature and clings to it, narrowing her eyes as she focuses her powers. Kai realizes she's using the elemental power of metal, fusing its armor together and restricting its movement.

The snake creature swings around and flings her off. Cole catches her. "Whoa, you alright?"

"Fine!" Skylor spits, getting back to her feet. "Come on, you stupid–!"

She disappears in a flash of green light. The next moment, she's collapsed on one knee several meters away.

"Skylor!" Nya shouts. "Kai, take care of this thing!"

Kai grimaces behind his mask. "How am I supposed to do that?"

Cole flexes his arms, his hands glowing orange. "How 'bout I give it a try?"

"Oh, really!" Jay shouts, backing away as the snakes approach him. "You're gonna use your super strength that doesn't work half the–"

The upsized Vermillion is thrown off the floating island and smashed on the ground.

Machia isn't bothered. "Overwhelming force," she says. "Don't stop until we've won!"

Acronix tunes out the commotion, sits down, and uses a knife to draw lines in the sand.

"Get up, Acronix."

Acronix rolls her eyes. "Well, brother, maybe if I had something to do–"

Krux lets out a loud sigh. "You can't possibly be bored as we're putting our plans into motion!"

"It's not my plan!" Acronix lets herself fall backwards on the ground. "It's not even your plan, it's Machia's!"

"Technically," Blunck says, "we're a hivemind, so it's actually all of our plan!"

"No, it's not," Machia says.

Acronix groans. From her point on the ground, she can see the ninja's flying ship slowly sinking to the ground, and more capsules are crashing into their base. She rolls her eyes. She and Krux are winning the fight and they didn't even get to do anything.

Then she spots a sparking energy dragon barreling down at them.

She doesn't wait for her brother to stop her; Acronix scrambles to her feet, the timeblade buzzing in her hand, and jumps up onto a higher ledge. Ignoring Krux's shouts, she watches the dragon dive closer and closer, a green-clothed figure sitting on its back, and waits for it to appear in reach.

The dragon roars and breathes green flames across the catapults. The Vermillion run for cover. Another capsule is launched in the panic, breaking apart in midair and sending swords careening down. The ninja lets out a sharp yelp and the dragon moves with him, swerving to dodge the falling blades, and nearly throwing Acronix off its tail.

She pulls herself further up the dragon, her heart pounding. Acronix bites back her fear and adjusts her grip.

"Hey, Green Ninja!" she shouts.

The dragon flickers. "What!" the ninja shouts. "How did you–"

Acronix wants to strike first, but not falling off is proving a challenge. Still, she taunts him: "Scared, boy?"

"I'm not–" The dragon flickers again. The ninja gets to his feet, his elemental dragon providing him balance as long as his mind is steady. "I can't be–"

The dragon disappears.

Huh, Acronix thinks as she falls. Maybe this was a bad idea.

She doesn't panic until she looks down and realizes oh, shit, they were really high up. Even then, Acronix tries to keep herself together, her mind racing to find a way out. She's too high above the cliff to be safe landing on top, she doesn't have enough time–

Someone catches her. Acronix yelps as her descent abruptly comes to a stop. It's one of the Vermillion drones, she realizes, looking up at its armored face, and being held by dozens of writhing snakes is not a pleasant sensation.

She groans and slumps back in its arms. "Krux is going to be furious."

Engines roar, and a huge mech rushes by her as she descends. Acronix squints up at it. Looks like the machine caught Lloyd and is carrying him back up to the base. She furrows her brow. "Who's piloting that?" she asks the drone, who doesn't respond.

They land. Krux doesn't say anything to Acronix. He gestures at the Vermillion once it puts her down and barks orders to the rest, while Acronix crosses her arms and glares at the ground.

"Acronix!"

"What?!" she snaps.

Krux gestures to the vehicle they arrived on. "You want to fight so bad?" he says. "Get on the ship. We're going up there."

Acronix brightens up immediately. "We are?"

He smiles at her. "Unless you've changed your mind?"

He steps out of the way as Acronix barrels towards the ship. "What are you waiting for, brother? Let's take back what's ours!"

The Samurai X mech drops Lloyd on the ground. He lands face down in the dirt. With a groan, he pushes himself up just as Kai reaches him and crouches beside him. "Lloyd, bro, you okay?"

"You!" Nya shouts, and she abandons Skylor to run towards the mech at full tilt. "That's mine! You stole it!"

She pulls out her sword as she runs. Whoever's piloting the mech takes a step back, as if they're threatened by a single sword. Lloyd stands up and holds up his hand.

"Nya, stop," he says. "They just saved my life."

Nya slows to a stop next to Lloyd and Kai, still glaring up at the mech. "Could they have done that without stealing my stuff?" she snaps.

"Cool it, sis," says Kai. "I know your Samurai X armor is important to you–"

Nya shoves him. "Yeah, it is! Way more important than that armor you've been carrying around!"

"Hey!"

She ignores him and faces the mech. "I have a right to an explanation!" she shouted. "Who are you!"

"Dude," Cole said, "there's no one in the cockpit!"

The mech turns around, as if hiding its face. Nya rolls her eyes. "So what?" she says. "I built it to be controlled remotely. All that means is whoever stole it is too much of a coward to show themself!"

"Nya!" Lloyd snaps. "Did you forget that they saved my life?"

Nya hesitates, but only for a moment. "They stole my suit!"

In that moment, the mech takes off again, flying off the edge of the floating island and diving towards the Vermillion on the ground.

A catapult gets it a moment later.

"Goddammit," Lloyd says, watching the mech crash to the ground.

Nya snorts. "They stole my suit and they can't even take care of it properly!"

"Guys!" Skylor shouts.

The ninja spin around to see a Vermillion shoving Skylor down and barging its way into the building. Skylor grimaces and scrambles to her feet, her hands glowing green–but when she uses the fast-forward power, she reappears only a few feet away, collapsed on the ground.

"Skylor!" Nya rushes to her with the others. "Skylor, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she manages to say. "That thing's going after the timeblade!"

Lloyd barely hears her words. All he can think is that he left the timeblade with Wu and Garmadon, and the Hands of Time want them dead. He doesn't know if they would order the Vermillion to kill, but he's not going to risk finding out the hard way.

He runs into the building, the rest of the ninja behind him.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen

Well, mother, what the war did to my legs and to my tongue.
You should've raised a baby girl, I should've been a better son!
If you could coddle the infection, they can amputate at once.
You should've been, I could have been a better son!

My Chemical Romance – Mama

When Lloyd gets inside, the Vermilion has already broken into Wu's room. His mother is locked in combat with it, blocking its sword with an old frying pan, while Garmadon stands in front of Wu in a corner, leaning on his cane and holding the timeblade in his other hand–but Wu is barely on his feet, and Lloyd knows his father can't fight anymore.

The armored snakes knock down Misako and move towards Garmadon and Wu, faster than Lloyd expects. He doesn't stop to make sure his mother is okay, not when the Vermilion has already knocked the timeblade out of Garmadon's hand and is raising its sword–

Lloyd hits the warrior hard enough to make it stumble, leaving it vulnerable for Lloyd to shove his sword through the gaps in its armor and rip out the snakes. He cuts one in half by accident; Lloyd feels a shred of sympathy when he sees its two halves twitching on the ground, the other snakes slithering away from it, but it's fleeting. He kicks the pieces of armor away and stomps his feet, scaring the snakes from reforming.

"Lloyd!" Misako shouts. He turns around just barely too late to dodge a punch to the head.

Most of the force is deflected, but this Vermilion has a gauntlet, and it hurts. Lloyd grits his teeth. "Kai!" he shouts, blocking another blow with his sword. "Everyone! Where are you!"

"We're a little busy!" Cole shouts from the hall.

"I've kinda got a situation over here!"

"Join the club!"

Lloyd bites back a retort and focuses on defending Garmadon and Wu. Misako tries to slam the frying pan on the Vermilion's head, but it jerks back, hissing at her. Two more warriors force their way in. Everything is happening too fast.

He needs more time.

Lloyd turns around and rips the timeblade out of his father's hands.

"Lloyd!" Garmadon yelps, but his son ignores him. A light blue dome expands around the Vermilion, stopping just before it envelops Lloyd, Misako, and Garmadon. The three Vermilion are stuck moving in slow-motion, their faces contorting into fury as they can only watch.

"Lloyd," Wu says, his voice hoarse. "You need to be careful."

"That's not your power to use, boy!"

Across the room, Lloyd sees the green crackle of the other timeblade before he makes out Acronix, most of her face covered by a hood with only her furious eyes showing. Lloyd quickly realizes they have nowhere to go; the slow-down will wear off in moments, Acronix blocks the only exit, and the other ninja aren't any help if they failed to stop her from entering their base.

So he does the only sensible thing.

Lloyd shoves the timeblade back into Garmadon's hands and charges his own elemental power.

Misako gasps. "What are you–"

She doesn't finish the sentence before Lloyd unleashes his green energy and blasts a hole through the wall.

"Good God, son!" Garmadon exclaims.

"Shut up and run!" Lloyd shouts back.

Garmadon manages to get outside on his own, but Misako and Lloyd have to help Wu escape. The time bubble bursts before they make it out. Lloyd turns back to fight off the three Vermilion as they crowd around him.

"Get out of the way!" Acronix shouts at the warriors. "They still won't listen to me? Fine!"

Acronix picks up one Vermilion and throws it to the side. It crashes against the wall and manages a bewildered expression before exploding into its individual snakes. The other two pause, clearly not expecting friendly fire, which gives Lloyd time to break apart another. He runs his sword through the last one standing at the same time as Acronix stabs her timeblade into it.

The snakes slither without coordination around their feet. Lloyd faces Acronix, breathing hard.

Acronix raises the timeblade. "You are testing my patience," she says. "Stand aside."

"Oh, sure," Lloyd says. "So you can kill my family?"

"Your family took me away from my family!" Acronix takes a step forward. "Stand aside, and maybe I'll let you live!"

"Acronix, wait."

Lloyd doesn't dare look back. "Get back, Wu!" he snaps when his uncle puts a hand on his shoulder. "You're still hurt!"

"Please, Lloyd," he says. "I need to talk to her."

"I don't think–"

Acronix swings the timeblade. Lloyd flinches, but it doesn't touch them. "Don't lie to me!" she shouts.

"It's the truth," Wu says. "Acronix, it doesn't have to end like this."

"Oh, sure!" The timeblade she holds glows brighter. "We can all shake hands, make amends, and my brother and I will go off to live in a world that will never accept us!" Acronix jabs the timeblade in their direction. "In more ways than one!"

"Maybe," Lloyd says, "if you weren't trying to kill them–"

Acronix glares at him. "Be quiet, you little–"

Wu steps into the room. "I just want to talk," he says.

Acronix takes a deep breath, and in one swift motion, she turns around. She crosses the room in a few large steps and slams the door before spinning back to face them.

"Fine," she says. "Talk."

Lloyd doesn't lower his sword, but he relaxes enough to look outside at his parents. Misako and Garmadon appear to be arguing with each other, but no one's attacking them, and Garmadon still has the timeblade, so, y'know what, fine, they can do what they want. He focuses back on Acronix.

Wu takes a shaky breath. "I have always done…" He pauses to breathe again. "…what I thought was…"

He stops, his head nodding forward. Lloyd puts an arm around him to steady him. He keeps his eyes on Acronix.

"…best for Ninjago," Wu finishes.

Acronix taps her foot. "And?" she says. "Are you saying my brother and I did not?"

Wu shakes his head. "Sometimes," he says, "what I thought was best… was wrong."

"Oh, really."

Wu doesn't speak for a few moments. He's putting most of his weight on Lloyd, who isn't sure that if Acronix attacks, he can support Wu and fight her off at the same time. Lloyd tries to think through his options while Wu takes a deep breath.

"My regrets are too many to speak of," Wu says. "But… I should have known better. I thought you wanted power, and once again, I was wrong. You wanted…"

He trails off. Acronix shakes her head.

"I'll tell you what we wanted," she says. "We wanted respect. We never–never fit in with the other masters, so of course–" Her voice shakes. "–of course you would see fit to remove us from your ranks! We were stronger than all of you, but we didn't fall into line, did we?"

"Acronix," Wu says, "what do you want?"

She raises her voice. "Did you not just hear me?!"

"That's what your brother wants," Wu says. "What about you?"

Acronix swings the timeblade and disappears. Lloyd doesn't have a moment to react before she slams into him and Wu from behind, knocking them both to the ground. He drops his sword and Acronix kicks it away. He tries to get up, but Acronix slams a foot on his back, keeping him pinned while glaring at Wu.

"You don't know a damn thing!" she shouts. "Do you think I would betray my brother for you?! I want what he wants!"

Wu can only wheeze. Lloyd reaches for his sword, grimacing.

"I don't care what I have to do–" Her timeblade crackles with power. "–taking back everything you stole from us will be worth it!"

A voice comes from outside.

"Acronix!" Krux shouts. "Get out here! We have the timeblade, we're going!"

She looks up and lifts her foot. Lloyd wastes no time in throwing himself towards his sword and grabbing it, but when he rolls to face her, Acronix is gone, and Wu is limp on the floor.

"Master Wu!" Lloyd picks himself up and crouches at his side. "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, Lloyd." Wu doesn't look at him. "I believe… I have failed my students once more."

"Wu, you didn't–"

Krux's words sink in. They have the timeblade. Garmadon had the timeblade. Lloyd stands up straight and runs through the hole in the wall.

His heart drops.

Garmadon is struggling in a Vermilion's grip as he's dragged onto the airship, his cane and the timeblade in Krux's hands. The other ninja are scattered; Nya is holding up a half-collapsed Skylor, Cole and Jay running towards the airship from the other side of the island, Zane is with Misako, and Kai–

"Let him go!" Kai yells, fighting his way through the Vermilion while the airship's engines rumble, almost to the edge of the island. "You can't take him!" His voice shakes. "You can't!"

Lloyd spots Acronix running towards them. He abandons Wu to chase her. "Dad!" he shouts. "Let him go! Give him back!"

Acronix jumps forward in a flash of green light and reappears on the airship, next to her brother. The airship begins to pull away from the island. Lloyd slams into a Vermilion, slices through another, doesn't bother gauging the gap between the island and the ship because no matter what, he's not letting them take his father without a fight.

Kai grabs him before he jumps. "Lloyd, you won't make it!"

"I don't care!" Lloyd yells. "Dad! Dad! You can't go!" His eyes fill with tears. "You can't leave me again!"

As the airship drifts farther and farther away, he sees Garmadon stop struggling. He locks eyes with Lloyd and speaks, but he's too far away to hear it over the roar of the engines.

Lloyd falls to his knees. Kai wraps his arms around him as Lloyd buries his face in his hands and screams.

"Shit," Morro says, sitting on the remains of Nya's mech.

He's pretty sure they can't see him from up there. Even if he was closer, his spirit is invisible outside his body, as well as much weaker than a fully-dead ghost. The good news is that, outside his body, he doesn't have to deal with his heart or lungs or whatever other organs are failing him.

The bad news is, after crashing the mech, he's stranded with no way to contact Pixal.

Morro groans and flops back on the sand. "Great," he mutters. "I'm gonna have to walk all the way back now. Didn't even get to do anything!"

A faint buzzing reaches his ears. He sits up and spots a small device flying towards him. He stiffens, but the drone stops just above the mech and hovers there.

It takes Morro a few moments before he realizes he's supposed to possess it. He stands up and reaches a hand towards it.

Inside the drone, Pixal's voice comes through clear. "Morro, are you there?"

"Yes," he says. "Look, I don't know what you expected–"

"Morro, answer me."

Goddammit. Morro grapples with the drone's programming, a sensation that makes him dizzy, and figures out how to send a signal back to his sister. "I'm here."

"Good. Are you alright?"

"You tell me, you've got my body."

"Your vitals are within normal ranges," Pixal says. "I noticed no significant changes while you were gone. What happened after the crash?"

"Don't know. The Hands of Time are leaving." Morro flies the drone up, then reconsiders. "Should I follow them?"

"No. Come back. We don't have enough data on how long you can safely be out of your body, and I'd like you here in case you need to return sooner rather than later."

"Yeah," Morro says, "'cause even like this, I'm always–"

Pixal interrupts him. "Our priority now is gathering information. We will talk more once you return." She pauses. "You did a good job, Morro."

"I don't need your pity."

"You saved Lloyd's life," Pixal says. "I know you would not have left him to fall, but given that you are unfamiliar with the controls of this mech, it bears mention. You made sure he was safely with the others before you attempted to attack the Hands of Time. I do not praise you lightly, Morro."

Morro doesn't respond.

"Come back. We have work to do."

"Okay," Morro says, and he begins the long flight back to his sister.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen
Even in the midst of the ticking time that flows,
the lack of empathy here is spinning round and round in circles.
I can't even see that my heart is separating
leaving me alone, 'til I just don't know–

The Musical Ghost – Bad Apple!! [Electro Swing Remix (ft. OR3O & adrisaurus)]

When he overheard the plan to retrieve the timeblade, Cyrus had listened carefully and wondered–if Machia is going with the others, would he be left alone? Could he program a kill switch into the device he's forced to build, or–the idea almost thrills him–could he try to escape?

Instead, Cyrus is locked in a cell until the Hands of Time return.

He allows himself to rage for a while, and shouts through the bars at the Vermilion assigned to guard him. Fear overwhelms him as time creeps on; they left him with no food, water, or even a toilet. What happens if they don't come back? Cyrus holds his head in his hands and tries not to display weakness. The tears come anyway.

After that, there's nothing else to do.

