reencarnated (book one)

Clippings (-Mr. E & Cryptor.)

After a bit of explaining, we had convinced master Wu to trust us, though when explaining, Nya called me 'the red biker guy' a few times. It's not that hard to remember 'Mr. E'.

We watched the broadcast of Gayle gossip talking about the latest attack from the crystal king. Cryptor had stopped acting so mopey but he looked bored as heck. He really acted like he had lost his purpose in life.

"Gayle Gossip for NGTV News, reporting from the rice fields east of Ninjago City, where the ninja are facing a deadly new threat." Gayle said. "What is that hovering Crystal Palace? And who are those marching crystal soldiers?"

Cryptor yawned.

"At the moment, details are unclear, but it appears the ninja, although wanted fugitives, are the only things standing between Ninjago City and a Crystastrophe of epic proportions." She continued. "Maybe even a Crystarmageddon. Back to you in the studio, Fred."

Lloyd turned off the broadcast.

"The others are loosing ground." Nya said.

"And they're gonna keep losing ground. The Overlord's got an almost unlimited supply of those Vengestone monstrosities." Lloyd cursed.

"I still don't understand how the Overlord can just return like that. He was destroyed!" Nya said. "Actually, I still can't believe THEY are still alive."

She gestured to us.

"The Overlord cannot be destroyed. Not really." Wu interrupted. "He is the embodiment of evil. He's fed by anger, hatred, and conflict. As they build up over time, he gains his strength, and ultimately takes form again."

"That could also be why they are back, especially Cryptor." Lloyd said. "The overlord called him 'practically myself incarnate.'."

"I feared the overlord could return one day. But I would not have expected him for several generations. For him to be back so soon, it must have been building up for some time. Somehow, I missed it."

He sighed, before his eyes lit up.

"Of course!"

"What?" Lloyd asked. I was also intrigued.

"The clippings!"

"Clippings?" Nya Repeated.

"What clippings?" Lloyd asked.

Wu showed a picture of newspaper clippings on the screen. He explained that someone had been sending him newspaper clippings of crimes for months, he predicted that the person sending them was hinting at the overlord arriving.

"We have to find whoever sent these clippings!" Nya said. I nodded.

"You can't. There's no return address. Whoever sent them went to some length to remain anonymous..." Wu sighed.

Suddenly, Nya and Lloyd pointed out codes on the corners of the clippings, newspaper delivery codes!

"I think we have a lead."

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We were told to wait in the bounty while Nya and Lloyd asked some newspaper kids about 'something', I didn't really care.

"So what's wrong with you?" Mr. E asked.

"You're talking?" I asked.

"No one's around." He shrugged. "Now what's wrong with you."

"Okay, well I dunno." I shrugged. "Just that IVE BEEN REJECTED BY MY LORD AND REPLACED BY A HUMAN GIRL WITHOUT ANY POWERS OR SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES!!"

"Jeez." He said. "So you feel replaced?"

"No, uh... well it feels more like I've ran out of use or something, like I don't have anymore purpose..."

"Really? Your whole 'revenge' thing depended on the overlord, who was dead, coming back to life somehow and accepting you?"

"Well it would have been fine if he had actually been defeated and I lived on, because he and me died while I was serving him. So it felt like I still was serving him after coming back to life." He said.

"But now that he's blatantly told me how useless I am to him, it feels... different."

"That... huh..." he said.

"Don't judge me!" I glared. "My whole thing was-"

"I'm not." He said. "You're just giving me a lot to think about."

"Oh." I said. "Well anyways, can we not talk about it? It's making me feel worse when I think about it."

"Yeah, I don't need to drag anything out of you." He shrugged. "I can tell you my story, finally."

I rolled my eyes. We had time to kill, and after denying hearing about his story countless times, I hurt was fair to hear it after he had just listened to me.

"Sure, why not." I sighed. "Don't take long."