Return of Doom (Ninjago in the future)

Part 12: The Best Way to Defeat Your Enemy...

The next morning, I sat groggily at the table as Zane served us breakfast. He claimed it was best if we all ate a good meal before the fight, but I didn't feel hungry. I picked at the food, resting my head on my hands.

In good news, Summer was her usual perky self. The only difference I noticed was the distance she kept between herself and Umber.

The shintarian sat on the corner of the table, staring at her food with a guilty expression. I felt a little bad at the cold shoulder she received, but not too bad. After all, she attacked and hurt my sister with no reason.

Ben nudged me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned my tired eyes to him and hoped it was enough to ask the silent question.

"You didn't sleep again, did you?" He asked.

I sighed deeply and shook my head. My head still ached, but at this point, I tried to ignore it. I think I only slept for about an hour, and even that was restless. I couldn't get the sight of Lloyd's limp body out of my head. He was fading fast, and we were stuck on a ship eating Zane's food.

And who was I kidding? It was the best I'd had in a while. Where he found the ingredients, I don't want to know. But it tasted amazing.

"I did!" Sparky's voice cut in. "I had a dream where I was on a hill with these flowers and birds, and it was delightful!"

Ben shot him a glare, but he didn't notice. I sighed again and shoved a forkful of food into my mouth, trying to eat despite not wanting to. I knew I'd need the strength for our upcoming battle.

With an enemy we knew nothing about, only that it was strong enough to defeat the Green Ninja and put him in a mysterious stasis trap.

I heard a clatter of metal behind me, and turned to see Zane standing in the door with an armful of weapons — real, sharp ones. "You might need these," was all he said.

We each took our chosen weapon from the pile. I admired the naginata, which had a red handle and gold and silver blade with a swirl etched into the metal. It felt well balanced, and I swung it to confirm my thoughts.

"Hey," Umber snapped, seeing my weapon. "That's from Shintaro!"

I froze, suddenly self-conscious. Umber should wield this weapon, not me. I was about to say something when Zane spoke up.

"Affirmative," he agreed. "It was a gift from a close friend who helped us on one of our adventures." I noticed he didn't say the friend's name, but from my stories, I knew who it was, and it made me feel worse. Not only was the weapon from Umber's home, it was her ancestor's weapon. Queen Vania.

I averted my gaze from Umber and slid the weapon into a holder on my back. "Got any last-minute advice you wanna give us?" Sparky asked Zane as he took his scimitar.

"Be prepared for anything," the robot replied seriously. "We do not know what defeated Lloyd. Keep your eyes up. And protect each other." He handed out the rest of the weapons and left.

I shivered, rubbing my arms. This was it. After so many days walking through the forest, then on a flying ship, we had arrived. This was our chance to save Lloyd's life.

"I should probably mention," I added quietly, "last time I saw Lloyd in my dream, he didn't look so good." An image of the Ninja flashed through my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut to push it away. "I don't think we have a lot of time."

The others nodded grimly. I headed for the deck of the Bounty, where Zane had already started up the engines. He pointed the ship to the islands on the horizon and we started towards them.

Dread and exhilaration battled in my head. I felt extremely underprepared to be fighting whatever had taken down the legendary Green Ninja. On top of that, Summer was wounded and unable to join us, I was exhausted from two sleepless nights, and I didn't know if I could trust Umber.