He doesn't know how long it's been when he finally hears voices. He snaps his head up from where he was dozing and rolls to the locked door, his heart pounding. He recognizes Acronix, Krux, Machia, the other two… is there another voice there, or is he imagining things?

Machia appears in his field of vision. Cyrus can't suppress a frightened squeak.

She doesn't comment, just unlocks the door and opens it. "Get moving," she says. "There's work to do."

Cyrus nods and wheels himself back to the workspace.

Acronix and Krux are in the room when he arrives, standing by the table with a handful of Vermilion. "Good," Krux says. "Borg, over here."

Some of his rage is coming back. "What now?" Cyrus snaps. "I'm doing what you've asked of me!"

Krux rolls his eyes. "Machia, bring him."

Machia grabs Cyrus' wheelchair and he yelps, grabbing his wheels uselessly as she lifts him and the chair off the ground and carries him over. He tries to keep himself calm, but he's put down with such a jolt that he nearly falls off his chair, and Machia puts her hands on his shoulders.

He looks at Acronix. She doesn't meet his gaze.

Krux slams his fist on the table and Cyrus snaps to attention. "You have one more week to complete the apparatus," he says.

"One week?" Cyrus tries to sound defiant, but it comes out as more of a squeak. "You are awfully demanding of a machine that's never been built before!"

"Will you do it?"

Cyrus looks away. "Are you giving me any other choice?"

Krux narrows his eyes. "Will you do it, Borg? Or is such a feat beyond even your genius?"

Cyrus turns to face him.

"It will be done in half the time," he says.

Krux opens his mouth, closes it, then nods and straightens up. "Get to work, then," he says, and walks out. Machia and the other Vermilion follow; he can hear two of them muttering to each other.

"Wait, if a week is seven days, how can it be cut in half? Seven's an odd number!"

"Uh, duh, Blunck! Fractions!"

"Why do I have to share a hivemind with you two," says Machia.

Acronix stays at the doorway. Cyrus ignores her and looks over his diagrams. He hasn't worked with Chronosteel before, but after being allowed to examine the timeblade, he was able to run enough tests to determine how its elemental power reacts to other materials. He can build this, he tells himself. Three and a half days. He's gone through worse for longer, he can survive this, too. The prototypes already function as expected, so the final apparatus–

"Your son is safe."

Cyrus drops his pencil.

Acronix glances down the hall before turning back to him. "He was staying with a man named Ronin," she says. "He tried to fight me, and collapsed shortly afterwards. Someone named Nya helped him."

"Is he hurt?" Cyrus says quietly. "You didn't–"

"I didn't hurt him, no. He appeared to have overexerted himself." Acronix looks away. "I couldn't find any information on your daughter."

His hands tremble. Three and a half days, he thinks. He will be released when his work is completed. Then, and only then, will he see Morro and Pixal again.

"Is there anything else you need?"

Cyrus picks the pencil back up. "No," he says. "Leave me to my work."

Acronix lingers for a few moments longer before she exits, closing the door behind her.

Back in his body, Morro feels exhausted. He sits in a folding chair while Pixal assures him his vitals are normal. "It could be that existing outside your body is tiring," she says, "but you are certainly capable of more activity than you would be in a physical form."

"Sure," Morro says. "So what's next?"

His voice echoes in the abandoned factory floors. Without the CEO, Borg Industries temporarily halted production and gave the non-essential employees a paid leave, so it was easy enough for Pixal to build herself a new body without being caught. She stands in front of an array of screens that she's hidden from the network, so the employees who are still working don't know they're there.

Pixal taps her foot. "I don't know," she says. "I have very little data on where the Hands of Time's base is. The secret passages in the museum lead to the sewers, but none of the maps I have are up to date, and I don't know where they exit."

Morro frowns. "Well, I'm not doing nothing."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Maybe I do!" he snaps. "Did you forget I was a general before this?"

She pauses. "I was not being sarcastic," Pixal says, "but I didn't think of that. You did lead an army."

Morro rolls his eyes. "Not that it does me a lot of good now. I don't have an army anymore."

"Would you like one?"

He stares at her with his mouth open. It takes a few moments to find words. "Excuse me?"

"Our father's security nindroids have been defending the tower from the Vermilion for the past few days." Pixal glances at the screens. "I did not involve them because I don't wish to reveal my identity, and they will not trust a stranger. They may listen to you."

"And they can fight?"

"How do you think they're defending the tower? Asking nicely?"

Morro laughs. "Good point!" he says. "Fine. Where are they?"

Pixal uploads the floor and room number to his BorgWatch. "Use the intercom inside the elevator," she says. "If Sentry agrees to meet with you, you may proceed. If not…"

"Then we don't have an army."

"Then we try something else," Pixal says. "Good luck, Morro. I will meet with you later."

He raises an eyebrow. "And where are you going?"

Pixal turns away. "Nya wants answers. I owe her a meeting, if nothing else. I will contact you when I return."

"Fair enough. See you."

He stands up too fast and the room spins. Pixal catches him before he topples over. "Careful, Morro."

Morro grips her arm and takes deep breaths. Tears well up in his eyes. "You really fucking think I'm useful like this?" he spits. "I can't–I can't–"

"There are many ways to be useful," says Pixal. "You have already assisted the ninja, and I have no doubt you will be an asset with me." She tightens her own hand on his shoulder, using a fraction of the force he knows her metal body is capable of. "We will save him."

Hearing it from his sister, Morro can almost believe it.

"Right," he says. He straightens up and wipes his eyes. "Right. Which elevator do I take?"

As directed, Morro finds the elevator and hits the intercom. "Hello?" he says. "Is this–"

The robotic voice cuts him off before he can finish. "This is the Borg Tower security department. Who is this?"

"Morro," he says, then quickly adds, "Sky Borg. I need to talk with Sentry."

"This is he." The voice pauses. "You are Dr. Borg's son."

"Yes," he says. "I wanted to meet with you and the other nindroids in your department. Are you available now?"

"What do you require of us?"

Morro frowns. "I'm not having this conversation when I can't even see you."

"Very well, then."

The elevator moves without pressing any buttons. Morro stumbles, then stands up stiff and straight. He was the Preeminent's lieutenant, he tells himself. He knows how to lead. He can convince this new army to fight under his command.

The doors open. Morro steels himself.

He steps out into long hallway with many doors on either side. A nindroid dressed in white greets him. "I am Sentry," he says. "I need to see your ID, please."

Morro raises an eyebrow. "Would I be anyone else?"

Sentry doesn't budge. "I need to see your ID."

Morro sighs and digs in his pocket for his wallet. Thankfully, his Borg Tower ID card is still in there, though after months of wear, it's in poor condition. Sentry holds it like it'll crumble beneath his touch, examining it closely. "Good," he says, and hands it back. "We already scanned your face and matched it to your profile, but it is good that you're willing to work with us."

"If I wasn't, this conversation would go very differently."

"It would," Sentry agrees. "You are Dr. Borg's son, so we would not harm you, but we would only need thirty seconds to restrain you and disarm your elemental powers."

Morro blinks. "Excuse me?" he snaps. "Did Dad–did Borg tell you to do that?"

"Our job is to protect Borg Industries from all possible threats, inside and out. He instructed us to prepare for every possible scenario." Sentry shrugs. "Don't take it personally. Dr. Borg has similar instructions regarding himself, in the event he is compromised."

"So, what, he thinks I'll just go crazy one day?"

"I cannot speculate on what he thinks," Sentry says, "but I do know that several years ago, his precautions were not enough to prevent an ancient evil from infecting every system and turning Dr. Borg himself into a puppet. Anyone could be compromised, he has no reason to make exceptions for any of his children."

Morro takes a deep breath. "Right," he says. "I'm…"

He bites his tongue. Don't apologize. It makes you weak.

"I'm here for your help," he says.

Sentry tilts his head. "Is this about Dr. Borg's kidnapping?"

"What else would it be?" Morro looks around. "How many of you are here?"

The hallway doors slide open. Several nindroids identical to Sentry walk out and line up on either side of the hallway, more and more until there must be several dozen of them, all armed. Morro nods.

"Cyrus Borg was kidnapped several days ago," he says. "I attempted several times to rescue him myself, but I was recently diagnosed with a heart condition that makes overexertion dangerous. I have one ally who does not wish to reveal her–" Wait, shit. "–his–" No, that wasn't the right pronoun, either. "–their identity, but even so, there is only so much the two of us can do."

Sentry nods. "So you come to us."

"We thought you would trust me more than someone anonymous."

"You are not wrong," Sentry says. "However, I believe you are overestimating how much we can trust you."

Morro narrows his eyes. "Is there a reason for you not to trust me?"

"Yes. You are a depressed teenager with a history of reckless behavior–"

He raises his voice. "So you think I'm not capable?"

"–and you personally orchestrated the summoning of the Preeminent in an attempt to curse all sixteen realms."

Morro doesn't respond to that.

Sentry looks him in the eye. "Dr. Borg trusts you," he says, "but we, as his security team, must be prepared in the event his trust is misplaced. Do not take this personally. We have procedures in place for everyone close to him."

"Oh, good," Morro says. "Which is why you kept him safe at the BorgWatch reveal, right?"

One of the nindroids in the hall beeps loudly. Morro ignores them.

Sentry takes a few moments to respond. "Dr. Borg does not want us in public, as we can be intimidating to civilians. We were not aware of any risk factors at the reveal until it was too late."

Morro keeps his voice calm. "So you have plans for if I attempt to harm him, but nothing for if he's attacked outside the tower?"

"What are you implying?"

Morro realizes he's overstepped. "I don't want to imply anything," he says. "With all my elemental powers, I couldn't protect him, either."

Sentry says nothing. Morro takes a deep breath.

Lesser ghosts could be swayed by fear alone, but Bansha, Soul Archer, and Wrayth needed a better reason, and Morro doesn't think Sentry can be won over with food like Ghoultar was. Don't show weakness, but downplay your strengths–Sentry needs to see the benefits of acting together.

"You've been defending the tower for days," Morro says, "but you haven't ventured outside. Again, I'm not implying anything. You definitely have a reason for remaining here, I just want to know what it is."

Sentry nods. "As I said, Dr. Borg does not want us in public. Not only do we have no leads on where to begin searching, but we cannot override his orders so easily."

"So you can't leave?"

"Not easily, no. We would have to go against Dr. Borg's direct orders, and while it is technically possible, doing so would trigger safeguards to prevent another situation like the one years ago, when nindroids created by the Overlord were unable to be controlled."

"Does anyone else have the authority to give you orders?"

"Yes. Pixal has all the same permissions as her father."

"What about me?"

Sentry doesn't answer.

Morro furrows his brow. "I wouldn't be surprised if I had a lower clearance than Borg and Pixal," he says, "but if I'm unable to allow you to leave, then I'm just wasting my time here. Answer me truthfully: do I have the power to give you orders?"

"Yes," Sentry says, and doesn't elaborate.

Finally, it clicks. "I have the power to give you orders," Morro says. "If I ordered you to come with me, you wouldn't have a choice. Is that correct?"

"Not entirely," Sentry says. "We can make our own decisions when the situation calls for it."

"The same way you can override Borg's orders, right?"

Sentry doesn't answer.

He could almost laugh. He's been trying to hard to win their trust, but all Morro has to do is order the security nindroids to listen to him, and they'll follow his every command. Morro sighs and runs a hand through his hair. All of this could have been avoided if he hadn't given them a choice.

He hesitates.

"Is that all you have for us?" Sentry asks.

Morro shakes his head. "You have my permission to leave Borg Tower," he says. "I don't know what orders Borg's given you, but if any of them prevent you from going out and searching for him, I authorize you to override them."

"Understood," says Sentry. "What else?"

"That's it."

Sentry pauses. "That's it?"

"Look," Morro says. "If you don't want to work with me, I'm not going to order you to. You have permission to do your own search. Maybe you'll succeed where I couldn't.

"But," he continues, "you said you don't have any leads where he could be. My friend and I do. I won't order you, but we'll be stronger if we work together. What do you say?"

He holds out his hand.

Sentry says nothing for a few, long moments. The nindroids in the hall stare at him, shifting from side to side as the silence stretches on.

Morro sighs and retracts his hand. "Fine," he says. "Good luck on your own."

"Wait."

He pauses just before the elevator. "What?" he says, turning around.

Sentry looks him in the eyes. "We will help you," he says. "What do we need to do?"

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifteen
I heard about a whirlwind that's coming 'round
It's gonna carry off all that isn't bound
And when it happens, when it happens
(I won't be holding on)
So let it happen, let it happen

Tame Impala – Let It Happen

She shouldn't be here.

The thought repeats over and over. Nya grits her teeth and hits the gas harder than she needs to. After a long day trying to make a plan to attack the Hands of Time, culminating in Lloyd shouting at everyone and locking himself in his room, she should be with Skylor, Kai, and the rest of the team, not chasing whoever stole her armor. Lloyd especially would be pissed if he knew about this.

She pushes those thoughts aside and focuses on the drive.

It doesn't take long to return to her old Samurai X cave. Nya parks outside and marches in. "Hey!" she shouts. "Are you here? You better be!"

The chair in front of the array of screens spins around. Nya narrows her eyes at the armored figure sitting in it.

"So," she says. "You stole my suit."

The person shrugs. "Did you expect anything else?" they say in Ronin's voice.

Nya is taken aback for a moment before collecting herself. "So you're Ronin?" she says. "Do you expect me to believe you'd give up your identity that easily?"

"It is your armor," they say. "I did steal it. Maybe you ought to know."

"Oh, sure," says Nya, "but Ronin would only tell me for a price."

"I guess so." They stand up and switch voices. "Maybe I'm Dareth, the Brown Ninja. He's not the brightest bulb in the box, is he?"

Nya lunges. Samurai X blocks her blow with the chair and throws a punch in response. Nya stops her hand, and they go back and forth blocking each other's attacks until Nya backs off, breathing hard.

"Dareth's not stupid," she says, "and he's so full of himself, he'd never say he was. He's also not a fighter like you are."

"Maybe I picked something up from you," says Samurai X.

"Yeah, no."

They nod. "What about Skylor?" they say, using her voice. "She's a talented ninja, you know."

Nya rolls her eyes. "Even if she wasn't resting right now, she's my girlfriend. If she needed the armor, I'd let her have it–and she would never steal from me!"

"True."

Samurai X pauses. Nya doesn't give them time to choose the next voice.

They catch her first punch. Her second punch hits their armored shoulder and hurts her hand. They grab her wrist before she can recover and hit them again. "Nya," they say, still in Skylor's voice, "I'm a friend, not an enemy."

"You sure as hell aren't a friend!" Nya breaks free and backs up a few steps. "Any friend of mine would ask before taking my armor! Who are you?!"

She runs at them. Samurai X kicks her legs out from underneath her. Nya lands hard on her back and has to take a moment to catch her breath before she rolls to dodge the next blow–

–and nearly falls off the platform.

Samurai X grabs her arm, holding her precariously above the drop. "If not a friend," they say in Nya's own voice, "then an ally. I mean you no harm, and I understand I have stepped out of line by taking your armor. But believe me, Nya, I had no other choice. I can't tell you who I am, but I can't sit back and do nothing."

Nya raises an eyebrow. "Fine," she says. "Can you pull me up, then?"

Samurai X pulls her up and helps her stand. Nya pulls her arm away from them and rolls her eyes. "Fine," she says again. "Fine, fine, take my armor, do whatever. I won't fight you, at least."

"Thank you," says Samurai X.

"But stop using my voice, it's creepy."

"…right."

Nya walks towards the exit. "And you're going to owe me big time," she calls over her shoulder. "We'll have a long talk later, Morro."

Samurai X tilts their head. "How did you know?" they say in Morro's voice.

She laughs. "Not my friend, but not my enemy, huh? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else. Good luck getting your dad back."

Her voice echoes in the cavern, and eventually, the sounds of her motorcycle fade into the distance.

"Interesting," Pixal says, using her own voice. "Well, she's half right."

She sends a quick message to Morro–she'll work out a cover with him later–and leaves.

The first day ends.

Giving orders is easy, Morro thinks. Even without the privilege being Borg's son grants him, it's easy to slip back into the role of commander and tell the nindroids what to do and when to do it.

What's harder is taking a step back and letting Sentry lead alongside him.

"We cannot just march into the sewers and search," Sentry says. "As I told you, we have to respect the Serpentine's territory, and our presence may be seen as an act of aggression."

"Okay," says Morro, "but the Hands of Time went through the sewers, and the Serpentine didn't do shit. What's going on there?"

"We don't have all the information. It could be that they were intimidated, or that they have a truce, or they are actively helping each other."

"So how do we find out?"

Pixal, with the Samurai X helmet covering her face, speaks up. "We could ask the Serpentine directly," she says. "While the relationship between humans and serpentine is strained, we are on good enough terms to request a meeting. It's common knowledge that the Vermilion went through the sewers. It's not unreasonable to ask them about it."

Sentry glances at her. "This is true. Dr. Borg has previously been in contact with the Serpentine, so if that line is still active… Morro, how good are you at diplomacy?"

"Dogshit," says Morro. "I'll stay here. You and Samurai X will go." And Morro had every intention to follow as a spirit, to make sure the Serpentine really aren't hiding anything, but he can talk about that with Pixal later.

Sentry nods. "It would not be wise to bring weapons, but I assume we are both capable of defending ourselves without them."

"Affirmative," says Pixal. "What else do we need to discuss?"

After their meeting, Sentry is the one who makes the call to the Serpentine. Pixal and Morro talk in private. "You're doing a good job," Pixal tells him.

Morro rolls his eyes. "I'd be doing a better job if I didn't have to deal with all this damn bureaucracy."

Pixal nods. "You are doing a good job regardless."

