Chapter Text
I
Oblivion
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I don’t know where the story ends…
Never turning back again…
As I drop into…
Oblivion…
Soon after the ninja escaped Chen’s island…
The sickening venom of the transformation still ached in Garmadon’s bones as he watched the camera feed on the screen of the Samurai X cave.
Hundreds of violet serpents clad in gleaming armor swarmed the small settlement with vicious fury, and the spectators miles away unable to do anything.
“Chen…” Garmadon remarks with a seething rage. His old mentor’s scheming had come to fruition after years of toiling away on that island. Now both the ninja and the elemental masters are struggling to keep up with them.
If only he could find that scaly tail of his himself, he’d ensure that Chen would do no harm to any living soul ever again, pacifism vow or not.
A gentle hand laid on his arm, dragging his attention away from the monitor. Soft hazel eyes filled with concern met his and melted the anger away.
“Darling..” Misako spoke “as much as I’m sure any of us would like to be out there helping, it’s imperative that we stay behind and assist in coordinating the others.”
She carefully took Garmadon’s still clenched hand. “You know him best, dear. You can do the most from here.”
Meeting her gaze, he knew she was right. They were already scrambling for any kind of foothold against Chen after the break in at Krypterium. Without knowledgeable intel backing them up, it would become an uphill battle all too quickly.
Speaking of the devil, he shall appear, as the monitor flickers for a moment before a fanged purple smirk outlined by a thick goatee appears on the screen.
“Ah! Wonderful to see all of you in one place! Yaknow, this makes it a lot easier to pass on my vaguely hidden threats!”
“What is it this time, dad?” Skylor storms in hissing.
“My daughter! Skylor! You look so gorgeous with those pearly white fangs! Why don’t you tell papa where the ninja are hiding their little base of operations, and we can call it even with your whole ‘rebellious phase’?”
Skylor scoffs. “Yeah, sure I’ll tell ya. It’s in nunya.”
“Nunya?”
“Nunya damn business.” She retorted with a bite.
The hall goes silent for a brief moment as something flashes through Chen’s expression behind the screen. A piercing gaze of righteous anger directed right at his daughter, who now visibly shook and cowered under the weight of his glare. Garmadon couldn’t believe that a parent would ever look at their child in such a manner.
His previous fury returned as he stepped -or moreso slithered- into Chen’s view to give him a piece of his mind.
“Do you simply intend to gawk and laugh at us like a fool with nothing better to do with his time, or do you actually have an intention for this interception.”
“Oooo, Garm. I didn’t realize the years in the underworld would be enough for you to finally grow a spine!” Chen spoke with amusement.
“And speaking of, is your self centered brother around here? It would probably be best for both of the idiotic descendants of the first master to be present for a front row seat to their downfall.”
“I see the Anacondrai transformation has done little to enhance your lackluster bite, Chen.” Wu interjects, moving to stand by Garmadon’s side.
“Ohoho! Bold of you to stand side by side. If only someone were to air out some of your dirty laundry.” Chen chortles before turning to Garmadon.
“My former pupil, don’t you desire to know what exactly your brother did while you were trapped in another realm? To your own son?”
That gave Garmadon pause for a moment before he retorted “There is nothing you can say that we’ve not already made peace with. My brother has his faults and I have mine.”
“Not even if you learned that your own flesh and blood was willing to abandon your son with the serpentine? On multiple occasions actually! Haven’t you wondered why it took him so long to finally contact you to help in his rescue? The fact that your son spent weeks in captivity before you were even made aware!?”
It felt like freezing water had been poured down his back. Impossible. Garmadon found himself looking over to Wu, who had lost all of the color in his face at a rapid speed.
“Wu!?” Misako cried accusingly, clutching Garmadon’s arm for support.
The bearded man simply tilted his head downward, his brimmed hat obscuring his facial features as they contorted in conflict.
“Well it seems I’ve done my job! Toodaloo, LOSERS” Chen laughs hysterically before cutting the feed.
The tension between the two brothers was palpable, and only after a few seconds did one finally make a move.
“Brother… I-“ Wu was cut off as Garmadon raised a quivering fist and struck the former in the jaw with an audible crack.
Like a crack in a damn, everything else came flooding in at full speed. Garmadon could hardly process his emotions as flaming words were spat off a forked tongue. Nya Smith -the samurai- quickly stepped between the two and separated them while Misako hurried to pull a fuming Garmadon away from the scene.
The entire time, Wu could only hold a hand to his quickly brushing cheek and blankly stare into the bottomless fury that flared in his brother’s own gaze.
——————
Lloyd wasn’t expecting the stagnant tension in the Samurai X hideout when they returned. Having been focused on the planning for The Corridor of Elders, he could only catch glimpses of the animosity between his father and uncle that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Not to mention said animosity disappearing without a trace when addressed.
The green ninja finally managed to corner his mother after the meeting to ask about the situation, and when he heard about the events that transpired, he rushed to speak with his father.
He found Garmadon packing a large number of mystical looking equipment into a satchel before slinging it onto his shoulder, bumping into his son as he turned for the door.
“Ah, Lloyd! No need to fret as I have already packed all of my supplies and-“
“Dad.” Lloyd interrupted, crossing his arms. “You know exactly what I’m here to talk about.”
The former warlord's cheery facade remained for but a moment more before dissolving into a weary grimace. He groaned. “Look, son. You had nothing to do with this issue. In fact, you were the primary victim of his incompetence. Therefore, this needn’t burden your shoulders.”
“Dad-“ Lloyd interjected again. “Uncle had his reasons, and in the end we all made it out fine! That-“
“That doesn’t make it ok, Lloyd!” Garmadon hissed through fanged teeth. “It doesn’t change the fact that my own flesh and blood once thought of you as disposable enough to abandon in the claws of those snakes. My own son, used as fodder!” He heaved a sigh.
