A Second Chance

Part 31 - No going back now

My thoughts...scrambled like the shards of a broken glass. 

The only thing that came to mind was seeing The Master of Synergy in the Desert of Doom and how he took my spot. I remembered the video where he proposed for Nya to marry him and she agreed. I remembered all the pictures of him with the team, all of them looking happier than they ever were with me. 

"T-The Master of Synergy...he's from The Vipers?" I stammered, unable to form the right words. 

"You know this guy?" Emily inquired. 

I didn't respond, still too caught up with my thoughts. 

One thing was certain: these two people were way too similar for it to be a coincidence. A silvery element, the name "Synergy," the same grey hair. On top of that, he's known to work well with people: thus, he synced in with the ninja and took my spot in no time. 

Except...he was from The Vipers?

How did he even get to Ninjago? Did it have to do something with that portal I saw in the Desert of Doom, the one that brought me here?

"Jay, are you there?" Emily asked again, pulling me out of my thoughts

"Yeah, I'm here," I replied. "He's just someone I remembered..."

"So you have history with him?"

"Kind of - tied to my past. I just didn't think that he was from The Vipers," 

On top of that, this revelation had even worse implications. It means that this realm is somehow connected to Ninjago and it doesn't seem to be by coincidence, especially if the ranked 7th fighter is there. They could be planning to do something bad, but it wouldn't make sense for him to be with the ninja for this long and even marry Nya. 

Given that he joined the team 2 years after my banishment, he definitely wasn't the guy who framed me. Him being there has to be part of Deathstroke's plan since he never told anyone about where the ranked 7th fighter was. If he was this secretive, then he has deeper intentions than what might hit the surface. 

"Uhh, I really don't know what to say," I admitted. 

"Maybe it's all in this mission," she suggested. "You're worried, but if it's successful, you'll find out Deathstroke's plan and more about who the ranked 7th fighter truly is. Maybe that'll answer your question," 

"Come to think of it, is there a way we can access the data instead of just taking a peek?" I inquired. "I really want to analyze it; there's a lot of stuff I need to see,"

"So...you want a hard drive, something like that?" 

"Yeah, but I don't know where to find it," I replied. "I think it's too late," 

"Or just take the file that contains his information," 

"They'll notice that though," 

"It won't matter when they find out what The Vipers truly are," Emily explained. "The only reason The Vipers even have a presence there is because the government can't do anything about it. Once The Vipers are defeated and this goes international, the U.S. is going to have to reveal everything that they did. They'll face backlash, but it should subside pretty easily since The Vipers don't have any international impact,"

She's right...I should put these thoughts behind me for now and focus on completing the mission so that we can find out what The Vipers are planning and what the ranked 7th fighter has to do with all that. 

"All right," I replied. 

"Hey, don't worry," Emily assured me. "Just this mission and you'll find out everything that you need to. Don't let anxiety hold you back from finding out the truth. It's better to know the truth and accept it rather than think about it your whole life, don't you agree?"