It's hard to believe he's doing any job at all, but Morro bites back that retort. They haven't even left the tower. Their father is still captive. They can't search without talking to the Serpentine. What can they do?

Sentry reports that the Hypnobrai general, Skales, has agreed to meet with them tomorrow, so Morro has to go another day without accomplishing anything. He takes the cocktail of meds the hospital prescribed him, if only to get Pixal off his case, and spends most of the night tossing and turning.

The second day ends.

The ninja need time to prepare for their next steps. They have no timeblades, and Zane reports the next one isn't due to fall for another two days. At least they know when it's going to fall, Skylor thinks. They considered trying to get to it before the time twins, but Lloyd isn't interested.

"We know Krux and Acronix will be there when the timeblade falls," he says. "Especially after their minions messed it up the first time, they'll want to collect it themselves. If we find their base before then, we can break out the prisoners, and it won't matter if they have the timeblades if they can't build what they need them for."

"The timeblades are still dangerous," Nya points out. "Even if we stop whatever they're doing, we don't know if they have a backup plan, or if we can defeat them with the timeblades."

Lloyd doesn't budge. "We'll have the advantage if we find their base."

"I agree with Lloyd," Skylor says. "If we try to pick a fight with them, there's no guarantee we'll get any of the timeblades, and they'll still have a whole army of those snake things. Let's hit the base while they're gone. I still have two time powers, so at least we're evenly matched."

Nya blinks. "Well, okay," she says. "I mean, if you're sure. Using those powers really wears you out."

"I can handle it."

Still, Skylor does need to rest. After the Vermilion's attack on the base, she feels an ache in her muscles that isn't going away. She fidgets all throughout the meeting, and when it ends, she breaks off to go to the spare room.

Nya joins her. "Skylor?"

"Hey," she says with half a smile. "I'm just taking it easy. I'll need to be rested if I have to use the time powers."

"I know." Nya follows her into the room and sits on the bed next to her. "I just… I'm worried."

Skylor puts an arm around her shoulders. "What's the matter?"

"Everything," Nya says. "Garmadon's kidnapped, Wu's getting worse by the day, Lloyd is keeping it together for now but I don't know how long that's gonna last…"

"Hey." Skylor tries to run a hand through Nya's hair but stops when she realizes how tangled it is. "It's gonna be okay."

Nya shakes her head. "We don't know that," she says. "We never do."

"Well, we're gonna do our best. Ninja never quit, right?"

She sighs. "I'm just scared," she says. "I don't like being scared. Makes me feel powerless."

Skylor kisses the top of her head. "You're the strongest person I know," she says softly. "No matter how powerless you feel, you always find a way to do something. I wish you didn't have to, but I feel stronger with you at my side. I always will."

Nya smiles up at her. "Thank you."

Cole calls Nya down to help with a mech, and the third day ends.

The fourth day–

Acronix can barely contain herself, throwing open the door with a bang. "Brother!"

Krux starts and nearly falls off his chair. "Acronix! Good Lord, you frightened me–what is it?"

"The apparatus is complete!"

"It is?" Krux frowns. "Huh. Half a week. He was right."

Acronix nods. "It won't work without all four timeblades, but Borg says it's done." She holds up the forward blade. "I tested it with this one, and, well, nothing happened, but I think–"

"You didn't leave Borg alone with it, did you?"

"No, Machia is with him."

"Good." Krux stands up. "I'll be there soon to make sure everything's in working order. Any information on where the reversal blade is?"

"No," Acronix says, "but, brother–"

"And the pause blade is still going to fall tomorrow?"

"We have the time down to the millisecond. Krux–"

"So we still only have three out of four." Krux grits his teeth. "Damn it, I know something's being kept from us!"

"Krux!"

"Yes, Acronix?"

Acronix sets her jaw. "When can Borg return to his family?"

Krux doesn't respond right away. He opens his mouth, stops, then shakes his head. "What did he tell you?" he asks.

"You said he'd be released when the apparatus was complete," Acronix says, "and now it is."

"Acronix, we can't."

She raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Krux looks away. "I told him that in the hopes it would motivate him, but if we let him go, he'll go straight to the ninja and tell them everything. We can't risk that. He has to stay."

Acronix frowns. "But, brother, he has a family."

Krux snorts. "Borg has a son with no blood relation and a daughter he built from metal. Hardly a family, not like us."

"So you lied?"

"Listen," he says, "you know I don't like him, but believe me when I say I would release him if we could. My family comes first, Acronix. You come first." Krux smiles at her. "Yes, I lied to him, but it was necessary. Everything I've done has been for us."

Acronix bites her lip.

"You're not happy about this."

"It's not just him," she says. "You told me he'd be released when he finished, too."

Krux's smile disappears. "Acronix, that's not the same thing."

"I know, brother." She forces a smile back. "I'll talk to you later."

She leaves. Krux doesn't try to stop her.

Cyrus is still with the machine when she returns. "You told him?" he asks, his tone short.

"I did," Acronix says. "My brother… he wants to see it for himself."

"Fine." Cyrus glances at Machia. "And then I can go?"

Acronix takes a deep breath.

"Yes," she says. "We will release you tonight."

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixteen
Your head's on fire
Your hands and feet come off the ground
Oh, sweet desire
When your mind, when your mind,
When your mind's not strong enough.

The Family Crest – Hearts on Fire

"We have nothing to do with the creatures roaming the sewers," Skales says, clearly offended by the implied accusation. "You have the Serpentine's permission to search within our territory and to remove as many of those abominations as you can."

Sentry nods. "Thank you," he says. "Unless you have any concerns, that is all we needed to discuss today."

"Actually, I believe I may have something that will help." Skales takes out a piece of chipboard with a hand-drawn map on it. "We have mapped the sewers, and while they're beyond our territory, it's likely that the Hands of Time's base is somewhere in this area."

He circles an area past the boundaries of the city. Morro, invisible to the others, leans in closer and tries to commit the map to memory. Obviously he didn't intend to go on his own, but in the event he had to…

Samurai X takes the offered board. "This is very helpful," she says. "Thank you, Skales."

"Cyrus Borg has always treated us respectfully," Skales says. "When you find him, give him my regards."

Morro does a cursory search around the meeting room and the surrounding area, but he has no reason to believe the serpentine are lying to them. Sentry and Samurai X linger for a few more minutes before they go, Morro following them out.

"That went better than I expected," Sentry says.

Samurai X hums. "What do you think we should do now?"

"I would like to talk to you about Morro."

Morro frowns and watches Pixal's reaction. Samurai X keeps her expression and tone neutral. "What about him?"

"I know very little about him," Sentry says. "I am aware of his history before Dr. Borg adopted him, but we did not speak until he asked for my help. I don't know what to expect out of him."

"I'm unsure I'm the best person to talk to regarding Morro," says Samurai X. "What makes you think I know him well?"

"You either know him or are a neutral third party. Either option works." Sentry stops walking. "You are also aware of his history, correct?"

Samurai X knows Morro came with them. Sentry clearly doesn't. Morro walks into Pixal's field of view and crosses his arms, then remembers she can't see him.

"Regarding Stiix?" she says. "Yes."

"And you know Dr. Borg has instructions for my team and I in the event any member of his staff or family is compromised."

"I have heard of that."

Sentry looks her in the eye, or at least as well as he can manage when they're hidden under her helmet. "Morro has further instructions in the event he is a threat to himself."

Morro groans. "Dammit," he says out loud. He should have expected this–that after multiple mental health incidents, Cyrus would take precautions. Of course Sentry would know about it. Wouldn't Pixal know, too?

"Ah," says Samurai X. "Is that something we should be worried about?"

"I am unsure," Sentry said, "and that worries me on its own. At any point, Morro could start giving me orders, and while it's possible to override them, every rejection of a direct order from Dr. Borg's family has to be reviewed and investigated. It bothers me that an unstable teenager with a criminal history has that sort of power."

Samurai X nods. "Sentry," she says, "I respect you, and so I will be blunt. You are worrying about a situation that is so unlikely as to not be possible."

Sentry narrows his eyes. "How can you be certain?"

"Because Morro Sky Borg has been taking great care not to give you direct orders. He not only understands the gravity of the power he holds over you, but he has no interest in using it." She shakes her head. "You are aware of his history. Do you not know he has been in your situation?"

Morro's eyes widened. She couldn't be talking about–

"I believe Cyrus Borg and the Preeminent are very different people," Sentry says.

"Yes," Samurai X says. "The difference is that if you disobey orders, your only consequence is paperwork."

Sentry doesn't answer.

"We should move on," Pixal says, and she continues towards the exit. Morro watches Sentry hesitate before he follows her. They don't speak again for the rest of the walk back.

Krux examines the machine only briefly; Cyrus knows he doesn't understand the technology used, and he's too proud to admit it. He asks a few questions, gets angry when he doesn't understand the terminology in Cyrus' answers, and eventually cuts him off with, "We'll see once it works."

"And my release?" Cyrus asks.

Krux glares at him. "We'll see."

Cyrus doesn't ask again.

His quarters are a tiny room off the side of the workshop, with only a bed and other necessities. When the door locks behind him, as it does every night, Cyrus allows himself a moment to cry.

He knows damn well he's not going home.

Obviously the Hands of Time lied to him, like they lied to the other builders they've kidnapped–Cyrus sees them sometimes, delivering metal while escorted by Vermilion Warriors. They only follow orders in the hopes that they'll be released. It will never happen. None of them are ever going home.

A knock on the door startled him. "What now?" he cried.

"It's me," says Acronix. "We have to go."

She unlocks and opens the door. Cyrus backs up. "Go where?" he asks in a shaky voice.

"Out," Acronix says. "Come with me and stay quiet. We can't let my brother know."

Alarm bells are going off in Cyrus' head, but he doesn't have a choice. He wipes his face on his sleeve and rolls out of his cell.

Acronix motions towards the exit. "This way," she says, and starts walking. Cyrus follows.

It's night outside. Acronix immediately leaves the path and starts picking her way through a relatively solid part of the swamp. Cyrus stops. "I can't–"

"Shh!" Acronix hisses.

Cyrus shakes his head and lowers his voice. "I can't go that way," he whispers. "My wheelchair will get stuck."

Acronix frowns. "That's… going to be a problem. Do you mind if I push you?"

"Do I have a choice?"

She doesn't answer.

"Fine," Cyrus says. "Do whatever you want."

She wordlessly moves behind him and pushes his wheelchair off the path, into the swamp. Cyrus keeps his hands on his lap and takes deep breaths as they travel. Every time a wheel slips into a patch of mud, every time Acronix has to push a little harder to get out of a ditch, his breathing falters and panic rears its head. He wonders if he's going to die here.

He swallows hard. Unlike Krux, Acronix has tried to be friendly, and… maybe it wasn't all a ruse to make him drop his guard? The idea of his defenses breaking frightens him more than dying in the swamp, but it's been days held captive, and every false hope has chipped away at his will. He knows he can't trust her, but if he's careful…

"Where are you taking me?" he asks.

Acronix pushes him over a small hill. "We said you'd be released after you finished the apparatus," she says. "I intend to keep that promise."

That's it, Cyrus thinks. They are definitely killing him.

The realization chills him. What can he do? How should he react? He didn't actually expect to die here, and a part of him is convinced this is a misunderstanding. Maybe Acronix really is bringing him home–but that's such an impossible dream, he knows he can't believe it.

Think, Cyrus tells himself. He's not helpless.

While Acronix pushes him, he tries to think of a plan. He's being taken somewhere out of the way to be disposed of without alarming the other captives. Eventually Acronix will stop, and that's when he has to act. He has one metal arm and the other's muscles are nothing to sneeze at. Cyrus opens and closes both hands and takes a deep breath.

His wheelchair hits a rock and halts. "Shit," Acronix says. "Hang on."

She crouches down beside the wheel. Cyrus' breath catches. Do something, he tells himself. Fight her, escape, get home–but even if he can knock her out, he'll have to traverse the swamp in a wheelchair before she catches up, and he has no idea where to go.

He's going to die here.

Acronix lifts his wheelchair up and out of the way of the rock. "There we go," she says, and glances at his face. "Are you crying?"

Cyrus turns away. "Do whatever you want," he says.

Acronix says nothing. After a moment, she continues through the swamp.

The wind chills him. Cyrus' thin jacket isn't enough to keep the heat in. He wraps his arms around himself and waits for Acronix to stop. The path is getting easier to maneuver as they leave the swamp, the ground solid beneath his wheels. Acronix keeps going.

Through his despair, he realizes: they're leaving the swamp.

The moon shines down, breaking through the trees. The air is fresh and free of the swamp's rot. Acronix doesn't stop, even though her breaths come out heavy after so long pushing him. Cyrus looks ahead, and for an instant, he thinks he sees the lights of Ninjago City on the horizon.

He wipes his eyes and looks again. The city is still there.

"You're releasing me," he whispers.

"Yes," says Acronix.

"I thought–" Cyrus' voice shakes. "I thought you wouldn't. I thought I'd never see home again."

Acronix is silent for a moment. "We promised you would be released when the apparatus was complete," she says softly. "I found out my brother never intended to keep that promise, and I…" She sighs. "I disagreed. It was cruel to hold you captive, and it would be worse to hold you indefinitely. You have a family."

Morro and Pixal. They must be so worried. Morro especially, given his past trauma. Pixal would at least have more information, being with Zane and the rest of the ninja. Is she talking to Morro? They hadn't spoken to each other much, even though they're now brother and sister. Would they be able to comfort each other?

Cyrus hasn't allowed himself to think about his children in days.

A sob escapes him. Cyrus doesn't bother trying to hide his crying now that he knows, now that–he can even see his tower in the Ninjago City skyline. His home. There's a nagging doubt in the back of his mind, telling him this is a trick, that something else is going on–he doesn't listen to it anymore. He's going to go home.

"It's a little farther than I expected," Acronix says. "We usually go through the sewers, but… I suppose that's mostly solid paths. Takes longer going over the wilderness"

Cyrus doesn't care how long it takes. He'd take himself the rest of the way if he had to.

Abruptly, Acronix stops walking. "One minute," she says when he looks up in alarm. "I thought I heard–"

A voice cuts through the trees. "Step away from Dr. Borg."

Cyrus' eyes widen. "Zane?"

A flash of white cloth, and Zane steps out of the trees, his shuriken held tight in his hands. His masked face has Acronix in his sights. "I am not asking," he says. "Let go of his chair and step away."

Acronix lets out a sigh. "Gladly," she says, and Cyrus' wheelchair rolls a few inches when she releases him. "I'm happy to let you take him the rest of the way to the city. I was not looking forward to walking that entire–ah!"

Cyrus twists around to see Kai restraining her from behind. "Shut up!" Kai snarls. "I'm sick of your shit! Master Wu tried to reason with you, and you think–"

She grabs the arm around her chest and flings Kai to the side. Acronix moves away from Cyrus and puts distance between herself and Kai, her hands open at her sides. Cyrus realizes she came all this way without the timeblade, or any weapon.

"Dr. Borg," Zane says, and he turns to face him. "Are you hurt?"

Cyrus struggles for words. "No," he finally says, while Acronix and Kai scuffle behind him. "I'm–I'm fine, for the most part. Can–can I speak to Pixal?"

Zane pauses. "She, ah… hasn't been online."

Horror grips his heart. "What?!"

"I'm sure she's fine," Zane says, which does nothing to calm him. "It may be that a connection was knocked loose–perhaps you can take a look once you're safe."

"Get off me!" Acronix shouts from behind him.

Zane looks above Cyrus' head. "Excuse me," he says, and runs to help Kai.

Cyrus can barely breathe. Pixal is offline? He knows Zane was injured the night of the kidnapping, but he had no idea Pixal was affected. He's not a spiritual man by any means, but for a moment, Cyrus wishes he could find comfort in praying to a higher power. Please, please, let Pixal be safe.

"Got her!" Kai shouts triumphantly. "Uh, what now?"

Cyrus snaps out of his daze. He puts his shaking hands on his wheels and turns around to face Kai, Zane, and Acronix.

Kai has pinned Acronix to the ground, her arms twisted behind her back. She doesn't appear hurt, though she's stopped trying to defend herself physically or verbally. She locks eyes with Cyrus for one moment, then averts her gaze.

Zane pauses. "I'm not certain," he says. "I didn't expect this encounter when we searched here."

"Me neither, but hey!" Kai grins. "We've rescued Dr. Borg and captured one of the Hands of Time!"

Cyrus makes a faint noise. No one hears him.

"I'll contact the others," Zane says. "It's possible we could get information out of her."

"Are you serious?" Acronix exclaims. "Do you have any idea what my brother will do if I don't come back?"

"No," Kai says, "but if he wants a fight–"

"Wait."

Kai and Zane both turn to Cyrus. "Is something wrong?" Zane asks.

"I–" Cyrus holds up both hands. "She was going to release me, there was no–I didn't think she ever would, but–I could see the city, I can still see–"

Zane cuts his ramble short. "Dr. Borg," he says, "if you object to us capturing Acronix, we will take your feelings into account. I do not want to cause you further stress."

"Aw," Kai says. "So what, we'd just let her go?"

Acronix stays silent. She doesn't look at him.

Cyrus can't speak. His mind is a panicked, jumbled mess. All he wants to do is go home and be with his family.

He hugs himself and looks away. "Do whatever you want," he says.

Zane nods and turns back to Kai. "Cole, Jay, and Lloyd are on their way," he says. "Nya is staying back at the temple to keep an eye on Skylor. We can't stay there, though, not when our location is known…"

Cyrus tunes them out. He should be happy, he thinks. He's finally going home.