Lloyd took the moment to embrace his father, whom he felt melt into the contact and return the gesture. “I’m not asking for you to forgive him yet. Just-“ he bit his lip “Just leave a talk like this for later. Once both of you can communicate clearly.”
“I-“ Garmadon hesitated.
“I- I suppose I could put aside this for a moment. But only for your sake.”
Lloyd hummed his approval. “That’s all I ask of you, dad.”
——————
“It has to be one of us…” Garmadon echoed in revelation. Remembering back to all those years ago, banishing the Anacondrai generals to the cursed realm. The shared burden of the brothers taking the responsibility of completing the spell and ushering the verdict.
Now, all this time later, karma has truly come for its reckoning.
“One of us must take their place.” Garmadon said to the shell shocked face of his brother.
It only took a few seconds before one of the two volunteered, and it broke Garmadon’s heart.
“I will do it.” Wu said with such conviction, Garmadon had no doubt that his decision was final.
“What!?” Lloyd cried incredulously. “What do you mean- you can’t be saying your gonna-“
Lloyd looked desperately at his father, pleading “Dad, tell him he can’t! Tell him that there has to be another way!”
The broken cries of his son tore at his resolve, threatening to spill out Garmadon’s own pleas of disbelief. But he could only return Lloyd’s gaze with a look of defeat.
Lloyds betrayed expression burned into Garmadon’s mind as he turned back to his master. “Uncle please! You can't- you’ll die!!!”
The words echoed through the microphone on Lloyd’s earpiece, bringing a cacophony of distress and disbelief from the other ninjas that quickly soured into a firm denial. Yet despite this, Wu still took the leather bound spell book from the tiny claws of a miniature Pythor.
Lloyd’s face contorted into rage and tears pricked at his eyes. Ripping his cowl back on, he dove off the side of the bounty into the fray below.
“Lloyd-!” Wu called after him, only for a trembling hand to pull him back. The master turned to meet the eyes of one of his closest friends quivering with unshed tears as Misako pulled him into a tight hug, fierce enough to knock the wind out of his chest. Finally released from the embrace, she gave him a bittersweet smile before taking the spell book in her own hands and moving over to a still frozen Garmadon.
“Brother, please-“ Garmadon pleaded, despite knowing it would do little to change the outcome. Wu walked up to his brother and took an outstretched hand in his own. “We both know that you have much more to live for at the moment, brother. Meanwhile, I have several acquaintances on the other side due for a visit.” Wu responded with a half hearted laugh.
“I have many regrets in this life. Unfortunately, many of them were my failures as a teacher to my students.” Silently, Wu removed a small folded piece of paper from his robe and pressed it into Garmadon’s hand.
“May it be in this life or the next, I only wish that one day you will forgive me for my negligence.”
Garmadon looked upon the melancholy expression his brother wore, the face of a man who has seen his own world crumble far too many times. He threw himself forward to embrace his brother, desperately clinging to this moment.
Finally, he choked out, “-I may not be able to forgive you now… but till the end of time, you will always be my brother.”
Removing himself from the embrace, Garmadon slipped the piece of paper into his pocket before taking the tomb of spells from his wife’s hands. Together, they both stood before Wu as Garmadon chanted the first words.
“Komodo, nicktu, demic tara…”
A wince of pain drew his attention from the pages as a dim green light enveloped Wu, slowly lifting him from the deck of the bounty with his face scrunched in pain.
He stammered out the next words.
“K-Kenji, suveris, toto-demada, c-cursono, neeboro”
The wince turned into a cry as a rift was ripped open from the sky above the ship, a sickening green in color with a chill blowing out into the humid desert heat.
Suddenly, several thumps were heard behind them. As Garmadon turned to fight, he was shocked to see several figures in multiple colors land on the deck of the ship and quickly tear off their cowls, followed closely by a figure in heavy metal armor.
He was met with the disheartened faces of the ninja, Nya, and Lloyd all looking up at the contorted face of their beloved master.
“Sensei, please.” Stepped forward Cole. The boy’s amber eyes ached with hurt.
The master merely turned his gaze down to his students with a smile.
“I had sought to bring peace to this world and rid it of all troubles. But I hadn’t realized that I would pass down that ideology to you all, my beloved students.”
Several soft sobs were heard from the ninja as Garmadon turned back to the incantation on the pages with bleary eyes.
“actu, cursono, neeborro.”
The tears in his eyes clouded his vision as he stammered over the last sentence, his heart hammering in his chest. Only for a pair of hands to reach over and gently take the book from his trembling grasp.
Garmadon turned to meet his son’s weary gaze, offering a weak smile in support as he took the book in his own hands and stepped forwards. Grateful, Garmadon laid a hand on his shoulder and took his wife’s trembling grasp in his other.
Lloyd spoke the final words. “Sono, hokido, bo-rock!”
With a final cry of pain, Wu was dragged through the rift. The chill winds emanating from the portal ceased abruptly.
“Is he..?” Nya spoke with a weak voice.
“Did it work?” Jay piped up between soft sobs.
Finally, several dozen ghostly serpents came pouring out of the rift, descending onto the army below with a bellowing war cry.
——————
“Your brother was truly an exceptional man.” General Arcturus addressed Garmadon before wandering over to Lloyd, sharing a conversation for only their ears.
As many celebrated their victory and others grieved their losses, a wisp of a specter fled the scene.
A voice followed after this ghost.
“Morro…”
The ghost continued to follow the path of the gales, reveling in the feeling of the wind for the first time in years.
This ghost, none the wiser to the events that had transpired mere moments before.
He almost felt alive.
———————