Her room was empty. The ninja were quiet to enter the dimly lit bedroom, with Hector following close behind. Their plan was to get Jupiter out of the palace and go back home. All of them.
A soft breeze blew through the open door to the balcony; a figure stood outside on the balcony, looking out into the dark dawn.
"Jupiter?" Lloyd mumbled, edging closer to the balcony's door. The others stood behind him as he gazed at the person coming back into the room.
The Empress was still in her coronation gown and her eyes were tired, dull and violet colored. She glared at the people in her room, staying silent for very long.
Hector noticed her pendant around her neck; it was a different color from the shades he'd seen before - it was a deep black, glowing ominously, as if it were aggravated.
"Jupiter! You're alright! We know Axel took you, so we're here to bring you back home!" Lloyd exclaimed softly, with open arms. He took a few steps to get closer to her but Hector quickly blocked him with an outstretched arm;
"Don't...don't get close..It's not her.." He whispered. The other ninja were incredibly still, trying to make sense of the situation. The Empress was still glaring at the group.
Kai finally filled the awkward silence.
"Jupiter, it's us!" He chuckled anxiously. "We've come all this way to bring you back home - to Ninjago."
Eventually, she spoke in a low voice.
"I'm already home. I didn't need rescuing." There was a tint of anger in her eyes; a foreboding atmosphere grew in the room.
"Jupiter, what are you talking about? Ninjago is your home! You don't belong here!" Nya stepped forward.
Immediately, the Empress' hands clenched into fists and she argued back. "I DO BELONG HERE." She raised her voice. A fiery rage grew inside her, one she couldn't control.
"I'd rather stay here than go back there - I was never part of your team. Over there, I felt that I was the weakest link, the weakest elemental...but here..." She took a slow breath and formed a dense ball of stardust with her fist. "Here, I'm the only elemental." There was a malicious tone in her voice whenever she spoke; Hector was right; it wasn't her anymore.
"Now GET OUT OF MY PALACE!" She yelled at an incredible volume, loud enough that it was bound to bring guards any time soon.
The Empress whipped her hand and sent the hot sphere of stardust hurtling towards the group. It exploded into a billion fragments of sharp particles - it wasn't a stardust the ninja recognised anymore; instead, it was darker, heavier and stinged.
The group all stumbled back, moving away from their morally infected friend.
"It's the jewel around her neck - it's corrupting her!" Zane said to the team.
"Oh great! This is starting to feel like back in the Never Realm, when you were the corrupted ruler, Zane!" Cole told the nindroid.
"Yeah, except this time, it's not a staff with a scroll - it's a necklace with a jewel!" Lloyd added.
Jupiter was slowly making her way towards her hesitant but forgotten friends, hand bursting with unfamiliar elemental power.
"We can't fight her! She's our friend - we might hurt her by getting that close to the jewel!" Nya blurted, dodging and deflecting incoming spheres of stardust with her spear.
Jupiter's unbridled rage grew as she knocked over expensive furniture scattered around her room, making her way closer and closer to them. A bookshelf, vase, all victims to the corrupted girl's destruction - it was only until she knocked over a small wooden cabinet.
At the other end of the large room, Jay elbowed Lloyd sharply in the ribs; "You have a way with words, green ninja - talk to her before she disintegrates us all!" He shrieked.
Lloyd lowered his sword and shuffled in front of the ninja and Hector.
YOU ARE READING
NINJAGO: Corrupted
Adventure[𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙙!] Join the six ninja, Kai, Cole, Zane, Nya, Jay and Lloyd in a quest to find their missing teammate Jupiter, whilst uncovering the secrets behind her power and what it all has to do with a mysterious jewel... Find out in this ill...