But with Pixal offline, the ninja capturing Acronix, and having heard nothing about Morro or the state of the rest of the ninja, all he can think is that the nightmare isn't over yet.

"I don't want you wearing yourself out," Samurai X. "We still don't have any conclusive results on how your physical energy affects your spirit."

Morro grumbles and crosses his arms. "That doesn't mean you have to carry me the whole way."

"It does." She adjusts her grip on him. "You are an important part of this mission, and you are not used to walking long distances. This is the most efficient use of our stamina."

He bites back another retort. "And I can't leave my body because…?"

Sentry speaks up from ahead of them. "We don't know how your spirit functions with you alive," he says, "but we are in the sewers, and the map crosses partially-flooded areas. Nothing deep, but certainly enough to stop a normal ghost."

"Fine," Morro says. "So I'll just be carried around like a baby. Whatever."

Pixal's eyes glint behind her mask. Morro can tell she has a retort in mind, and that it's something she can't say in front of Sentry. He glares back at her. They've barely known each other for a month and already they're bickering as if they're real siblings.

Sentry stops. Samurai X and the rest of the nindroids stop behind him. "We're almost there," he says. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes," says Samurai X. The security nindroids voice their affirmations. Morro takes a deep breath to try and calm his pounding heart.

"I'm ready," he says.

Sentry nods. "Then it's time to rescue Cyrus Borg."

Chapter Text

Chapter Seventeen
you don’t know what the world will throw at you
you’re not a kid, so shut your mouth and get a clue
focus on what we want, it’s good for you
you’re moving too fast, too fast 

Colliding With Mars – Keia (w/ Bluknight)

Krux has a restless night, tossing and turning in bed and only sleeping for an hour at a time, at most. When morning arrives, the sun barely peeking over the horizon, it's a relief to get up, even if he's still exhausted. At least he doesn't have to put in the effort of staying in bed anymore.

He knocks on Acronix's door. "Sister?" he calls. "Are you up yet?"

No response. When he opens the door, her bed is empty.

His heart pounds. Stay calm, he tells himself. So Acronix got up before him. It's not that unusual for her to get up early. But all he can think of is the four decades of waking up without her, clinging to the hope that he would one day, someday, eventually see her again.

He takes a breath and goes to check the rest of the base.

The Vermillion have gotten the builders up and working already. Krux orders one of the drones to tell Acronix he wants them to meet for breakfast. It nods and walks off. Krux takes another breath and goes to the workshop next.

The first thing he realizes is that the door to Borg's quarters are open, but Cyrus Borg is nowhere in sight. This is enough to make him realize exactly what has happened.

"No," he says out loud, and he crosses the room in a few long steps to confirm that Borg is gone. "No, no, Acronix…"

It's his fault, of course. Obviously Acronix was upset by keeping Borg captive, and Krux did nothing to comfort her–at least, nothing that worked. He should have been kinder to her. Of course she would want to be kind to Borg. Krux, despite knowing better, has been treating her as if forty years have passed, when for Acronix, she's come right out of the Serpentine War.

God, he hates that war.

Decades ago, he remembers comforting Acronix after the Serpentine were locked in the tombs. Though he hadn't known she was his sister until later, he looks back on his old memories and wonders how he hadn't realized sooner. It simply made sense that she was a woman, in ways he couldn't identify in the moment, and still couldn't beyond vague feelings. Like it was what she was meant to be all along, she said when she first told him.

But that moment is later. In this memory, he woke up in the middle of the night to find Acronix wasn't there.

The Elemental Alliance has mostly disbanded since the war. The shock of having some of their party betray them was enough to have them part ways for good, but Acronix and Krux have nowhere else to go. Wu and Garmadon are so graciously allowing them to stay at the Monastery of Spinjitzu for now, just until they find a place of their own.

Krux staggers to the doorway, rubbing his eyes. "Acronix?" he calls out, squinting into the dark night. Clouds cover the sky, and he smells rain coming on the wind. "Acronix, are you out here?"

No response, just the sound of the training dummy taking blow after blow from his twin.

Krux shakes his head. "Acronix," he says, stepping out into the courtyard. "You're going to wake up the others."

"Let them wake," Acronix hisses, and she punches the dummy again. "How can they sleep after what they've done?"

"I don't know," Krux says. "Maybe they're just tired."

"They've eliminated the Serpentine from the surface world," she says. "Are they satisfied? Do they feel any guilt? Or are they just tired?"

She hits the dummy and it spun around and hits her back, the wooden arm colliding solidly with her head. She falls to her knees.

Krux's heart leaps into his throat. "Acronix!"

He runs to her. Acronix sobs, turning her head away as Krux puts an arm around her shoulders. "I don't know how to live with myself," she manages to say through her tears. "I can't do this. Hundreds of people are locked in living tombs, and we were part of it."

"I know," Krux says. "I'm sorry."

"What are we going to do?" Acronix wipes her eyes. "Our mother is dead. Our home is gone. Where are we supposed to go?"

Krux so desperately wants an answer for her. He wants to say, of course there's somewhere to go. Somewhere we can rest, somewhere we don't have to think about the crimes we committed. What kind of place would that be?

The first raindrops start to fall. Krux presses his forehead against his twin's shoulder and weeps with her.

"Sir?"

Krux snaps out of the memory. "Raggmunk," he says, turning to the snake construct.

"I'm Blunck, actually–"

"Did you find Acronix?"

Blunck flinches away from his harsh tone. "Well," he says, clearly trying to sound casual, "not exactly, but one of the blacksmiths saw her heading to the edge of the swamp! Dr. Borg was with her, so they'll probably be back soon? It's not like she would actually leave, right?"

Over forty years ago, the only way Krux knew how to comfort his twin was to acknowledge her pain. It's not fair, he said. No one is doing the right thing, and no one seems to even be trying.

If they were in charge, couldn't they make the world better?

He sets his jaw. Everything they've done, every action they've taken–it will all be justified in the end.

Cyrus agrees to go with the ninja, if only to examine Zane and find what's happened to Pixal. "If it is a loose connection, she might have been powered down for days," he says, his voice shaking. "She'll be disoriented, and if there's any damage–"

"I'm sure she's fine," Zane says. "If the last thing she remembers is when the BorgWatch release, she'll be relieved to know you're safe."

Right. Pixal's last memory will be of his kidnapping, if that's the case. Cyrus takes a deep breath. "Okay," he says. "Okay. Can you–can you contact Morro and let him know I'm safe?"

"Sure," Kai says. "Skylor has his number. I'll let her know."

Cyrus nods. "Thank you."

His hands are still shaking, and it's not from the cold. He tries to calm himself while Kai calls for Destiny's Bounty.

Acronix is being restrained by Zane. She isn't fighting back. Cyrus doesn't look at her.

The Bounty arrives.

He vaguely remembers Nya and Lloyd helping him get on board, and then he's in a room with a blanket around him, holding a mug of something hot that's only been filled halfway so his shaking hands won't spill it. He blinks and looks around. "Zane?" he calls out.

"I'm here." Zane crouches down next to him. "Are you alright, Dr. Borg?"

"Fine," Cyrus says. "I'm fine. Where are your tools? I have to make sure Pixal's alright."

"You're in no state to be working on me," Zane says gently. "You need to rest. We have a bed for you."

"But…"

He can't argue. He puts the mug aside and allows Zane to push his wheelchair to a small room with a bed. Cyrus lies down, staring at the ceiling after Zane leaves, and wonders how he could possibly rest in these circumstances.

He's asleep in moments.

Cyrus wakes up when they reach the ninja's base. His head is much more clear, and once he remembers where he is, he's quick to get back in his wheelchair and head to the exit–only to find that the doorframe isn't flush with the floor, and sticks up enough to block his progress. He huffs. "Zane?" he calls out, leaning into the hall. "Nya? Any of you?"

"Dr. Borg?" Jay sticks his head out of another door. "You're up?"

"Yes," he says. "And I'm feeling much better, so if you could help me out of here…"

"Oh, sure! Uh, let me get Zane."

He disappears again. Cyrus sighs and taps his fingers on the wheel. "Any minute now," he mutters under his breath.

Eventually, Zane arrives. "My apologies, Borg," he says. "I was–"

"We're at your floating island base, correct?" Cyrus says. "Do you have a workshop here?"

"Yes. It's not fully equipped, but it should have what you need. Are you feeling better?"

"I feel fine." Cyrus adjusts his glasses, his expression stern. "I would feel much, much better when I can ensure that Pixal is unharmed."

"Understood."

They get out of the Bounty without incident. Cyrus hears voices drifting from one of the rooms, and the engines are on and idling, but they don't encounter anyone else.

When they're on the island proper, Zane moves to push him to the building, but Cyrus is quick to take control. "I can get myself the rest of the way, thank you."

"Of course," says Zane. "The workshop is on the ground floor, so it shouldn't be a problem to reach it."

"Borg!"

Cyrus looks up to see Skylor running towards him. "I'm glad you're alright," she says with a smile. "I texted Morro, but I haven't gotten a response yet. I'll let you know when I do."

"Thank you, Skylor." He manages a smile back. "How has he been coping?"

Skylor hisses air through her teeth. "There's been some developments. Are you going to the workshop? I'll fill you in on the way."

Once they reach the workshop, Cyrus is up to date on Morro's new heart condition. "That's impossible," he says in alarm. "He's been to the hospital several times before–they would have noticed this!"

"He said you lifted the curse on his soul," Zanesays. "It could be safe to say the original deal he made is now reversed."

Cyrus buries his face in his hands. "That would do it, wouldn't it?" he mumbles. "But he's safe?"

"He's staying with Ronin. We haven't been in contact, but we would have heard if something happened."

That will have to do. Cyrus takes a deep breath. "Fine," he says. "Zane, let me see your head."

Looking through the lines and lines of code while Zane sits plugged into the computer, Cyrus forces himself to stay calm. He knows Zane and Skylor are waiting for him to say something, can almost feel Zane analyzing the expression on his face. Finally, he leans back with a sigh.

"She left," he says.

"Left?" Zane says immediately. "In what way?"

"She has transferred herself to another computer and thoroughly wiped any trace of her own code from your head." Cyrus shakes his head. "It's at least clear she did it on purpose. No one else would have been so precise."

Zane shakes his head, jostling the wires. "But why?"

"I can make a guess." Cyrus closes the connection, allowing Zane to safely disconnect. "You were incapacitated after I was kidnapped. If Pixal was still alert, but unable to communicate, she may have left your system to find someone else who could help."

"But why wouldn't she have shown up again?" Skylor asks. "It's been days!"

"I don't know." Cyrus turns away. "There are all sorts of possibilities that, quite frankly, I don't want to think about while I'm this powerless. She may return on her own. Maybe she won't."

"She will," Zane says, but Cyrus knows there's little confidence behind it. He pushes that thought down. Pixal will return.

"That's all I can do for you," he says. "When can I return home?"

"Vermilion are still swarming all over Ninjago City," Skylor says. "It might not be safe right away. We'll see what we can do."

It's not the answer he wanted, but it'll have to do. "Fine," says Cyrus. "I'll occupy myself in the meantime."

The most likely place for Pixal to go is, of course, Borg Tower. Cyrus spends most of the afternoon anxious to go home, and increasingly frustrated that he can't yet. He would go by himself, but he's trapped on a floating island that's inaccessible to anyone who can't fly.

As eager as he is to leave, his thoughts drift to Acronix.

Her being here makes him uneasy–not because she could pose a threat, but because it was wrong to take her captive. She would have handed him over to Kai and Zane and gone home peacefully. That was what should've happened. If he had the mental capacity to reason with them–

He takes a breath and folds his hands on his lap, waiting as patiently as he can for Lloyd to finish his conversation.

"Krux still has both timeblades," Lloyd says. "If we try and trade Acronix for my dad, he could pull a fast one on us."

"But then what do we do with her?" Kai says. "She's not giving us information–"

"I'm not saying we can't," Lloyd snaps, "but we need to be careful!"

Nya quickly steps in. "I know we're all dealing with a lot, but let's try not to yell at each other. Zane's talking to Acronix now, so once he's back, we can come up with a plan."

Lloyd clenches his fists. "Fine," he spits, and storms right by Cyrus without acknowledging him. When the door slams, Cyrus closes his eyes and wills himself to stay calm.

"Dr. Borg," Nya says, getting his attention. "Did you need something?"

"Yes, actually," he says. "Where are you keeping your prisoner?"

Kai frowns. "Isn't calling her a prisoner a little much?"

Cyrus raises an eyebrow. "Oh, is it different when the good guys do it?"

"Hey, Zane asked you if you wanted us to let her go!"

"Cool it, Kai!"

"Now you're yelling, sis–"

Cyrus decides this line of questioning is going nowhere and leaves without excusing himself.

In the kitchen, he finds someone else to answer him. "Cole and Zane fashioned a cell in a shed outside," Misako says while she cooks. "It's not comfortable, but she's unharmed."

"Thank you," he says. "And how do you feel about keeping her here?"

Misako shakes her head. "It was the wrong decision," she says. "From what I've gathered, you feel the same."

Cyrus sighs. "Yes," he says. "They should have let her go. I should have said something then, but…"

"You were freshly out of a traumatic situation. I doubt she blames you."

"I don't care what she thinks of me," Cyrus says, harsher than he intended.

"Right. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I just…"

He can hardly finish a sentence, it seems. Cyrus buries his face in his hands.

He hears the soft tap of the stirring spoon against the counter. "Lloyd gets too much from his father," says Misako.

Cyrus lowers his hands to his lap. "How so?"

"Garmadon believes in punishment for the sake of punishment." The chair creaks as Misako sits down. "For him, it's self-deprecating. He thinks that by choosing to suffer, he is taking responsibility for his past actions. That this is some sort of justice."

Cyrus thinks back to his last conversation with Garmadon, shortly after the Day of the Departed. "And does he extend that poisoned worldview to others?"

"He won't say as much, but yes." Misako shakes her head. "When Lloyd brought back Morro… I was proud of him. He saw the suffering of someone who tortured him and chose to give him a second chance, away from him, where he didn't have to suffer any longer–and after seeing how he's grown under your care, I am still so, so proud of my boy." She looks away. "But with Acronix, he doesn't feel the same way."

He doesn't respond to that.

The smell of burnt food permeates the air. Misako stands up again and resumes stirring. "Do you need anything else?" she asks.

Cyrus straightens his back. "There is a favor I'd like to ask," he says, "but I'm afraid it's… a little much."

"After what you've been through? I doubt it." Misako takes the pan off the stove. "What is it?"

Chapter Text

Chapter Eighteen
what do you know about my world?
am i just a normal girl?
am i something to be treasured
or destroyed
or pushed aside?

Black Dresses – CREEP U

The shed they've put her in has a shoddy lock, something they tied around the door with hastily welded metal, and the only reason Acronix hasn't escaped yet is because she doesn't want to face her brother. She wanted to be back before he woke up, but clearly she's botched that plan.

The construct–nindroid?–has left, leaving Acronix alone with her thoughts. There's a guard outside the door, of course, but he hasn't tried to make conversation.

She sighs and sits cross-legged on the floor. Maybe they'll do the smart thing and release her before Krux tries to get her back by force.

"Oh, hey," says the guard. Acronix looks up, but the new Master of Lightning isn't talking to her. "Do you need something, Misako?"

"Yes," says the voice. The name is recognizable as Garmadon's wife, though Acronix isn't sure if they're still together. "Could you go get something from the ground base for me? I'll keep an eye on the situation here."

"Oh, do I have to? I mean, it's a huge pain to get down there, and the others…"

"I don't want to interrupt them," Misako says. "They all have their own problems to deal with, and frankly, I do not like the atmosphere in there."

"Yeah, that's fair. What do you need?"

"I left a history journal in Nya's workshop. It's on one of the tables, I don't remember which one. Thank you, Jay. Be back quick, alright?"

"Sure," Jay says. "Not sure how quick I'll be, though, since it takes a while to get there and I have to look…"

His voice fades into the distance. Acronix slowly gets to her feet.

The lock rattles. The door opens. "Hello," Misako says, with a friendly smile on her face. "Are you doing alright?"

"Does it matter?" Acronix says. She keeps to the back of the shed. "What do you want?"

"I'm here on behalf of someone else, actually."

"Who?"

She turns around. "Here he is. Are you sure about this?"

Acronix doesn't believe the next voice she hears, responding with a brief affirmation before Misako moves to let him in. It couldn't be him, she thinks. Not after everything–

Cyrus Borg enters the shed. "Well," he says, looking over the shed, "this is certainly a downgrade from the living arrangements you gave me."

She can't speak. She manages a single word only after staring at him for far too long. "Why…"

She doesn't have to say more. Cyrus sighs.

"I am not happy with the ninja keeping you here," he says. "I don't believe it's any sort of justice or karma, I think it's the ninja doing the same horrible thing that was done to me and convincing themselves it's different because they're the 'good guys.'" He pauses. "I regret not being able to convince them to let you go, even if it could not be expected of me given the state I was in. I'm sorry for that."

He stares at her. Acronix knows what he's waiting for.

"I…" She shakes her head. "You know I don't deserve an apology."

"Why not? It was wrong to take you prisoner."

"I knew what I was risking when I left," she says. "It wasn't worth keeping you prisoner. I…" She struggles for words. "…I did not argue when my brother said we had to capture you, and I should have. I regret that, too. I'm sorry."

Cyrus doesn't react. "So why did you do it?"

"That–" Acronix's voice catches. "Nothing could justify what I did to you."

"But you still did it, so clearly you justified it to yourself." He maintains eye contact, his expression neutral. "And I want to know how."

She can't come up with an answer right away. Acronix sighs and sits down on the floor again.

