Onyx and the Legacy of the Green Ninja

Final Hours

The driller emerged from the ground next to Wu. Everyone leapt out and immediately froze, staring up at the thing before them. A vast golden structure, composed of tens of thousands of parts, each whirring and clicking in perfect unison. But it was the way it felt. A presence. A terrifying, oppressive presence. The hands on the clock ticked softly, and yet each one seemed like a deafening boom. Each one represented one more second of peace slipping irrevocably away.

"Wow. This clock is a mechanical masterpiece," Nya said. "You're welcome to dismantle it once we stop it," Misako said. Jay gasped. "There's only a couple minutes left!" He cried. The mood immediately turned urgent. "Everyone, look for the helmet's perch! It could be anywhere," Misako said. "You don't know how to return the helmet?" Wu sputtered incredulously. "It has a resting place somewhere!" Misako cried.

Their organized effort deteriorated into a desperate hunt for the helmet's perch. They tossed it around, shoving it anywhere they could. Onyx hadn't realized just how precious the ninja were to her. How much she cared for each and every one of them. It was funny, how you didn't realize how much time was worth until it was nearly gone. She stuck the helmet atop one of the rotating planets, but to no avail.

"Oh, what about here?" Onyx tossed Jay the helmet, but his spot didn't work either. Lloyd leapt down next to Onyx, searching. "Lloyd-if this is it, thank you for everything," she said quickly. She had to get that out. It might be her last chance to say so. He shook his head. "No. We have time," he said, voice strained.

They kept searching, the pressure on them building and building. Onyx's heart pounded and her hands began to quiver slightly as the clock hit forty seconds. "Could this be the place?" Wu shouted. Cole tossed him the helmet. But just as the headpiece was about to land in his hands, a white stone hand shoved him, and Kozu instead caught the helmet.

Onyx's heart skipped a beat. "There's only thirty seconds left. I believe it's time for all of you to die-" One of the rotating planets on the clock came out of nowhere and knocked the helmet from his hands, sending it spiraling up into the air. "Get the helmet!" Misako shouted. Cole lunged for it. "Got-no!" It slipped from his fingertips. Onyx dove for it, snatching it up before it could fall from the edge of the cliff the clock stood on. Misako suddenly gave a desperate cry. "Onyx, the perch!" She pointed to a circular pedestal in the inner workings of the clock.

"There's only ten seconds left!" Wu cried. Onyx didn't speak. She ran at the clock, leaping into it, dashing over gears, dodging poles, and ducking underneath parts she had no name for. She reached the pedal with mere seconds left to spare. Onyx leapt over a final gear, flying through the air and slamming the helmet down on the perch as she fell. The ticking stopped less than a single second left on the clock. "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Kozu screamed. Onyx looked up from where she had fallen on her stomach. Her eyes met Lloyd's, and she couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face.

"We did it!" Nya cheered. But then the clock began to whir again. Horror spread through Onyx's mind as horns, deep, foreboding, and almost deafening, began to blare, filling the air, so deep and loud that she could feel the vibrations in her chest. Kozu began to laugh as the ninja's cheers changed to exclamations of horror. "The Horns of Destruction. We were too late," Misako gasped. Onyx staggered away from the perch as it began to glow, sending a beam of light around the clock, reflecting off of the planets like a twisted version of the Temple of Light. It hit a glass lens that magnified it and sent it across the island.

The others backed away from the army to stand by Onyx. She gathered darkness around her trembling hands. As the warriors began to advance on them, the ground around their feet began to crack, and the chunk of cliff they were standing on shattered, beginning to slide down the cliff, leaving Nya behind. "Nya!" Jay screamed her name desperately. "Jay!" She cried back. "Sis!" Kai added his voice to the cries. "Jump!" Onyx begged her. Just as Nya's feet left the ground, Kozu grabbed her collar, yanking her back, making her give a strangled scream that tore at Onyx's heart.

"Let her go!" Jay ordered, a furious authority the others had never heard filling his voice. "Or what? You will make a big splash?" Kozu taunted. "Screw you!" Onyx shrieked, apoplectic. Cole gave a cry as their chunk of cliff broke away completely. "The ground!" He yelped. "Nononono!" Jay cried as they plummeted into the Endless Sea.

Onyx kicked her legs, trying to break the surface. After a terrifying moment where she thought she had perhaps been swimming in the wrong direction, her head popped up above water, and she was able to draw a grateful breath of air. She had nary a second to gather her senses before someone grabbed her arm and started pulling her along with them. She recognized the red lining of the sleeve as Kai's. He pulled her up on the beach, which looked grey and dead in the twilight. She gave him a grateful nod, spitting seawater from her mouth.

Lloyd looked away from them all. "This is all my fault. I should've taken the shot," he whispered. "We're all at fault, kid. It's just the way the cookie crumbled," Cole said, trying to comfort him. Jay whipped to Cole, eyes popping furiously. "Ah! Are you still making jokes? They have Nya, AND YOU'RE MAKING JOKES?!" He shrieked. Cole stepped back, putting his hands up defensively. "It was just a poor choice of words!" He said, trying to defuse the situation. Jay rushed forward, about to punch Cole.

"Stop it! Just stop! It's not your fault; it's not anyone's fault except mine! I was too late. I'm the one who failed to get to the helmet's perch in time!" Onyx screamed, scratching agitatedly at her hands. Wu grabbed her wrists. "Enough! We have lost enough! We don't need to lose our focus!" He shouted at all of them. Onyx stopped immediately, breathing quickly. She knew that voice. It was the one that was not to be disobeyed. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to calm herself down. There was too much going on, and it was overwhelming.

"Forget focus. We have to get my sister," Kai shouted. Misako put a hand on his shoulder. "By the time we get back up there, they'll be gone. We will get your sister, but the clock has reached zero and the Final Battle could start at any moment. We must head back to the Bounty to prepare so that next time, you will not hesitate." She said the last part to Lloyd. "Come on, Lloyd. Let's go home. You will get your chance," Wu said, turning and walking down the beach in the direction of the Bounty.

As they went, Onyx hung a little farther back, where it was quieter. Lloyd dropped back to walk with her. "It wasn't your fault," he said softly. Onyx nodded. "I-I know. There were more factors to it than just me. I just had the last failure," she said. Lloyd gave her a sympathetic look. Onyx looked out at the sea in the direction of Ninjago. "Now that the clock's struck zero... we have to end this as soon as possible," she said. Lloyd bit his lip. "Yeah." He sighed. "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I can," he murmured.

Onyx flinched. She had no right to complain. She wouldn't have to kill her own father. "You're strong, Lloyd. I know you'll be able to fulfill your destiny," she said. He scuffed the sand with his foot. "Destiny... sometimes I wonder why destiny chose all of us to do this," Lloyd said. Onyx frowned. She did as well. "I don't think anyone really has the answer. There's no logic to how the world works sometimes," she said. Lloyd laughed softly. "Yeah, you're right." His face turned serious. "But it's the same anyway. I'm the Green Ninja, so I have to stop my father," he said.

Onyx nodded. She gave him an encouraging look. "And we'll be right here for when you do," she promised. She'd said it before, but it seemed apt for the moment.
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Oh boy. Things are about to go to hell, and I, for one, am quite excited.

Musical of the Day: Starlight Express (one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals. A story about a bratty little boy's fever dream about his trains coming to life and racing for the train god. It's extremely popular in Germany for some reason)