"I've had to justify worse," she says. "I've done so many horrible things to those who did not deserve it. When the Serpentine War started, Krux and I were young, and we had just lost our mother. It was easy to turn that grief into anger, and to then turn us against the Serpentine." She pauses. "I didn't argue then, either. So many innocents condemned to never see the sun again, and neither of us said a word in their defense."

She doesn't continue for a moment, struggling to keep from crying. Cyrus says nothing.

"We were both so angry," she says. "When Krux–when he–we thought we could fix everything. We fought the alliance, and they–" Acronix takes a sharp breath. "They took–they took our powers, and they would have taken more. We followed the timeblades, and–" She can't stop the tears. "Krux had to spend forty years alone. I lost forty years with him. I would have done anything to take back something, anything we lost."

Cyrus still doesn't speak. She wipes her eyes. "So I didn't argue against taking you captive," she says. "I didn't even consider that it could be wrong. All I wanted was that time back."

She can distract herself no longer. Ever since arriving in Ninjago, forty years after everything she knew, she's been keeping herself busy, refusing to acknowledge what she knows to be true.

She and Krux will never have what they had before.

A sob escapes her. Acronix mentally chides herself and turns her face away. She shouldn't be crying, not in front of Cyrus. He'll think she's fishing for sympathy, and Acronix doesn't deserve it. Not from him.

"Well," Cyrus finally says, "you shouldn't stay here."

"Shouldn't stay?" Acronix says, momentarily confused. Belatedly, she realizes that the door is open, and has been since Misako unlocked it. She could have walked right out, and who would have stopped her? Cyrus doesn't seem keen on it. "You're letting me go?"

"Yes." He pushes his wheelchair out of the way, leaving the door clear. "As long as you don't cause trouble, you can leave peacefully. Misako and I will ensure no one tries to stop you."

"You're letting me go," she repeats.

Cyrus nods. "And you ought to go now."

"Mom? What are you doing?"

Acronix and Cyrus both flinch at the voice. "Oh, Lloyd!" Misako says from outside. "I'm just taking watch while Jay runs an errand for me, there's no need to–"

"Mom," Lloyd says, sounding like he's about to scold her as if she's the child, "what are you actually doing?"

"Oh, good grief," Cyrus says. "Don't do anything. I'll deal with this."

"What are you going to do?" Acronix blurts out before he leaves.

Cyrus pauses just before the door. "Well," he says, "I may not have any elemental abilities, but I'm still the most powerful man in Ninjago. I'm sure I can think of something."

He exits the cell without another word.

Predictably, Lloyd isn't happy with them. Cyrus doesn't flinch as the green ninja storms towards him and Misako. "Dr. Borg?" he says. "Were you in there with her?"

"Yes," Cyrus says. "And I was–"

Lloyd turns on Misako. "Mom! Why did you let him do that?"

"He asked me to," Misako says, a faint edge to her voice. "What did you want me to do, stop him?"

"What would you have done if Acronix attacked him?"

"She didn't," Cyrus snaps. "If you have any issue with my actions, I can assure you I was of sound mind when I took them, and I would prefer it if you confronted me directly. Or do you want to keep ignoring me?"

Lloyd shakes his head. "I've had a lot to deal with, okay? What were you thinking?"

"I only wanted to talk to her."

"We've been talking to her!"

Cyrus grips his wheels. "I haven't!"

Their raised voices are bringing the others out of the building. Cyrus spots Zane when he glances over, but there's no comfort now that he knows Pixal isn't with him.

"Lloyd," Misako says sharply, "I know you've had to take on a lot, but you need to consider everyone's feelings."

Lloyd throws up his hands. "What, even Acronix?"

"No," Cyrus says, "but it would be nice if you considered mine!"

The others have reached them; Kai, Nya, Skylor, and Zane. Cole isn't with them, and Jay is presumably still occupied by Misako's distraction. Nya stops a few steps away. "Guys! What's going on?"

Misako turns to her and starts explaining the situation. Cyrus barely hears her. He cuts Lloyd off before the young man can speak. "I spent weeks having my agency disrespected," he says, "and now that I'm rescued, it doesn't feel like anything has changed!"

Lloyd takes a harsh breath through his nose. "This isn't even about you!"

"You did the same thing to her–"

"Why does it matter what we do to her?!"

Cyrus sputters for a moment. "Because it's wrong! It was wrong to capture her, it's wrong to hold her here, and it's wrong to act like it was in any way justified!"

"It was wrong of her to kidnap you, too," Lloyd spits out.

Misako snaps around to stare at Lloyd with wide eyes. "Lloyd, don't you–"

"So why do I have to be the only person trying to defend her?" Cyrus says, his voice low and dangerous.

Lloyd glares at him. "Why do you think you have to?"

"Because no one else is going to!"

That shuts Lloyd up. Cyrus doesn't bother to question why. "I was hurt by her!" he says, jabbing a finger at himself. "I obviously wasn't the only one, but I deserve a say in how she's treated! The only time anyone bothered to ask me how I felt was when I was too addled to properly object–and even that was an afterthought! Why do I have to be the only one giving a damn about her when she's the person who fucking kidnapped me!"

"Okay, okay!" Kai quickly steps between Cyrus and Lloyd. "To be fair, Acronix tried to kill Master Wu. Like, I know she kidnapped you and everything, but she *did* hurt someone we really, really care about, to the point where he hasn't recovered weeks later, and that's pretty significant."

He shouldn't argue with that, but Cyrus is so angry, he's about to try. Before he opens his mouth, the voice from behind startles him.

"He's not going to recover."

Acronix's voice makes them all jump. Cyrus looks at the shed and sees her standing in the door, the lock hanging open.

"You want me to talk?" she says. "Fine. What do you want to hear?"

Everyone starts asking questions at once until Zane plays an ear-splitting harsh static noise. "Sorry," he says while their ears are still ringing. "Please let me handle this."

He walks up to Acronix. "You injured me during the scuffle at the BorgWatch reveal," he says. "What, exactly, did you do to me?"

Acronix shrugs. "I hit you really hard? Krux told me you would be harder to take down than a regular human, so I used my powers to put more force behind my attack."

"That's it?"

"I didn't use a time punch, if that's what you're asking."

Nya steps in. "What is a time punch?" she asks.

"I use my power to accelerate the flow of time around your body," Acronix says. "It's what I did to Wu, and why he's rapidly aging."

"Why he's what?" Kai blurts out. Skylor claps a hand to her mouth. Cyrus' heart drops, and he looks at Lloyd.

Lloyd stares at his mother. "You knew about this," he says.

Misako takes a deep breath. "Wu asked me not to tell you," she says. "But… yes."

"So he's rapidly aging," Zane says. "Which means, depending on the speed–"

"It will get faster the longer you leave it." Acronix crosses her arms. "A normal person would have been dead within hours. Wu might last another week, if he's lucky enough to–"

The air crackles with temporal energy. In a flash of green light, Skylor appears in front of Acronix and shoves her to the ground. "How do we reverse it?" she demands.

Nya gasps. "Skylor, don't–"

Acronix picks herself up. "Reversing time is my brother's power," she says. "It's the only timeblade we haven't been able to find. You want to save your master?" She smiles. "Good luck."

Cyrus is starting to regret talking to Acronix.

"There has to be another way," Nya says. "Dr. Borg, is there anything you can do?"

"What?" he said. "How could I?"

Nya hesitated. "You know some magic. Maybe there's something there?"

"Elemental powers aren't the same as magic," Cyrus said," and none of the magic I know has anything to do with time travel. I don't even know what elemental energy is in any terms I can understand."

"What the hell do you even want?!" Skylor shouts. "Do you just want us dead?"

"I only tried to kill Wu," Acronix snaps. "I don't care about the rest of you as long as you leave us alone. I only want to have a life with my brother!"

Skylor takes a step forward, but Zane puts a hand on her shoulder. "But that's not all Krux wants," he says to Acronix.

Acronix's furious expression softens. "No," she says, "it's not."

Zane keeps his voice carefully neutral. "And you don't agree with everything he's done."

"No, I don't."

Misako speaks. "You know better than us what your brother is doing," she says. "Do you truly believe it's the right thing for Ninjago?"

Acronix shakes her head. "I don't know if that matters anymore."

"We can't guarantee anything," Zane says, "but if you cooperate with us, we can at least try for a better outcome–both for Ninjago, and for you and your brother."

Cyrus holds his breath. Acronix looks away, staring out over the edge of the island.

Loud rock music blasts out of nowhere.

Once Cyrus is sure he's not having a heart attack, he manages to locate the source of the noise to Cole's pocket. "Sorry!" the ninja says, pulling his phone out. "I thought–oh, it's Jay. I should probably answer this. Hey, Jay?"

"What's wrong?" Nya says.

Cole's expression darkens. "We'll be there right away," he says. "I'm with the others. Hang tight."

He hangs up and looks to the others. "So," he says, "you know how Krux knows where our base is? He sent a team of Vermilion here."

"Let me talk to them," Acronix says. "If you let me go back peacefully, maybe I can talk to my brother."

Zane nods. "So you'll cooperate?"

Acronix crosses her arms. "I can't guarantee anything, either," she says. "But I doubt you'll get your better outcome if I have to fight my way out."

Lloyd groans. "Fine," he says. "Fine! But if anything happens to my dad, I don't care what outcome anyone wants–I'll make you pay."

Misako puts a hand on his shoulder. Lloyd shrugs her off.

"I'm coming with you," Cyrus says.

"Are you sure?" Zane says. "He might want us to give you back, too."

"I've been robbed of enough agency already." Cyrus glares at him. "I'm going with you."

No one else argues.

"Didn't find your notebook," Jay informs Misako, standing just outside the small building that forms the ninja's ground base. "Are you sure it's down here?"

"It was a journal," Misako says, "and no, it's not. I made it up."

"Wait, what?"

Cyrus' gut flips when he sees Machia, and for an instant, their eyes meet. He looks down and takes a deep breath.

Machia's gaze moves to Acronix. "You're unhurt," she says.

"We came to an agreement," Acronix says. She breaks from the group of ninja and walks across the sand to the Vermilion. "I'm free to go. We need to return to Krux."

None of the Vermilion move. Acronix raises her voice. "I said, we're leaving. That's an order."

"Krux commanded us to retrieve you and Borg," Machia says.

Cyrus' breathing falls out of its steady rhythm. Zane steps closer to him. The rest of the ninja draw their swords.

"My brother will have to be happy with just me," Acronix says. "Now get moving."

"His orders supersede yours."

Acronix groans. "Are you serious? He's not here!"

"We were given clear instructions." Machia's eyes fall on Cyrus again. "The ninja will return you and Cyrus Borg…"

"He's not going anywhere with you!" Kai snaps.

Machia is unmoved. Cyrus can hardly breathe. Cold dread grips his heart, and formerly disparate pieces click together in his mind. Nya's Samurai X armor is missing. Pixal left of her own free will. No one has been able to contact Morro.

"…or Borg will never see his children again."

Chapter Text

Chapter Nineteen

Wake up, Dead Boy
Enter adventureland
Tricksters, magicians will show you all that’s real
Careless jugglers, snakecharmers by your trail
Magic of a moment
Abracadabra!

Nightwish – Last Ride of the Day

Sentry located a crevice in the sewers' wall close to where it opened up into the swamp. Samurai X–Pixal, he reminds himself–will stay with Morro to guard his living body while he travels outside it. They have a drone for his spirit to possess, and through it, he can communicate with Sentry and the other nindroids and give orders if needed.

He takes deep breaths, tucking his legs into the cramped space. "Are we ready?" he asks Pixal.

"Almost," she says, in Samurai X's deep voice. "We're only waiting for the reconnaissance to report back."

One of the nindroids returns from the mouth of the tunnel and speaks to Sentry. Morro can't hear what they say, but Sentry turns to them to relay the information: "Vermilion are patrolling the outskirts of the swamp," he says. "We should be far away enough to stay out of sight, but there's a chance they'll spot us."

Samurai X nods. "Tell the others to wait deeper in the sewers," she says. "We'll move them in once we have a better picture of the area. For now, it will only be you and Morro's drone."

"Very well." Sentry glances at the drone. "Then we're ready."

Morro doesn't have to be told twice. He relaxes his body and lets his spirit exit. He goes to the drone and slips inside, sending mental commands that, after a few misfires, he translates to its programming. The drone whirs to life and rises into the air.

He turns the camera around to see Samurai X nod. "Your vitals are good," she says. "Take care."

"You, too," he tries to say back, realizing belatedly that she can't hear him. Pixal is disguising her signal so the other nindroids don't identify her and she can pose as a human in the armor. Morro is embarrassed for a moment, then shoves that emotion down.

Cyrus is in there.

They're going to save him.

He flies into the swamp, Sentry following a careful distance behind.

They have already identified the largest structure in the swamp as the Hands of Time's main base, but their first place of interest is the barracks where the captive workers make the Vermilion's armor. It's the most likely place for Cyrus to be, even if not by much.

Vermilion guards are on all sides. A noiseless ping sounds in Morro's head; Sentry signaling him to stay back. He obeys and hovers the drone by the nindroid's side, crouching behind a bush.

More messages come through.

< Are you receiving?

"What does that mean?" Morro says through the wireless communication.

Sentry nods at him.

< Good, you are.
< I was unsure how my communications would appear to you.
< I am not familiar with possession.

"This is new to me, too. I'm not familiar with machines."

< To the point: Cyrus Borg isn't here.

Morro pauses. "Are you sure?" he says, and flies higher just to check.

Sentry physically grabs the drone and pulls it down. Morro is too embarrassed by almost getting them caught to be offended.

< I've scanned the building already.
< None of the facilities here would accommodate Dr. Borg's disability.

"Would Acronix and Krux give a shit about that?"

< They would be required to provide the bare minimum.
< Here, he would be unable to take care of his bodily needs.
< Under these conditions, he could not do whatever tasks they asked of him.

Morro mentally goes other the other possible holding cells. "Then he would have to be in the center base," he says.

< It would make sense for the Hands of Time to keep him close.

"Well, shit," Morro says. "That's the most heavily guarded place in the goddamn swamp. Of course–"

< Someone is coming. Turn off your motor.

Morro obliges. Sentry places the drone on the damp ground and lays as close to the ground as he can. From underneath the bush, Morro sees several pairs of armored feet walking to the barracks. Most are Vermilion. One is human.

Krux kicks the barracks door open and storms in. "Don't pretend to be working for my sake," he snaps. "I need someone to check Borg's device for me."

Morro is too tense to speak, and Sentry's message catches him by surprise.

< Turn on your motor. Go now.

"What?" Morro says in alarm. "Krux's guards will hear me, and Acronix could be anywhere."

< There is a Vermilion patrol coming. I have nowhere to go.
< You will escape if you move fast enough. Go.

"Shit," Morro says, and he doesn't argue.

The Vermilion take notice as soon as his motors begin buzzing, and as Morro takes flight, he sees them creeping towards the bush Sentry is hiding behind. He ignores them and pushes the drone as fast as it can towards the base.

"Watch out!"

He hears Sentry's cry the same moment the spear hits the drone.

"God fucking dammit!" Morro exclaims as he spirals to the ground. He can't control the drone anymore–he drops the possession and hits the ground running.

Find Cyrus Borg, he tells himself. Sentry can handle himself; Morro needs to find out where Cyrus is and get back to Pixal. That was the plan all along, wasn't it?

A misstep puts his foot just on the edge of a puddle. Pain shoots up his leg. Morro stumbles away and slows down enough to watch where he's going. He doesn't know what will happen if he falls into water, and he has no intention of finding out.

The base is mostly empty. Morro spots a few Vermilion idling in the halls, but there's no sign of Acronix. He walks into the workshop, and–

His heart flips. This was where his dad worked.

He's not there now, but–Morro's intangible hand brushes over the notes and blueprints in Cyrus' handwriting. He was here before. Where is he now?

There's a room with a bed and a toilet, but that's empty, too. Morro can't stay long. He takes one last look around and picks a door he hasn't gone down.

The stairs bring him to a prison. Most of the cells are empty. Morro grits his teeth at the thought that Krux and Acronix would put Cyrus here, but–each one is empty. He's not here, either.

He checks the last cell and makes eye contact with Lloyd's dad.

He freezes. Of course Garmadon can't actually see him, but Morro's uneasy all the same. He looks away and keeps going.

"What are you doing here?"

Morro spins around.

Garmadon's body slumps back on the bed. His spirit stands up and glares at Morro. "That's a good trick," he says. "You got it from the Temple of Resurrection, correct?"

"What do you–" Morro sputters for a moment. "What the hell do you think I'm doing here?"

Garmadon phases through the cell bars. "Attempting to rescue Cyrus Borg," he says. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But, well, he's not here, and I've been meaning to talk to you."

"He's not here?"

Morro takes a step back. Garmadon frowns at him. "No. Acronix took him out of the building in the dead of night. They haven't yet returned."

His heart drops. Cyrus isn't here. They're here to rescue him and Cyrus isn't here and they don't know where he is. Acronix took him away and she could have done anything to him, he could be hurt he could be dead–

Morro turns and runs.

Garmadon catches up to him in the swamp proper and grabs his arm. "We need to talk, Morro."

"I don't have time!" Morro shouts, but he can't break free of the older man's grip. "I have to warn the others! Sentry's been caught already, they're in danger!"

Garmadon is unmoved. "We need to talk about my son."

Morro's emotions are rapidly approaching the level of a panic attack. "There isn't anything to talk about!" he snaps, and tries again to break free.

"Nothing to talk about," Garmadon repeats. He doesn't let go. "You tortured Lloyd for days on end, and now you tell me there's nothing to talk about?"

"Lloyd and I already talked!" He does break free, finally, and stumbles forward, barely catching himself before a pool of water. He glares back at Garmadon. "It's done now."

"Oh, so he forgives you?" says Garmadon.

"No, but–"

"Then I believe we still have issues to address."

Morro realizes he's cornered. The bog blocks him on all sides. He turns around and faces Garmadon. "He didn't forgive me and we were fine with that!" he says, his voice pitched high in fear. "He doesn't have to forgive me! I know what I did was wrong! We never have to talk again! What the hell is your problem?!"

"I have a number of problems with you," Garmadon says, and he steps closer. "One: you hurt my son. Two: you used me to hurt my son. Three: despite everything you've done to reject him, my brother still wishes to reconcile with you."

"Master Wu can rot in hell!" Morro blurts out.

"Wu is dying."

Morro is struck speechless.

Garmadon is right in front of him. Morro can't back up any further. "He may already be dead," Garmadon says, "and his last wish was for you to speak to him. I have already failed my brother. I will not fail my son as well."

He finds his voice. "Lloyd asked you to do this?"

Garmadon says nothing.

Morro cycles between emotions rapidly until he settles on rage. "You're not doing this for Lloyd," he spits, "you're doing this for yourself. You've already failed him, you just can't accept it." He meets his eyes. "You're a lousy father!"

"Shut your damn mouth, child!"

Garmadon slaps him. Morro falls hard on one knee, clutching his face.

"You know nothing of what I've sacrificed for my family!" Garmadon shouts. "Destiny has forced me to fight my brother. My wife. My son. I only want them to be happy, even if it means I must live a life of suffering." He grabs Morro's collar and pulls him to his face. "And you think you deserve that same happiness?!"

"Wu never hit me," Morro says.

"I am not Wu," says Garmadon.

"How many times have you hit Lloyd?"

Garmadon flings him to the ground–

–except there's no ground to land on, only thick green water.

Morro has a moment to see Garmadon's eyes widen before all he can feel is pain.

He wakes up slowly. His brain is still piecing together what happened, and his body feels like he's tripped on the monastery's stairs and hit every step on the way down. Someone is talking to him. He barely recognizes his name.

"Morro. Morro. Say something."

His mind is too foggy to put any words together. He groans instead.

"You can hear me?"

Pixal. Pixal is talking to him. Slowly, the rest of his senses give him more information; he's lying on a hard, stone floor, his head cradled in metal hands. The stench is overwhelming. Morro tries to open his eyes.

"Morro, look at me." He can see the blurry outline of Pixal's face. "Morro, what happened?"

*I don't know,* Morro tries to say, but his mouth can't make the right shapes. His lungs are complaining about having to breathe, even though he needs air to live. He closes his eyes.

"Morro, stay with me." Pixal puts her hand against his cheek. "Morro. Morro!"

He opens his eyes again, staring into Pixal's green ones. "'M okay," he croaks.

"Objectively, you are not okay," Pixal says. "Morro, your heart stopped. I thought you were going to die. What happened?"

"I don't…" His memories are coming back, and he remembers his last moments. "Water," he says. "I… I hit water."

"Water," Pixal repeats. "Water banishes ghosts to the source of their power. You are alive and no longer cursed, so you returned to your body, but the shock nearly killed you. Don't let it happen again."

"Okay," says Morro. "Where are we?"

Pixal doesn't answer. Morro summons all his strength and sits up.

His heart drops. They're in the same cells he was exploring before, but this time, the bars keep them trapped. Morro and Pixal are in a cell surrounded by the powered-down bodies of the nindroids, Sentry included. Morro shakes his head.

"It's not your fault," Pixal says before he can speak.

"Objectively," Morro says, "if I hadn't been a fucking idiot–"

"No, Morro," Pixal says firmly. "You followed Sentry's orders. You did what you were supposed to do. It's not your fault the drone was destroyed."

Morro falls back into Pixal's arms again. "He's not even here," he says.

"I know," Pixal says.

"We tried to save him and we failed."

"Morro, he's with the ninja. They found him and captured Acronix. Krux is attempting to negotiate the return of both of them, but the ninja will not send our father back here. Krux will have to settle for his sister alone."

He takes a moment to process this. "He's with the ninja?"

Pixal nods. "He's safe."

Morro lets out a painful laugh. "We did all this and he was already rescued?"

"It's my fault." Pixal looks away. "I did not wish to tell Zane I had built a new body, so I cut off communications. If I had known…"

She trails off. "It's not your fault," Morro says. "Pixal…"

"Krux is here," she says.

"That I am."

Morro takes a deep breath and pushes himself up again. Pixal helps him into a sitting position, and they both face Krux through the bars.

"So the brat's alive?" He glares at them. "Garmadon will be pleased to hear that."

"What do you want?" Pixal says.

"The ninja and I have reached a compromise," Krux says. "They will return my sister alone. I've confirmed that the device is completed, so I no longer need Cyrus Borg."

Pixal holds Morro close to her. "My brother needs medical attention. I demand you release him."

Krux slams his fist against the bars. "You share no blood," he snarls. "Morro is a half-dead orphan Borg took pity on, and you are a poor emulation of a human he pretends is his daughter. You are nothing like us!"

"Eat shit," Morro says, and promptly has a coughing fit.

Krux straightens his back. "You will be held for as long as I deem necessary," he says. "I'll have the Vermilion bring food for the one who actually needs it. I have a timeblade to secure."

"He needs a hospital," Pixal says. "If he dies because of you–"

"I will be honest," Krux says, "I don't particularly care if he lives or dies. Once I achieve my goal–our goal–nothing else will matter. You'll see."

He walks away. Pixal raises her voice. "Do you expect us to agree with you? Come back and–"

"Pixal," Morro says. "Pix. I'm okay."

"Objectively, Morro–"

"I'm feeling better by the minute. I'm not gonna drop dead that quickly."

Pixal closes her eyes for a moment. She adjusts her grip on Morro. "You came very close," she says. "I have not… I hold not an insignificant part of the blame for this."

"For what, me dying?"

Pixal looks away. "I panicked. I thought I could bargain with Krux to get you medical care, and I was wrong. If I had acted rationally, we could have escaped. Instead, I ordered Sentry to surrender, and he could not disobey."

Morro takes a breath. "And if I hadn't been a little brat to Garmadon, maybe I wouldn't have hit the water."

"What?"

He cracks a smile. "We both fucked up, Pix. Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just wait for the ninja to rescue us."

Pixal still doesn't meet his eyes. "I was scared," she says, "and I still am."

"I know," Morro says. "Me too."

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty
Now that the wind, it howls
Their hearts, they break with the bitter sound
They need you
A piece of me is a piece of you right now.

The Family Crest – Got Soul

They gather around Wu's bed; he has no point pretending to be unconscious, now that they all know his injury is a fatal one. "I'm tracking the BorgPad Acronix stole," Zane says. "We can follow the signal to the Hands of Time's base."

"Great," Lloyd says. "We need to be careful. I don't believe anything Acronix said."

"About what?" Kai says. "About having Pixal and Morro captive?"

"You know what, Kai!"

"Stop." Skylor steps between them with both her hands raised. "We are not doing this. Whether or not Acronix is going to cooperate with us, we need to get Morro and Pixal out of there."

Lloyd takes a long back through his nose. "Okay," he says. "Okay. You're right."

"Yeah," Kai says. "Sorry, Lloyd. Just a high-stress situation."

Skylor sighs. She glances at Nya, but her girlfriend is talking to Zane and Cyrus, and Skylor isn't about to interrupt them when Cyrus is so distraught.

Acronix had been upset, too. She shouted at Machia and the others until, through the Vermilion hivemind, Machia informed them that Krux had agreed to take her back without Cyrus Borg. Skylor still doesn't know how to feel about Acronix, but she had looked horrified at her brother threatening Morro and Pixal's lives.

Lloyd speaks again. "We're all going after her," he says. "Mom, Wu, and Dr. Borg will have stay here, but the rest of us go. We're going to stop the Hands of Time once and for all."

"Sorry?" Cyrus says. "I'm coming with you."

"I don't think–"

Skylor interrupts Lloyd can say something offensive. "Borg saved all of us when we ended up in the Cursed Realm," she says. "If he wants to come, let him."

Lloyd doesn't argue. "Fine," he says. "So Mom and Wu will stay here. The rest of us are going."

Skylor nods. "Do we know how many timeblades they have?" she asks. "I mean, they can't all have fallen yet, right?"

"To my knowledge, we are still missing the pause and reverse blades," Zane says. "The pause blade should fall soon, but the reverse blade–"

Wu clears his throat. "The reverse blade fell forty years ago," he says.

Everyone stops to stare at him. Misako speaks over Lloyd's angry exclamation. "You didn't tell us that," she says. "What happened to it?"

"I found it near the monastery. I'm grateful Krux didn't find it first." Wu sighs, and for a few long moments, he says nothing. "Kai, Nya, I entrusted it to your parents to hide. They never told me where."

"Great," Nya says. "So what? Do we have like, a secret treasure map hidden in our house somewhere? Another one?"

"Krux might already have it," Kai says.

Zane raises an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Kai takes out a Vermilion helmet–how long has he been carrying that around? Skylor wonders. "Because their blacksmith shop's symbol is stamped on all of the armor," he says flatly, flipping it around so they can all see inside it. "I checked back home a little while ago, and it's a match."

Nya sputters for a moment. "How long did you know?" she says.

"Not that long." He looks at her apologetically. "I promise, sis, I wasn't hiding it from you, I just wanted to be sure that, y'know, our parents were working for the Hands of Time."

"They wouldn't," Misako says immediately. "Kai–"

"Krux said it," Kai interrupts. "They made the armor for him."

"Kai," Wu says weakly, "they may have made the armor, but I cannot believe it was of their own will. They made the timeblades, too."

Kai blinks. "What?"

"Garmadon and I asked them to. We trusted no one else." Wu takes a shuddering breath. "I cannot…"

He falls unconscious before finishing the sentence.

"Hang on," says Cole. "Acronix said the reverse blade was the only one they weren't able to find. If Krux never found it, then obviously your parents didn't tell him."

"We don't know that," Kai snaps.

"We'll find out when we get there," Lloyd says firmly. "Kai, Nya, Cole, Jay, Zane, Skylor, Dr. Borg–this has been a really great conversation with all sorts of exciting revelations, but we still need answers." He gestures out the door. "We're leaving now. Whoever and whatever's at their base, we'll figure it out."

Skylor steps closer to Nya and gently takes her hand. Nya's shoulders are trembling, but she still manages a smile at Skylor.

"Yeah," she says. "Together."

When she returns to the swamp, Krux meets her with a stern look. "You look like our mother," Acronix says.

"Sister," says Krux, "we need to talk."

"You need to let Borg's children go."

He sighs. "Acronix, you know I can't do that."

"Why not?" she demands. "I know the boy is ill–"

"We're keeping them here until we get all four timeblades," Krux says. "We can use them to prevent the ninja or anyone else from attempting to stop our plans."

"By threatening their lives?"

"What else would you have me do?" he snaps. "I've spent forty years on this plan, Acronix! I won't have it ruined at the last second!"

Acronix threw her hands in the air. "I'd at least like some say in the depths we sink to!" she shouts. "Why is it always your plans? Why don't the Vermilion listen to me? We're twins, brother! We're supposed to be equals!"

Krux doesn't say anything for a few moments while Acronix glares at him. Just as she's about to speak, Krux slowly shakes his head.

"Sister," he says, "I spent forty years without you. I've had to grow older alone–and I am much older now." He turns away. "We were equals once. I do not believe we are equals any longer."

Acronix can't react for a moment. When she tries to speak, she's shaking so bad she can't get the words out. "You–you really think–"

Krux looks away. Rage overwhelms her, and Acronix punches him.

He staggers backwards, but doesn't fall; she couldn't bring herself to use her full strength. Before he can say anything, Acronix runs, her vision already blurring with tears as she stumbles through the swamp, barely paying attention to the path.

Somewhere, far away from the main base, she ducks behind a tree and falls to her knees on mostly-solid ground. There, she hugs herself and sobs, the swamp much staining her clothes, the air filled with the smell of rot. She could never betray him, but, God, strike her down for even considering it. It's becoming more and more clear that what Krux wants is not what she does, and if they go through with the plan–she hiccups and covers her mouth. It won't solve anything. It won't get their time back. It will just make life worse for tens of thousands of people.

And yet, Acronix lost so much in the forty-year jump.

She can't lose her brother, too.

"Acronix?"

She looks up.

The woman looking down at her is much older than she remembers, but Acronix knew that already. She had seen her before, if only from a distance, and the rage she felt when Krux told her who made the timeblades chased away any thought of approaching either one of the blacksmiths.

But that rage feels so far away, now, and Maya is here.

Acronix stands up. Maya takes a step back. "I'm sorry," she says. "I didn't mean…"

"My brother was wrong," Acronix says.

Maya pauses. She doesn't speak.

Acronix takes a deep breath and continues. "He was wrong to hold you captive," she says, "and he was wrong to spend forty years nursing this grudge. I know what his plans are, and–" She sniffs and rubs her nose. "–I don't want the same thing anymore, but I don't know what to *do.* What future do I have without him?" Her shoulders tremble. "I'm sorry, Maya, I'm so, so sorry, I should have never–"

She turns her head away as a new wave of tears fall. So caught up in grief, she doesn't notice Maya approach her until a callused hand rests on her shoulder.

"I missed our friendship," Maya says softly. "I often wish there had been another way. We can't change the past, Acronix, but there can be a future for all of us."

Acronix wordlessly shakes her head.

"Come with me," Maya says. "We should talk."

And Acronix lets Maya put her arm around her and lead her down the path, as if there was no betrayal, the forty years never passed, and everything is the same as it was before.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-One
She was always good for nothing when the good broke bad
All she's got to lose is everything she never has
(Every back turned to her)

The Birthday Massacre – Shallow Grave

Cyrus gives them as much information as he has, which, due to being confined to one building, isn't much. "I know there were prison cells in the same building I was in," he says. "I was put in one of them once. It must be where they're keeping Pixal and Morro."

"And my dad," Lloyd says. He's still tense, but here, at the edge of the swamp, he looks more determined than angry. "Kai, Nya, you're with me. Skylor–" He pauses. "Wait, where's Skylor?"

"Here," Skylor says, running up from the rear of the group. She stops next to Nya, panting to catch her breath. "Sorry, I'm a little slow today."

Nya puts a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asks. "If you can't do this–"

"I can do this!" Skylor insists. "I just…"

Her expression changes. "Actually, Nya, can I talk with you in private?"

"Uh, sure?" Nya glances back at the others. "We have to be quick, though."

"We'll fill you in once you're back," Kai says.

While Nya and Skylor go around a corner, Lloyd nods at Kai and takes a deep breath.

"Cole, Jay," he begins, "I want you to rescue the captive workers. We've got word that Karlof is going to be there, but there's no way they haven't put vengestone on him. You've got the equipment to saw through any cuffs, right?"

"Right!" Jay affirms.

"What about me?" Zane asks.

"Depends." Lloyd glances at Borg. "Are you up for going back in there?"

Cyrus nods, his mouth set in a hard line.

"Alright. You're going with me and Zane into the main building, where Morro, Pixal, and my dad are. Krux and Acronix will be gone to get the third timeblade, so you shouldn't run into them, but there's still the Vermilion to worry about."

"I understand," Cyrus says.

"Good." Lloyd turns back to Kai. "Kai, you and Nya are going to find the blacksmith shop and see if it really is your parents. I'll have Skylor go with you, if she's up for it, but I don't want her to burn out. I know the time powers take a lot out of her."

"I'm back!" Nya reappears, jogging towards them. "Sorry, I sent Skylor home. She's really not good to exert herself right now."

"You actually convinced her to rest?" Kai says.

Nya averts her eyes. "I mean, yeah? I'm her girlfriend. So me and Kai are…?"

"Seeing if our parents are here."

"Oh," she says. "Okay, cool. Got it."

Kai raises an eyebrow. "'Okay, cool'? Are you alright, Nya? These are our parents we're talking about."

"I know!" Nya protests. "But they disappeared so long ago, I don't even remember them. It's different for me, okay?"

"Everyone, hide!"

The ninja flinch at Cole's shout and look towards the Hands of Time's base, where a flying ship is taking off. Cyrus signals to Zane, who nods and pulls his wheelchair behind a tree. The other ninja find hiding places among the brush. Cyrus holds his breath as they watch the airship slowly fly away.

When it disappears into the distance, the ninja re-emerge. "They're gone," Lloyd says. "We can move in."

"Lloyd," Zane says, "I am still tracking Acronix's BorgPad. Either she left it behind, or she's still here."

"Well…" Lloyd sucks in air through his teeth. "Shit. Be prepared for the worst, I guess."

Cyrus clears his throat. "Even in the worst case, there's a good chance I can talk to her," he says. 

"Doesn't matter if she's here," Kai says. "We'll deal with whatever happens, and we need to do it now."

"You're right," says Lloyd. "We're going in."

Morro still feels like shit. He's dizzy and weak, and the only food provided for him since he's been captured was bread and some sort of tasteless soup. He's not sure if he can stand, and he hasn't bothered trying. He sits with his back against the wall and watches Pixal pace back and forth in the small space.

"Any luck?" he says dryly.

"What do you think?" Pixal stops and puts her hand on the bars, staring through them at the Vermilion guard. "There is a chance I could use my power source to damage the lock, but it's unlikely I would remain conscious, even if it worked. Still, if we were lucky…"

"We don't need two useless bodies down here, Pix."

Pixal looks back at him. "You are not useless. Your efforts were the only reason we made it this far."

"So what?" he says. "I still failed."

He wraps his arms around himself and tries not to look at the shut down nindroid bodies–not an easy feet, when they take up more than half the cell. Pixal told him they'll be fine once their power is restored. All Morro can think is that he's led them on a suicide mission.

"I failed you, Morro."

"What?" Morro whips his head around to her. "How the hell did you do that?"

Pixal looks away again. "What use was building myself a body? I could not save our father. I put you in danger. I was angry, and frustrated, and I thought I would be more useful apart from Zane than with him." She pauses. "If I had stayed, maybe we would be with him now."

Morro struggles to find the words to comfort her. He's never had a sister before, or any sibling at all, and he still feels like he barely knows her. Finally, he settles on, "Shut the hell up."

Pixal doesn't respond. Morro sighs. "Just stop," he says. "I don't want to hear this. You really believed in me, and I screwed it up. I thought I could be a hero for once, and I'm still the same idiot child who died in a hole and made it all of Ninjago's problem."

"You don't think you've changed?" Pixal says.

"Yeah, 'cause I haven't." He draws lines in the grime on the floor. "Everyone–you, Borg, Skylor, even Ronin… they all think I'm a different person now, but I don't feel different. I remember being a ghost, and I remember everything I did. I knew it was bad back then, and I still did it." 

He shakes his head and meets Pixal's eyes. "You know what I told Lloyd?" he says, his voice shaking. "After he brought me back to life?"

"He said you apologized."

"Sure, but I also said I would do it all again." Morro drags his fingernails across the stone. "That if I could go back and do it all over, I'd do it exactly the same, just because I wanted to keep this new life."

Pixal says nothing.

He's breathing heavier. Is it just because he's about to cry, or is there another new thing that's wrong with his body? "But what about everyone else?" he says. "What if me being here is just making everyone else's lives worse?"

He hears Pixal's footsteps approaching him. He closes his eyes and turns his head away.

She stops just in front of him. "Morro," she says. "I am tired, and I am frustrated. I am not capable of comforting you at this time, nor do I see a point in attempting, given our current circumstances."

"Great," Morro mutters. The Vermilion is staring at them, and it pisses him off that the whole hivemind gets to see how pathetic he is.

"I am still going to try."

"Great." He doesn't look at her.

Pixal speaks slowly and deliberately. "Father had many failed ideas," she says. "His method of inventing has always been to try many ideas and see which ones were effective." She pauses. "I was his sixteenth attempt at an assistant."

It takes a moment for her words to sink in. "What?" Morro says, and he finally looks at her.

She meets his eyes. "He had never built an AI before. The fifteen previous prototypes lacked the ability to make decisions for themselves–they were not truly people. I was the first who could be said to have free will."

Morro blinks. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because he never stopped trying." Pixal puts a hand on his shoulder. "He was only able to build me because of what he learned on those prototypes. I am here because of my fifteen sisters who never got to exist."

"So, what? What does that mean for us?"

"You consider yourself the same person who committed atrocities," Pixal says, "and I will not argue with that. Before your resurrection, I saw someone who would push himself over and over, hitting the limits of his body and mind and still trying to keep going. That has not changed."

Dammit, he is crying. Morro rubs the corner of his eye.

"You are much like our father in that way."

"I–" He can't help the noise that slips out of him. Morro covers his mouth and looks down. "I'm not," he mumbles. "I just don't know when to quit."

"And you think Cyrus Borg does?"

He can't answer that.

"This may be a failure we cannot come back from," Pixal says. "Even so, I want to keep trying until there's nothing left of me to try with."

With a jolt, Morro remembers what started this conversation. "Okay, but you said if you tried to break the bars with your power source–"

"I am not doing that."

"Okay," he says. "Good. I don't think I can drag you out of here if you knock yourself out."

"You couldn't," Pixal says, "but I know you would try."

She hugs him. Her armor is covered in hard edges that press against him uncomfortably. He hugs her back.

She whispers in his ear.

"Zane is close. I received a signal from him ninety seconds ago. Do not react in front of the guard."

His eyes widen. His eyes flick up to the Vermilion, who appears to have lost interest in the conversation and is picking whatever passes for their nose. Morro takes a deep breath and hugs her tighter.

Kai leads the way to the blacksmith's hut, creeping past Vermilion drones marching through the swamp. They soon spot their destination on the perimeter of the swamp, atop a short hill. There's little cover surrounding the hut, Kai notices. They have to move fast.

"So," says Nya.

Kai flinches. "What is it, sis?" he says.

She hesitates. "Do you really think our parents would abandon us to work with Krux?" she says.

"I don't know," Kai says. "I think it's possible, sure."

"But…" Nya frowns. "If they really did believe in what Krux was doing, why would they leave us behind?"

"Look, there's all sorts of reasons. Maybe they only believed in him halfway. Maybe they didn't want us to be involved, for good or bad." Kai sighs and stops moving, crouching behind a fallen log that provides the last bit of cover surrounding the hut. "I only barely remember them. Mostly our dad."

Nya lowers her voice. "What was he like?"

"I've told you before."

"You seem like you need to talk."

He grumbles. "Skylor's been rubbing off on you, huh?"

Nya scoots closer. "Kai."

"He was happy," Kai says. "He loved to show us everything he was doing, from cooking to reading books to stuff I can't remember. He wanted us to be a part of everything. Part of his life." He digs his fingers into the dirt. "And then we weren't."

"Our mother?" Nya asks.

"I have one memory–Dad was showing us around the forge, and Mom freaked out 'cause, y'know, swords and sharp things and molten metal. He had to stop and reassure her he was being safe, and then she was laughing for some reason? So she was okay with it." He looks away. "That's all I remember of her, other than like… faint feelings and crap."

They huddle together in silence while the time ticks by.

"There's someone moving in there," Nya says.

Kai looks back up. Light is visible through the windows. He sees shadows shifting inside. Someone's in there–their parents? Vermilion? Someone else?

He puts a hand on his blade and steels his heart.

Acronix sits at the table, staring blankly at the mug Maya handed her. The handle is chipped. Her hands are shaking. She hasn't registered what drink is in it.

She hears Ray and Maya talking in the other room.

"I don't trust her."

"She wasn't the one who kidnapped us, Ray."

"Do you think she's innocent in that?"

"How would she not be? Even though he did it in her name, she had no way to know what Krux did."

Acronix's breath catches. A tear runs down her face. When Maya returns, Acronix is quietly crying again. Wordlessly, Maya offers her a handkerchief.

Ray comes into the room and sits at the table with his wife. He, like Maya, is showing his age. He sighs and says nothing while Acronix wipes her eyes.

After a long moment, he breaks the silence. "Where do we begin?" he says.

Ray had not been a particularly close friend during the Elemental Alliance; Acronix had always felt more comfortable around women, even before she knew the reason why. She only knew of him as Maya's partner, a man whose cheer and optimism had survived even the Serpentine War. He is not the happy man Acronix remembers.

"Acronix," Maya says softly, "I brought you here because you need to make a decision."

She nods, slowly. "I," she starts, then stops. The words won't come.

"You said you want something different than your brother."

"I don't know what I want," Acronix says. "Only that it's not this."

"That's a start," Maya says.

Ray speaks again. "What about what we want?" he says, his voice sharp. "Or how she can help us?"

"She's upset, Ray."

He raises his voice. "Maybe I'm upset! It's been twenty years without our children."

"You think I don't know that?" Maya shakes her head. "Even if Acronix were to release us this very moment, you know what the Iron Doom is capable of."

"The Iron Doom isn't capable of anything without all four timeblades," Acronix says. "We only have three."

An uncomfortable silence follows. Ray and Maya glance at each other. Acronix sees something in their expressions that her brother had failed to notice.

"Do you know what happened to it?" she asks. Then, "Don't answer that. I don't want…"

She looks down again. Ray and Maya say nothing.

"I don't want the Iron Doom to be completed," Acronix says. "If Krux and I use it, so many people will suffer. If the timeblade is never found…"

"Krux won't stop trying to find another way," Ray says. "You ought to know that. Someone who held onto a grudge for forty years won't give up just because he has to wait a few years longer."

Forty years, Acronix thinks. It was the blink of an eye for her, but everyone else is carrying that weight. Four decades. Half a lifespan, even.

Her breath catches.

"The Iron Doom needs two people to operate," Maya says. "Acronix, you don't want this. You just have to tell him–"

"I won't betray him," Acronix says.

Maya furrows her brow. "I'm only asking you to talk to him."

Acronix shakes her head, new tears blurring her vision. "I can't."

"So what the hell's the point of this?" Ray snaps. "You won't help us, you won't stop Krux, but you're going to sit there and cry about it? You're as much at fault as your brother, Acronix."

Maya grabs Ray's shoulder and hisses something in his ear. Acronix doesn't pay attention, overwhelmed by tears and using all her self-restraint to stay quiet.

The door bursts open.

"I knew it!" Kai glares at the three of them and brandishes his blade. "You are traitors!"

Maya and Ray stand up. "Who are you?" Ray says, running his eyes over the new Master of Fire–but Ray doesn't know that, Acronix realizes. To the blacksmiths, this is a stranger, not their son. She stands up and rubs the tears out of her eyes.

Before she can see clearly, Kai has lunged at her, and it's only years of wartime instincts that stop the blade from sinking into her skin. The blade buries itself in the table.

Maya yelps. "That's from our home! Where did you get that?"

Kai yanks the blade free. "Shut the hell up! You don't know me!"

"That much is obvious!" Ray backs away and reaches for a sword on the wall. "Tell us who you are!"

"Stop!" Acronix shouts. She puts herself between Kai and his parents. "You don't know what you're doing!"

Kai points his weapon at her. "I'm not listening to a fucking word you say!"

"Krux lied to you! They're not traitors!"

"Which is why you're all sitting around having a tea party, right?!"

"Kai!" The Master of Water appears in the doorway, her eyes wide. "This isn't what we talked about!"

He doesn't look back. "You stay out of this!"

Acronix glances back at Ray and Maya, but there's no recognition in their faces, which confuses her. Don't they remember the name of their own son?

"No, Kai, stop!" Nya runs forward. "We don't know what's going on!"

Maya tries to speak up. "If you give us a moment to explain–"

"I don't want to hear anything from you," Kai says. "You've been working for Krux all this time–were your children not good enough to stick around for?"

"Keep our children out of your mouth!" Ray shouts. "Who are you?!"

Kai practically snarls. His hand lights up in flame.

Maya gasps. Ray takes a step back. "Master of Fire," he whispers, the anger gone from his voice. "You–you're not my enemy."

"The hell I'm not!"

Kai throws the fireball. Acronix runs to block it–

The explosion rattles the walls and knocks her to the ground. A horrible, charred smell fills her nostrils, and when she tries to move–oh, God, she's burning, she can see flames flickering in her vision. It hurts too much to even scream.

Cool, almost freezing water washes over her, soothing her burns and extinguishing the fire on her clothes. She gasps and starts coughing violently when she inhales a few droplets. Maya is crouching next to her, running water over her body–no, Acronix remembers, Maya doesn't have the element of water anymore. That's Nya, who has even less reason to care if Acronix lives or dies.

Nya is barely looking at where she's directing the water. "You heard what Wu said, Kai," she says, her voice low and furious. "Even if they worked for Krux, you don't know if they had a choice."

"Bullshit," Kai says, his voice trembling. "Everyone has a choice."

"Sure," says Nya. "Borg had a choice when he was kidnapped. Skylor had a choice when she lived in her father's cult."

"Skylor doesn't have anything to do with this!"

"He threatened you," Maya whispers.

Nya looks up. The water hits Acronix's face again and gets up her nose before she sputters and pushes herself upright.

Maya has her hands covering her mouth, her eyes damp. "We didn't know who he was," she says. "Krux pretended to be our friend, he lied to us for years, and then–if we fought back, he would have killed you both."

Kai still holds the blade, but now it hangs at his side, trembling with the rest of him. "How am I supposed to believe that?" he says.

Ray shakes his head. "Is it so hard to believe there were no good choices?" he says. "We couldn't risk your lives."

"Then–" Kai gestures at Acronix. "Why is she here?!"

Acronix opens her mouth and has a coughing fit. Kai, to his credit, waits for her to speak.

"I need to stop my brother," she says, and the responsibility nearly crushes her. She swallows hard and keeps going. "He's already caused so much suffering, I can't–I can't–I have to stop him from destroying more lives than he already has."

It doesn't feel any more feasible than before she acquired burns all across her arms and upper torso. Nya is still running water over them, dulling the pain enough to function. Kai breathes in harshly and turns away.

"We can talk later," Maya says. "Did you come alone? Is Wu with you?"

"The other ninja are here," Kai says. "Wu's not. He's… hurt."

Nya swallows. "He's dying," she says. "Acronix, you said the only way to help him is with the reverse blade."

Acronix nods, tears running down her face.

"And Wu said you're the only ones who know where it is," says Kai.

Maya takes a sharp breath. "We are."

"So where is it?"

"It's not that simple," Ray says. "You need the elements of fire and water both to retrieve it."

For a moment, the world stands still. It's only after time resumes that Acronix realizes it was literal.

The third timeblade has fallen. Now there's only one left.

"We're running out of time," says Acronix. "I'll hold off my brother as long as I can. Do what you need to do."

She stands up, water dripping from her clothes. Her burns immediately flare up, and she winces at every movement. She forces herself to move anyway and hobbles to the door.

"Acronix, wait!" Maya cries. "If he hurts you–"

Acronix laughs. It's not a nice sound. "Krux would never hurt me," she says. "Didn't you say it? He did all of this for me."

"That's not…"

Maya trails off. Acronix shakes her head and walks out into the swamp.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Two
I had a dream last night
the worst part of you came to life
It was a curious dream
unlike any other scene I'd seen in my life

Ryan Roth, Halina Heron – (oceans)

Zane swiftly scans the area. "They're here," he says to Lloyd and Cyrus. "There are four Vermilion guards in total. Lloyd, your father is at the other end of the hall. Morro and Pixal are closer to our current positions."

"Are they alright?" Cyrus blurts out.

"My readings of Morro and Garmadon are limited, but Pixal sent over her status when I pinged her." Zane pauses. "She and Morro attempted to attack the base with Borg Tower's security nindroids, and were forced to surrender. The others are offline. Morro is conscious and alert, but requires medical attention."

To Lloyd, he adds, "I detect motion in your father's cell. It is most likely him."

Cyrus grip his wheels and tries to calm himself. Morro is going to be fine. Pixal is online and communicating. He's going to see both of them in moments.

Lloyd pulls his hood over his face. "Zane, on my signal, freeze the hall floor. I'll run to the far end and take care of the Vermilion down there, you deal with the ones here. Borg, wait here until the guards are dealt with."

"Understood," Cyrus says.

"What signal should I watch for?" Zane asks.

"Uh," Lloyd says. "Do it… now!"

Zane moves at once, pressing his hands to the floor. A wave of ice creeps down the hall, slowly, but picking up speed. Cyrus is still behind the corner, but he hears confused noises from the Vermilion–which is when Lloyd runs out with his sword. The guards' alarmed shouts are quickly silenced.

"All clear," Zane says.

Cyrus doesn't wait for Zane to push him. He moves at once, his hands shaking as they grip his wheels. He can hear Lloyd's voice down the hall, and he thinks he hears Garmadon respond–that doesn't matter. Nothing matters except making sure his children are safe.

"Father?"

"Dad?"

"Pixal!" Cyrus cries. "Pixal, Morro–are you–?"

And there they are. Pixal stands up as he comes into view, and–she's here, she's in a real, physical body, no longer a vision on a computer screen broadcasting from someone else's head. She's supporting Morro, who is noticeably pale and can barely keep himself upright, but there both here and alive. Despite the circumstances, Cyrus can't suppress a smile.

He reaches through the bars, trying to speak and crying instead. "I thought I might never see you again," he manages to say. "I thought–Pixal, you have a body again! How–what happened? Morro, Pixal–"

Pixal takes one of his hands in her own. "Zane was incapacitated after you were kidnapped," she says. "I was frustrated. I took over Nya's Samurai X armor and built a new body. I had to do something, Father."

He nods, tears streaming down his face. "Please," he says, "I don't want you to put yourself in danger. Pixal, Pixal…"

His eyes fall on Morro. "Morro, what happened? Skylor said you were in the hospital, I was so worried–"

"Yeah," Morro says. "Lifting the curse on my soul brought back all the shit I cursed my soul to get rid of. I wish I had known that would happen."

He's not meeting his eyes. Cyrus grips Pixal's hand tightly. "We need to get you out of here," he says. "Zane? Are you–"

"Right here." Zane steps forward. "Please back up to a safe distance."

Reluctantly, Cyrus lets go of Pixal's hand and backs away from the cell. Zane grabs the bars and the temperature drops a few degrees as he freezes them until they're brittle enough to break.

As soon as they're out, Cyrus wraps his arms around Morro and Pixal both, pulling them down to his level. "I was so scared," he says through his tears. "I was so scared, Pixal, Morro…"

"I'm sorry, Father."

"No, no, Pixal, this isn't your fault." Cyrus pulls back to look her in the eyes. "Both of you," he says. "This isn't your fault. I–I just want to go home."

"Garmadon's free," Zane says. Cyrus hadn't noticed him leaving to free him, but he must have, because there's Garmadon leaning on Lloyd for support. "I'll escort you out to–"

"You're staying here," Lloyd says. "The others need your brains."

Zane frowns. "Lloyd, with you as the leader, I imagine they would need you more than me."

"Gonna be real with you, I'm too pissed off to do any leading." Lloyd cracks a smile. "But it's not like I won't come back. I'll take them where they'll be safe, and then I'll come back to help."

"The other nindroids," Cyrus says. "What about them? Pixal, what's their status?"

"Offline," Pixal says. "Their power sources have been shut down, and bringing them back is a long process. Father, it would be dangerous for you to stay here."

"But–"

"I'll do it," Zane says. "If they are unharmed, Sentry and his team can help us free the other prisoners."

Pixal hesitates. "If I stay–"

"Absolutely not," Cyrus says immediately. "Pixal, Morro, we are leaving. I will not hear any argument against that."

Pixal relents. "I understand, Father. Take care, Zane."

"C'mon, Dad," Lloyd says. "Let's get out of here."

They make it out of the building in an awkward silence. Morro doesn't look at Lloyd or Garmadon. He doesn't expect any of them to try and make conversation, especially considering the last time he and Lloyd spoke was a request to never meet again if they could help it.

When Lloyd does speak, it's in a whisper while they're crouched behind a corner. "We took care of the guards in this area," he says, "but more might come to investigate. Stay alert."

Morro feels the wind stir before they hear the noise. He looks up, but whatever flying machine fits Krux's sensibilities isn't in view yet. He knows it's him, though, because what else could go wrong tonight?

"Krux is coming back," he says.

Lloyd swears. Morro can't help a glance at Garmadon, but the father of the Green Ninja says nothing. He can't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. Wu used to scold him for saying "crap."

But Wu isn't his father. Never was, Morro tells himself.

"We'll have cover once we get to the sewers," Lloyd says. "Dad, how fast can you move?"

"Not very," Garmadon says. "I'd slow you down."

"I'm not leaving you behind," Lloyd says firmly. "You three, go on ahead."

"What?" Pixal says. Morro makes a confused noise before remembering he doesn't want to speak to Lloyd.

"We'll be safer if we split up," Lloyd says. "Pixal, I know you know how to fight. You were in the mech suit, right? You saved my life."

"That was not me," Pixal says before Morro can stop her.

"It wasn't? Then who–"

Lloyd and Morro make eye contact for a fraction of a section before Morro decides staring at the damp ground is much more interesting.

"You are correct," Pixal says after an awkward silence. "I built myself with the ability to fight, and I can use it even without my weapons."

"We're running out of time," Cyrus hisses. "Are we going or not?"

Pixal hoists Morro up and off the ground. Lingering pain shoots through his joints and he winces. "Sorry," Pixal says. "We are moving. Be careful, Lloyd."

"Sure," says Lloyd. "You too."

When Krux's ship lands, Acronix is waiting for him.

"We need to talk," she says before he's disembarked.

"Now is not the time," Krux says, barely even looking at her. "Machia has informed me through the hivemind that there are intruders on the premises. Several drones have been eliminated, and–"

He moves to walk past her. Acronix blocks his way. He frowns at her, then his eyes fall on the burns. "Acronix," he says in alarm. "Were you attacked?"

Acronix huffs. "That's not important right now!"

Krux grabs her arm and she hisses in pain. "You're hurt," he says. "We need to get this treated. Machia, deal with the intruders and make sure the prisoners are secure."

"Brother, please–"

Krux hisses air through his teeth and runs a hand over his face. "You're hurt," he repeats. "Anything else can wait. Let's take care of this first."

Acronix relents. "Fine," she says. They can talk afterwards.

They go into Borg's former workstation. It doesn't take Krux long to find a first aid kit and sit Acronix down at the table. "Don't pick at the blisters," he says, and applies a thick gel to her arms. It stings for a moment, but leaves a pleasantly cool sensation behind. Acronix sighs. She hadn't realized how much the burns hurt, but now that the adrenaline is wearing off, the pain is making itself known.

"Thank you," she says quietly.

"Who did this to you?" Krux says.

Shit. "No one," Acronix says. "It was an accident."

He pauses. "How did you accidentally burn yourself this bad?"

"That's not important. Krux–"

"Why are you lying to me?"

Acronix is struck speechless for a moment. "What am I supposed to say?" she asks. "I can barely talk to you. If I told you what really happened, you'd overreact and do more damage. I can't trust you anymore."

Krux shakes his head. "Acronix, I know this is hard for you, but I promise, after this is over, everything will be better. We'll finally have what we want."

Her voice catches. "Brother, I want to never have gone in that damned time portal. I wanted to spend those forty years with you. Maybe then none of this would have–"

"Don't you understand, Acronix?" Krux gently takes her hand. "With the Iron Doom, we can change all that. We can have all the time we lost. I promise we'll be happy together, even if you're not happy now."

Acronix shakes her head. "What about everyone else?"

Krux's voice hardens. "Why would they matter? They're the ones who took everything from us."

She raises her voice. "Borg didn't do anything to us!"

"Kidnapping Dr. Borg was a necessary–"

"We kidnapped dozens of innocent people!"

"Without the manpower, we would never have–"

"You took Kai and Nya's parents from them!"

His grip on her hand tightens. "Master of Fire. He did this to you."

Acronix pulls away. "Krux, just listen to me!"

"You knew he was here and you didn't tell me at once?" Krux snapped. "He attacked you, Acronix!"

"You don't know what happened!"

Krux stands up. "I have to deal with this situation. Wait here."

"No!" Acronix jumps to her feet. "I'm not done! We can't keep going like this, Krux!"

"I'll be back later," Krux says, "and then we can discuss whatever was worth lying to me about."

He turns and marches to the door. Acronix stares in disbelief until the door closes, and, too late to realize her mistake, she hears the click of the lock.

"Krux?" She half-runs to the door, the pain from her burns slowing her down, and tries to open it. It stays firmly closed. "Krux?! Krux! Let me out! Krux!"

All her banging and shouting received no response, and she slides down the door to the floor, covering her face and sobbing.

A group of guards spot them just when the sewer entrance is within sight. "Dammit!" Cyrus hisses. "Pixal, you said you can fight?"
Pixal hesitates. "Morro, can you stand?"

"Probably." Not like there's a choice in the matter; Pixal can't fight while carrying his deadweight ass.

Pixal carefully sets Morro on his feet. He staggers and grabs Cyrus' wheelchair for support. Cyrus puts a hand on his arm. "Be careful," he says.

The Vermilion are greeted with Pixal disarming one and using its sword to cut through another. One of them grunts, its eyes flashing briefly before Pixal hits it hard enough to break it apart through force alone.

Morro watches the snakes swarming in the dirt. When he spots some converging on a pile of armor, he takes a deep breath and exhales a gust of wind that swirls around them. The snakes spin around, confused, and flee in different directions, prevented from reforming.

Pixal backs up, closer to Cyrus and Morro. "There are a lot of them," she says, "and more coming."

"What do you expect us to do?" Morro says, harsher than he intended.

"Need some help?"

The damp ground swells with murky water. The Vermilion's feet are caught in the muck. Pixal destroys another while they struggle to get free. The others are unable to run from a stream of fire.

Kai and Nya run up to Pixal. "Hey, Pix," Kai says with half a smile. "Think you owe my sister an apology."

"Now is not the time," Nya says firmly, slamming the hilt of her sword into a Vermilion's throat. "We need to get to the base. Have you seen Acronix?"

"What?" Morro says. "Why are you going back there?"

"Unfinished business." Kai eyes the main building, one fist clenched at his side. "We know where the last timeblade is."

"You're not trying to get it, are you?" Cyrus says. "If they get all four–"

"Master Wu is dying," Kai says. "If the fourth timeblade can save him, we need to get it."

Morro's ears buzz with static, and he doesn't hear Pixal's response. The last Vermilion is defeated. He can see the sewer entrance from here. They're so close to going home.

"I hate to say it," says Nya, "but we could use all the help we can get."

"I need to get my father and my brother out of here," Pixal says sharply.

"Pixal," Cyrus says quietly, "I think I need to stay."

"Father–"

"I built that machine. I know how to destroy it." Cyrus sighs. "Just take Morro, alright?"

"You think I'm leaving?" Morro says.

"Morro, you need the hospital."

"I feel fine," he lies. "And I'm not useless."

"We don't have time!" Kai says. "Are you coming or not?"

Cyrus, Pixal, and Morro all look at each other. Morro sees the determination in their eyes and wonders if they see the same in his.

"We're with you," Pixal says, affirming the decision they've already made. "Let's go."

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Three
Do or die
What's done is done
True beauty lies
On the blue horizon

Echo & the Bunnymen – Nocturnal Me

There's no point in staying hidden, not when the Vermilion hivemind is well aware of their presence. Kai, Nya, and Pixal fight their way back to the main base, where the Iron Doom is kept, while Morro limps along, holding on to Cyrus' wheelchair.

"Are you sure you feel alright?" Cyrus asks.

"God, no," says Morro. "But I'm not dying. I know what that feels like."

"When was the last time you ate?"

The question catches him off guard. "You're thinking about that now?"

"Not recently, I take it." Cyrus twists around to get a small bag. "Here. I don't have much, but you need food to heal."

An energy bar is pressed into his hands. Morro is abruptly made aware of how hungry he is, and he nearly eats a chunk of the wrapper in his haste.

"Careful!" Cyrus puts a hand on his back. "Don't choke on it."

Morro can't speak until he's done chewing. "Thanks, Dad," he says. "Guess I needed that."

They move a few paces ahead to catch up with the others. The Vermilion's numbers are dwindling; have they fought off that many? Morro wants to be optimistic, but the fear that something is wrong pricks at the back of his mind.

"I love you, you know," Cyrus says.

"I know, Dad."

Cyrus takes a deep breath. "Part of me thought I'd never get to say that to you again," he says. "Seeing the lengths Krux is willing to go to…"

Morro frowns. "Just Krux?"

"Yes." Cyrus pauses. "I do not think Acronix is willing to go as far as her brother. She was the one who released me, against Krux's wishes."

"I thought the ninja rescued you."

"Ha, no. Acronix had already taken me out of the swamp, and would have brought me right back to Borg Tower had the ninja not intervened." He sighs, tapping his fingers on his knee. "It's debatable whether Ninjago City would have been safe, but I wish I had been able to contact you and Pixal before the situation escalated."

Morro's stomach, despite only going without food for a day, protests at how little it's been given. Morro grimaces. "Yeah," he says, "me, too."

"I'm worried about her."

Morro blinks. "Fucking Acronix?"

"Yes," Cyrus says. "I understand you aren't happy with her, and I can't say I am either, but…" He shakes his head. "She's a victim here, too. And at this point, no matter what she chooses, she won't make it out unscathed."

He has a selection of mean and bitter things to say about Acronix, but looking at Cyrus' face, Morro can't bring himself to speak any of it. "Well," he says, "maybe she'll at least make it out alive."

"I hope so," Cyrus says, and the conversation ends.

The door opens. Acronix scrambles to her feet and stares wide-eyed at Ray and Maya.

"Great job holding off Krux," Ray says sarcastically. "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Acronix averts her eyes. "Why did you come back for me?"

"We never left," Maya says. "We need to get the last timeblade to save Wu's life."

Acronix opens her mouth, thinks better of it, and changes course. "Krux knows your son is here," she says. "Or he will soon. I didn't tell him, I swear."

Ray sighs. "Of course he figured it out, you're covered in burns. I have much better things to blame you for."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Kai and Nya will be here soon." Maya glances down the hall. "We're lucky there aren't many guards here. Do you know where Krux's flying machine is kept?"

Acronix nods. "Where is the timeblade?"

"None of your business," Ray says, just as Maya answers, "The Boiling Sea." She glances at Ray wide eyed stare and adds, "What? It's not like it matters if she knows. We're going to get it no matter what."

"You don't have to…" Ray groans. "Fine. It doesn't matter."

Acronix doesn't comment. "The flying ship is kept in the same room as the Iron Doom," she says. "I can show you where–"

"I know where it is," Ray interrupts. "Maya, wait for Kai and Nya. I'll make sure it's clear."

"By yourself?" Maya says. "It's too dangerous. Take Acronix with you."

Both Ray and Acronix look at her like she's suggested Ray be accompanied by a live bomb.

Maya sighs. "I know you don't like her," she says, "but I don't fancy your chances if you're caught alone. Acronix is on our side."

"Quite frankly," Ray says, "I don't think Acronix knows what side she's on."

"Go, Ray. We'll meet you there."

Ray shakes his head and marches down the hall. After a look from Maya, Acronix follows him.

The room with the Iron Doom isn't guarded. Acronix hesitates before entering the room. "This isn't right," she says.

"You're telling me," says Ray.

"No, I mean it shouldn't be empty like this." Acronix scans the area, but she doesn't see even a loose snake, let alone a fully formed warrior. "Something is wrong. It must be empty for a reason."

"Maybe we're just lucky," says Ray. "So many of them have been eliminated that there's none left to guard here."

"But that's not right, this should be one of the higher priority areas to–"

Ray glares at her. "There's no one around, Acronix. Let's just keep moving."

She can't argue. Acronix shuts up and follows Ray deeper into the room.

The Iron Doom looms above them.

Acronix doesn't want to look at it, but she has to; it's a huge, imposing presence, built like a war machine even though she knows the Serpentine War is over. Forty years later, she wonders what war Krux is still fighting.

"There's the ship," Ray says–she hadn't noticed how far ahead of her he is. "Any sign of your brother?"

"No," says Acronix. and bites back the "but." It doesn't feel right, the room unguarded.

"So we have the ship," Ray says. "Now we wait for Maya and the others, and then we leave. You are not coming with us."

"I didn't expect to."

"Good." Ray looks around. "The others should be here any minute."

And they were. "Ray?" Maya calls out as she enters the room. "Are you here? Kai and Nya brought help."

Acronix' gut twists when she sees Cyrus Borg and his two children.

Ray moves past Acronix to meet his family. "Is everyone alright?" he says. "You had to fight to get here, didn't you?"

"We're fine," Kai says, not meeting his father's eyes. "Thanks for asking. Or something."

Ray frowns, but doesn't press the issue. Nya is taking in her surroundings, her brow furrowed as she looks up at the Iron Doom. "This place should be guarded," she says. "Why isn't it?"

"I don't know," Acronix says reflexively, and everyone turns their eyes to her.

She takes a step back. Maya's gaze doesn't linger, but Kai is glaring, and Cyrus is clearly surprised to see her. The back of her mind is trying to alert her to perceived danger, but Acronix has no weapons to defend herself with. If the others decide she hasn't switched sides convincingly enough…

"Are you alright?"

Her eyes land on Cyrus. "What?" Acronix' voice trembles. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes," Cyrus says. "Because, frankly, you look awful. What happened?"

Kai speaks before she can. "She got in the way of my elemental power," he says flatly. "It was probably a good thing?"

"Probably," Ray says.

Cyrus' eyes widen. "Shouldn't she be treated for burns, then?"

"It's nothing," Acronix says. "I'm fine."

She isn't really fine; her burned skin feels tight and painful when she moves, and the longer she stands in one place the more painful it will be to start moving again. If she wanted to be accurate, she would describe her current state as "good enough."

"We need a plan," Pixal says. "We can't all go to get the reverse blade."

"Correct. Only the wielders of fire and water can get in, anyway." Maya nods at her husband. "Kai, Nya, Ray and I know the way. The rest of you will have to stay here."

"Fire and water," Nya echoes. Is Acronix imagining the fear in her expression? "What happens if someone else tries?"

"They'd die," Ray says.

"Don't be like that," Maya says sharply. "No one else would be capable, that's all. The blade requires both fire and water powers to retrieve."

Nya closes her eyes briefly. "That's good," she says, "that's good. I can do that."

Kai gives her a confused look. "Why couldn't you?"

"I just said I could," Nya says sharply. "We're running out of time, Kai."

"Right." Kai shakes his head. "Where's the ship?"

They get to the ship. They all board–Ray, Maya, Kai, and Nya. "Krux will see us leaving," Ray says to Cyrus. "You may have to confront him."

"We'll be ready," Cyrus says. Acronix doesn't miss his eyes flicking towards her–and neither does Ray, who frowns, but doesn't comment.

They turn away from each other. "Let's go, Maya," Ray says.

Maya starts the engine. The flying ship lifts off. Pixal raises her hand and waves them off as they rise out of the building and move out of sight.

"So what now?" Morro says. Acronix looks at him and he shrinks back, as if he hadn't meant to speak aloud.

"Pixal's right that we need a plan," says Cyrus. "If Krux saw them leave…"

Acronix takes a breath. "I have to talk to him," she says.

Pixal glances at her. "Are you ready to do that?" she says.

"No," says Acronix. "But it's what I have to do, right? That's the only reason you're putting up with me."

"That's…" Cyrus hisses air through his teeth.

Acronix crosses her arms and looks away. "So I'll talk to him," she says. "No matter what happens… I can't keep being part of this."

"Do you think you'll have to fight him?" Pixal says

"Of course not!" Acronix whips her head around to glare at her. "He would never hurt me!"

Pixal meets her eyes. "But if it came down to it, would you be capable of hurting him?"

Her mouth hangs open.

She can't answer.

Cyrus' brow furrows, but before anyone else can speak, they hear heavy footsteps on the concrete floor.

"I certainly hope she wouldn't," Krux says, walking into the building. Behind him is Machia, followed by Blunck, Raggmunk, and a limp Zane held between them.

Pixal puts a hand on her sword. Morro and Cyrus retreat behind her. Acronix takes her eyes off the captured ninja and faces her brother.

Krux shakes his head. "You say you want to talk?" he says.

Acronix clenches her fists. It's not as if anyone is counting on her. After what she's seen of them, she's reasonably certain that the new elemental masters would be able to defeat Krux, even if Acronix stayed by his side.

But what kind of person would she be if she said nothing? If she let Krux charge stubbornly forward, dragging everyone with him into the past he hasn't moved on from?

"Let's talk, sister."